Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of the meditation today is "His Faithful Father." I read from Acts 2: 22-32 (ESV). All quotations are from the English Standard Version and are used with permission.

22“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 

 25For David says concerning Him:
‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
26Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
27For You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
28You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’

29“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.

The Scripture passage today is an excerpt from Peter's sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Peter was speaking by the Holy Spirit; the Spirit's visible tongue of fire hovered over Peter as he spoke. He quotes from Psalms 16:8-11 and interprets the psalm of King David for us. Peter tells us that David is not referring to himself but to his posterity, Jesus, who would one day sit on his throne. In the psalm, Jesus describes His Father as One who is continuously present and is always ready to help. This relationship with His Father gave Him confidence, joy and hope. Facing death, He was fully confident that God would not abandon His soul in Hades or His body in the grave. Instead, He would conquer death and live on to experience joy in the presence of His Father. Peter then tells us that what Jesus hoped for indeed came to pass; His Father was faithful; he and his fellow apostles were eyewitnesses of His resurrection. As One who is resurrected from the dead, He promises us that His faithful Father will also save from death those who believe in Him. Jesus assures us we can have the same confidence and hope as we face death. Thank-you, Jesus, for going to the cross for us! Thank-you for showing us what a life of faith, joy and hope looks like. We remember you just now as we partake of the bread and drink from the cup. Let us pray.

Dear Heavenly Father. Today, we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. What a faithful Father you are Lord! As you promised long ago, You would not abandon Your Son to the grave. Indeed, He was resurrected to life and now sits at Your right hand. Thank-you, Father, that we can have this same confidence as we face death. We cannot imagine the pain and suffering He experienced on the cross and perhaps even His love for us, which He valued more than His own life. We are thankful and just now we remember Him by partaking of the bread and drinking from the cup. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Today, Jesus invites you to partake of the Lord's supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28.

 "26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Let us partake of the bread.

 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Let us partake of the cup.

 And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"

Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."

Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I direct you to my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories. The benefit of downloading and creating an account in one of the directory apps, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify or iHeart, is that you can add this podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. I do not receive compensation of any kind when you download and listen to my podcast. Please note there is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper.