Basics and Spirituals
June 9, 2020
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I was making a cake. I had bought all the ingredients and put them together in a time-proven way, and I knew the cake would turn out well. And of course it did, it cooked perfectly so when a visitor arrived I could honestly offer her a piece of 'my' cake.
Another time I sewed together a skirt from material I had bought. It turned out so well I could wear it to town and a stranger smiled at me, then said gently, 'I love your skirt.' In reply I commented that I had made it myself and the stranger was quite surprised. 'How lovely,' she commented. 'Next time I see you in the street, I will know you by your own skirt!'
And so it goes on all through life. We all 'make things' of one sort or another and they belong to us. They are 'ours.'
And more importantly I also accept that the Creator made the world we live in. He said, "Let there be light ... let there be a firmament ... let the dry land appear ..." (See Gen. 1) right on throughout the full week of creation until the garden He created had living creatures and finally, human beings in it. "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31 KJV).
The Creator, as a member of the Godhead, made the world and everything in it, from His ingredients. Naturally He could say it was all His. I do not question his ownership of all he has made any more that my guest questioned that the cake she ate was 'mine' or the lady in town accepted that the skirt I had made was 'mine.'
We also have 'my 'mother, 'my' father, 'my' children and so on, claiming ownership of our relationships along with 'my' home, 'my' garden, 'my' tools and so on and on; but I think a most outstanding example of ownership is what Jesus said as he sat at table and ate a meal with his disciples...
It was a special yearly event in the calendar of Israel, and at that time nothing fermented was to be taken. In fact, there were strict laws about what was allowed to be kept in the pantry and what could or could not be taken during that period.
So, in keeping with the rules He had established for Israel, Jesus gathered with His disciples to take a meal. He "took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:27,28 KJV)
The cup was full of grape juice but a lot of people seem to be confused about it, and this is where there can be serious lines drawn between what was literally made by Jesus and what seems to be implied. I understand that a literal reading in the Old Testament about the grape is that its juice was not called grape juice, it was called 'the blood of the grape.' (See Genesis 49:11, Deut. 32:14). It was called blood from the beginning, hence Jesus could say with utter truth, "This is my blood." He had originally made grapes, so the juice-the blood of the grape-was literally 'His.'
The bread that Jesus and the disciples were eating comes into the same category. Jesus had created the seed that is harvested to make bread, so naturally, it was His. He made it and He broke a slice of it in pieces (see Matt. 26:26) and used it as an illustration of His body soon to be broken as was the piece of bread He broke to share with his disciples.
There is nothing mystical in taking bread and grape blood in memory of Jesus. The basics of life are provided by Him, and the basics of salvation are also provided by Hm and are representative of Him. What makes bread and grape juice so meaningful to us is how we relate to Jesus, not just in physical obedience, but in spiritual obedience.
Yes, we give thanks for our daily food, but on one special days we focus more deeply on our spiritual relationship and rejoice that Jesus has promised to eat bread and drink the blood of the grape with us once again in the kingdom of heaven: "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." (Matthew 26:29 KJV)
Come, Lord Jesus.
Elizabeth Price |
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Jesus gave His all for us. He gave His body and His blood, as we celebrate this week. What have we given back to Him? He wants nothing more than our hearts!
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