Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my meditation today is "Seeing Eyes!" I read from Luke 10: 21-24. All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.
21 At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
22 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”
Isaiah tells us (Isaiah 53:3), "He [Jesus] was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!" This is a familiar word-picture we have of Jesus. This passage of Scripture; however, gives a us a different glimpse into the heart of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. At this moment, He was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Why was He joyful? The seventy-two disciples He had sent out to heal the sick and declare that the Kingdom of God was at hand had returned. In His presence, they were joyful about the impact they had made in the name of Jesus. He agrees and tells them, "Yes, I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning!" He was joyful that His disciples were joyful and energized to be a part of His ministry. He had revealed Himself to them and they had believed in Him. They were willing to go out in the power of the Holy Spirit to heal and declare the gospel. They were the fruit of His ministry! His disciples did not consist of the religious leaders of the day or the king and his court, but fishermen, tax collectors, prostitutes, criminals, lepers, Samaritans, even Roman soldiers! All of these came to Jesus without pretense or prejudice, like little children. Jesus tells them that the prophets and kings of old longed to see and hear what they knew now. He tells them how blessed they were to see and hear these things! If you are here today to partake of the bread and drink from the cup to remember Jesus, He has a message for you. Blessed are you because your eyes see, and your ears hear the truth! You are the fruit of His ministry, and you make Him joyful when you are here! Let us pray.
Abba, 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. We are so encouraged, Abba, Father, to read of Your Son being filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and to know what makes Him joyful. His joy is us! When we assemble to partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we acknowledge to the world that we believe Jesus is Your Son and He died that we might have the forgiveness of sin and new life in Him. This is seeing and hearing the truth, and this acknowledgement brings Him joy. There are many reasons today to mourn and be sad; however, at this moment, I am joyful because I know my Savior is joyful as we meet together to remember Him. In His name I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.
And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"
Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."
Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. 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. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!