The FaithOfJesus2 Daily Devotional

Focus:

kjv@Revelation:14:12 @ Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

( FaithOfJesus thread begun by rRandyP )

Today's Verse:

kjv@Matthew:26:17-30

kjv@Matthew:26:17 @ Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?

kjv@Matthew:26:18 @ And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.

kjv@Matthew:26:19 @ And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.

kjv@Matthew:26:20 @ Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.

kjv@Matthew:26:21 @ And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

kjv@Matthew:26:22 @ And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

kjv@Matthew:26:23 @ And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.

kjv@Matthew:26:24 @ The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

kjv@Matthew:26:25 @ Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

kjv@Matthew:26:26 @ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

kjv@Matthew:26:27 @ And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

kjv@Matthew:26:28 @ For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

kjv@Matthew:26:29 @ 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.

kjv@Matthew:26:30 @ And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Today's notes:

Context:

Before - Anointing of Jesus by Lazaruth's sister Mary
After - because of me this night

What is man believing/doing?:

preparing the passover meal for Jesus and themselves
going into town to alert the host
responding sorrowfully to the mention of betrayal by one of their members, asking if it was one of them
the betrayer acting as if he were one of the others
partaking in the first communion

What is making man to believe/do as he is doing?:

all these disciples were Jewish, this is 14 or 15 Nissan the date all Jews were observing, there are two observances happening here the feast and the meal
Jesus had commanded them to do this, either they knew that Jesus had made these arrangements beforehand or they trusted that regardless that the Father would provide
after spending all of this time with all these men you would think that you'd have a better sense of who would be suspect, the thought of someone else being able to carry this out would have to be a tremendous let down, the possibility that it could even still be you perplexing, the sense of what would happen to Jesus when the others got their hands on Him, (kjv@Luke:22:24 injects a heated debate as to who was greatest amongst them)
the betrayer seeking not to be known then and there lest he be overrun
Jesus wanting this to be done by them in remembrance. (unclear if Judas is still there at this point)

Notes:

There is an important separation to be discerned in what Christ is proposing to do here. Christ is giving Himself to what? To voluntarily suffer sin from man? Or to suffer the punishment that the Father has in store for all sin deserved by us but taken on by Jesus in our stead? The one has Jesus taking on whatever we think to dish out, the other has the Father transferring the settlement demanded by justice on to a third party intercessor using certain sinful men as the vehicle of implementation. On the one hand one could say that since they were not there and had not the intention to harm Him that Jesus then did not die for their sin. On the other it could be said that all have sinned regardless and that Jesus willingly received from the Father the judgment that rightly should have been accounted to us. One is in our hands, the other in God's.

Jesus' literal body was never broken and with divine purpose being so prophesied; sinful man nor rebellious angel were never to have that kind of absolute power over Him. To make the wafer Christ's literal body and then to break it for consumption in communion is being literally unfaithful to the memory of Christ that we are supposed to be symbolically representing. The symbolic breaking is meant to recall that we each have an equal part in His death just as we do His resurrected life when accepting of His sacrifice which is offered us by Him in utter grace. Everyone at that table would have culturally taken the breaking of bread to mean an offer of covenant fellowship according to the host's good pleasure and grace. This then is His pleasure and Grace!

The difference in interpretation is the difference between what He received of the Father that was due to us or else a power of our sin that for this instance He chose not to stop. It may seem subtle, but yet it is most distinctive. To continue to this day with anything more or less than His intent is disrespectful. The burden of proof should be on all those who partake of the communion to know what it is that they are communing with.

Key Messages:

What does this say about our present condition?

What makes one man to pursue one course when his brethren all pursue the other is of monumental debate, yet we are always to see it happen. Not that the others course at this time isn't all the better just less committed. How is one to say that it "cannot be me" when we have little indication what makes this to happen in the first place? How is that we can go all this time without a clue who it would be and how deeply it's final revelation would cut us? The heart is mystery to all except the Lord; even then it still might not be best that we know it.
The debate that largely divided the universal church at the reformation would have been best for both sides to resolve undoubtably had they been able to do so. In the case of Communion and Eucharist, what was meant as grounds for fellowship has now become grounds for disfellowship. What is it about us that makes that so? The question pondered at that time is the question that remains to this day: does the expressed invitation to fellowship require the elimination of the grounds upon which we should be fellowshipping on? If not in this matter than what other?

Further Resources:

Comment Board:Matthew:26:17-30
index:FAITHOFJESUSDEVOTION - Devotional Index
strkjv@Matthew:26:17-30 rwp@Matthew:26:17-30 mhcc@Matthew:26:17-30
FaithOfJesus2 - Devotion Index

< Matthew:26:14-16

Matthew:26:31-35 >