Always Remember

The Faithful King

I grew up in a Catholic family, attended parochial grade school and therefore experienced my First Communion as a 4th or 5th grader. This was such a big day for me, as our class studied and prepared for months to take our First Holy Communion together as a class. If I am honest though, I remember this day because I had to share this celebration with my sister and my mom. As luck would have it, my special day also fell on Mother's Day and my sister's birthday.

Now, as an adult, I realize it isn't the day that is special or note worthy, it is the experience. And it isn't an event I can only observe once. No, Holy Communion is celebrated many times though out the year. In fact, that is how God ordained it to be. He instructed His disciples to 'do this in remembrance of Me.'

22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. (Mark 14:22-23)

Today, Maundy Thursday we go through all the motions and emotions of Jesus’ Last Supper. But mostly we remember…

Mark 14:22-26

Jesus became our sin

ApriL 13

Read 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 and reflect on the passage.

Perhaps the saddest words in the entire old testament are these, “So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden” (Genesis 3:23). In this moment of failure, all of humanity would now exist in depravity and with inherent sin. But there is Good News—God has an eternal purpose to save and reach and restore His creation. He is making all things new, and bringing the entire universe into restoration and reconciliation through the coming of His Kingdom. This includes us! We too, can be “reborn.”

In this passage, Paul reminds us that Christ is “reconcil[ing] us to Himself,” by actually becoming our sin. Paul then says that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” And so, by contrast, perhaps the gladdest words in all the New Testament are found in Revelation: “And He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’...They will see His face.”

Martin Luther said it this way: “It is impossible for a man to be a Christian without having Christ, and if he has Christ, he has at the same time all that is in Christ. What gives peace to the conscience is that by faith our sins are no more ours, but Christ’s, upon whom God hath laid them all; and that, on the other hand, all Christ’s righteousness is ours, to whom God hath given it. Christ lays His hand upon us, and we are healed. He casts His mantle upon us, and we are clothed; for He is the glorious Savior, blessed for ever...” (Commentary on Romans). Our sin is Christ’s, and His righteousness is ours.

Questions

1. Do you feel more like a sinner saved by grace, or a saint who sometimes sins?

2. In what ways can you release the anxiety and sadness of your humanity and live into your identity and role as an “ambassador of Christ?”

Prayer

Merciful God, we praise You for reconciling us to Yourself and making us new persons in Christ. We rejoice that we can come before You with confidence and joy. Empower us to spread this Good News of peace to those who do not know You. Amen.

--Andrew Fuller 

John 13:1-17, 31-35

John 13:34-35 (NIV)
 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." 

There is an old song with the verse, "love makes the world go round."  Today, Maundy Thursday, is a reminder of this adage.  Jesus loved his disciples and He had spent the last three years teaching them about love; about unconditional love.

Our own lives are a testimony to power of love, for when we experience the love of family and of friends, there is more peace and joy.  Love will cause us to feel intense pain when a loved when dies or even moves away.  There is a sense of loss that isn't experienced when love has not been a factor.

Holy Week can be filled with uncertainty and sadness as we relive Jesus' passion.  When someone we love feels pain, we feel pain right along with them. Taking the time to reflect on the physical suffering Jesus felt during His walk to the Cross, will often cause us to feel a little off-center.  The Good News though, is the good news of the Resurrection.  Tomorrow is Good Friday, but take heart, Sunday is coming.

Jesus knew his followers would need one another to get through the next few days, then weeks and months ahead.  He also knows we need each other to get though our days here on earth.  The love we get and give makes the world go round.




Read John 13:1-17, 31-35 here

Listen to John 13:1-17, 31-35 here