As Smart as King Darius

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The meditation today comes from the Old Testament, Daniel 6: 25-28. All quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.

My hope 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!

Transcript

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my meditation today is "As Smart as King Darius." I read from Daniel 6: 25-28. All quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.


25 Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:

  “Peace and prosperity to you!

    26 “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel.

    For he is the living God,
      and he will endure forever.
    His kingdom will never be destroyed,
      and his rule will never end.
    27 He rescues and saves his people;
      he performs miraculous signs and wonders
      in the heavens and on earth.
    He has rescued Daniel
      from the power of the lions.”

    28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

The Persians and the Medes conquered Babylon in October 539 BC, a little over 2500 years ago. King Darius appointed Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers he appointed to be in charge of the 120 provinces of his kingdom. Later, due to the demonstrated ability of Daniel, King Darius made plans to place him over the entire empire. As Daniel increased in power so did the number of his enemies, and they set a trap for Daniel by appealing to the king's vanity—no one should pray to anyone except the king for thirty days or be thrown into a den of lions. We know this story. Daniel was found guilty of praying to God instead of King Darius and was thrown into the den of lions. Daniel was saved from the lions by God, and King Darius tossed his accusers into the den of lions; they did not fare as well. The Scriptures tell us that King Darius was 61 years old when he became King. He was living his life until he came in contact with what the Egyptians called "the finger of God," and this moment changed his life. He witnesses with his own eyes that a man is rescued by his god from the den of lions. King Darius then writes about Daniel's savior god, "For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end." This moment was just a prelude to the greatest moment in human history—past, present, and future. Jesus was shown to be Son of God and Savior of the world when his Father raised him from the dead! While this fact is supported by an abundance of eyewitness testimonies, many ignore this miraculous event. If only they were as smart as King Darius! On the first day of the week somewhere in the world, Christians assemble to partake of the bread and drink from the cup to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We remember him who died to save us from our sins. We also remind the world that the one who raised him from the dead is still the God who "rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth." 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. Abba, Father, you are the one who rescues and saves his people. We never cease to thank-you for sending Jesus to rescue and save humankind from sin and death. In the name of Jesus, 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!