
Eat This Bread Drink This Cup
The purpose of this podcast is to help individuals, groups and churches observe the Lord's Supper. The podcast includes a relevant portion of Scripture, brief commentary, prayer, and participation in partaking of the bread and drinking from the cup.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Eat This Bread Drink This Cup
The Road to Jerusalem
The meditation today comes from the New Testament, Matthew 16: 21-23. All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) 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!
Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "The Road to Jerusalem." I read from Matthew 16: 21-23. All quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.
21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
In this moment in the life of Jesus, our eyes are opened to more of the challenges He faced doing the will of His Father. From Peter, one of His closest friends and disciples, He is tempted to abandon His purpose in favor of some other path. This temptation comes as the time of His suffering and death on the cross draws closer. This offer of a different path reminds us of how Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry. In one of these temptations, "the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 'I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,' the devil said, 'because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to you if you will worship me.'" Both of these temptations were invitations for Jesus to gain the world without the cross. This account of Jesus and Peter shows us that in addition to the physical demands of His ministry and vigorous opposition from the Jewish religious establishment, Jesus was subject to unrelenting attacks from Satan and his forces—the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, the mighty powers in this dark world, and the evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6: 12). We might think that Jesus was somehow insulated from Satan's attacks since He was the Son of God; however, we see this was not the case. Satan was hyper focused on Jesus as his survival and kingdom depended on Jesus' failure! To walk in Jesus' sandals, how might it feel to know that you are humankind's only hope of salvation and are opposed at every turn? What is His source of strength that enables Him to persevere to the end and overcome even if He must surrender His life? It is love for all His children. We remember His love and the cost Jesus willingly paid to save us as we partake of the bread and drink from the cup today. We are thankful He overcame the challenges and stayed on the road to Jerusalem to save us. 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, we are so grateful that Your Son, Jesus, would not be deterred by any challenge in His mission to save humankind. He stayed on the road to Jerusalem and offered His life on the cross that our sins might be forgiven. Thank-you, Abba, Father, for Your love for us, and may we see Your children through His eyes. 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!