Don't Trip Over the Rock - Romans 9:30-33

Welcome to the Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast. The communion meditation today is based on a passage of Scripture from the New Testament, Romans 9:30-33. All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.

My Bible reading plan for this week included Psalms 73-89 and Romans 5-10. I was drawn to Romans 9:30-33 because of the powerful imagery used by God to describe His Son, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall." For those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus, He is the Rock that saves! As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, these are vivid reminders of the suffering Jesus experienced on the cross to save us. To all who are searching from meaning in this life, don't be the one who only trips over the Rock that is Jesus!

Transcript

Welcome to the Eat This Bread Drink This Cup Podcast. The title of my communion meditation today is "Don't Trip Over the Rock." I read from Romans 9:30-33. All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.

30 What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, 

“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble,

a rock that makes them fall.

But anyone who trusts in him

will never be disgraced.”

In writing to the Christians in Rome, Paul uses a "question and answer" style in his letter to convey his message. This style can help guide our thinking about and understanding the subject matter discussed. The Apostle Paul asks two questions in the last part of Chapter 9, "What does all this mean?" and "Why not?" To answer the first question, Paul compares the faith of the Gentiles with keeping the Law by the Jews. In seeking to be right with God, the answer was simple: the Gentiles succeeded whereas the Jews failed. Paul anticipates that we want to know why this is so; he asks the question, "Why not?" Throughout the Scriptures, God is referred to figuratively as a Rock. In the storms of life, I can picture waves crashing against a rock, yet it still remains, and so does our God! For the Gentiles, Jesus was their Rock. They were made right with God by putting their faith in Jesus. For the Jews, the Law was their rock. While the Law was inherently good, it could not save anyone because no one could abide by the terms of the Law. While they were trusting in their rock, they stumbled over the great Rock, Jesus, in their path. God was not subtle about the location of this rock; He put it right in their path! He was supposed to be the fulfillment of the message of the Law, the Psalms, and the prophets; yet sadly, He became their sore toe! Despite their lack of faith, God reassures all of us that whoever puts their trust in Jesus will never be disappointed. As Christians, we know the answers to these questions because they underpin our faith. Just now, as we participate in the Lord's Supper, we remember Jesus, our Rock, who saved us by offering His life on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins. As we remember, we renew our faith and our hope. 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 pause just now as we partake of the bread and drink from the cup to remember Jesus. The bread and the wine are vivid reminders of the suffering He experienced on the cross for us. We know that You planned long ago to send Jesus to save us, even before the world came to be, because You wanted sons and daughters who freely chose to love You. Because of Jesus, we can find our way back to You. Thank-you, Abba, Father, for being our Rock, our confidence in this life and our hope in the next. 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!