relationships (Matthew 26:26-30) Significant Memory Aids!

(Matthew 26:26-30)

26 Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it with you, new, in My Father’s kingdom.”

30 And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

The main point of these verses, in regards to the topic of relationships, is that Jesus sits at the table with His disciples, and gives them symbolic reminders of all that He has done, is doing, and will do.  I'm pretty sure that most of us have received gifts or experiences of some sort in order to fondly remember our loved ones.

The traditions above were part of the Passover, but here, Jesus amps up the significance, since He was about to go to the cross and usher in a new age (the Church Age), with a very clear invitation to all people, in that He invites everyone to the table.  Establishing the new covenant, does not mean that Jesus has forgotten about His covenants with Israel.  Jesus merely interrupted the Jewish Age, with seven years remaining.

Read on for details of the symbolisms.  A few of these I did not know, like about the cup/s, and the vow/s, which I found very interesting.

• the Abrahamic covenant promised: 
• land
• seed (descendants)
• blessings (fruitfulness)
• and through Israel's seed, all nations would be blessed
• the new covenant:  Jesus, being the seed of blessing, the descendant of king David, came to earth in flesh, to be fully man while being fully God.  He will physically fulfill the Abrahamic covenant completely in the Millennial kingdom, which takes place after the Tribulation (the last seven years of the Jewish Age).  But at this point, Jesus came to fulfill this covenant spiritually, giving the entire world the free gift of salvation, which promises to all believers:
• land (the promised land of heaven)
• seed (the good news of salvation to share with others in order to increase the family of the Lord) 
• blessings (all the blessings of the Lord's salvation, including obedience through the Holy Spirit, producing fruitfulness in service)

• a lamb (spotless, free of blemishes) was offered as a sacrifice throughout the year, and especially during Passover celebrations, just like the Jews had done in the first Passover in Egypt, to be accompanied with confession, which forgave sins temporarily.
• Jesus (the sinless, holy Lamb of God) offered Himself as the once-for-all sacrifice which paid for all sins eternally, for all those who repent and put their faith in Him.

• the bread (and wine) received thanks and special blessings during the Passover meal by the head of the household.  The bread was supposed to remind them of the manna from heaven which nourished and sustained them in the wilderness.  Their standard blessing became, “This is the bread of affliction our ancestors ate when they came from Egypt” wasn't taken literally.  Rather, Jewish people were in a sense reenacting Passover so as to participate in the experience.
• Jesus is the bread of life, who nourishes and sustains us spiritually.  And with Jesus saying, "This is My body...", the disciples would have known not to take that literally.  So it is for us right now, when we take communion, it is a symbol and a reminder of what Jesus did for us.

• sacrificed blood back then was used to ratify covenants (contracts).  And thus, for the Passover in Egypt, God directed the Jews to take the sacrificed sheep's blood and paint it on the door posts and lintel, so that their lives would be temporarily spared from death.  
• Jesus' righteous blood that was shed, ratified His new covenant with all people, promising that anyone who believes in Him, their sins are forgiven and His righteousness covers us and saves us from eternal death.
• the cup (the wine) was a tradition that the Jews had started around this time.  They had adapted Greek banquet customs involving five cups of red wine which was implemented into the annual Passover celebrations.
• using the cup symbolically, the Lord Jesus often used what people understood from their daily lives, just like how people made covenants (contracts) back then, the Lord used the same method for when He made the Abrahamic covenant

• The five cups of red wine were:

1. The Cup of Sanctification celebrates the promise, "I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians".
2. The Cup of Plagues/Deliverance celebrates the promise, "I will deliver you out of their bondage".  A drop of wine is removed for each of the ten plagues, symbolizing that their liberation came at the cost of Egyptian suffering.
3. The Cup of Redemption drunk after the meal, celebrates the promise, "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm". 
4. The Cup of Praise/Acceptance celebrates the promise, "I will take you to be My people". It is consumed while reciting psalms of praise.
5. The Cup of Elijah is poured, but left untouched, in anticipation of the prophet Elijah who will return to announce the arrival of the Messiah.

• The cup that Jesus blessed was probably the third one.  By likening the cup to His blood, the disciples would probably have been shocked, since the idea of drinking any blood from a creature, let alone from a human, was revolting and not allowed according to Jewish law and custom, even though this was just symbolic.
• With the symbols of each cup, it is only because of Jesus' shed blood and work on the cross that we can be saved from our slavery to sin, and be delivered and redeemed, in order to become God's children. 
• With the fourth cup being the cup of praise, Jesus most likely did not drink this cup, since His work on the cross had not yet been accomplished.  Later that night, as He was praying, He said, "My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done."  In Luke 22:44, while Jesus was in agony and praying so fervently, His sweat became like drops of blood.  This cup was inevitable, and Jesus knew it!
• If the fifth cup had been poured, the significance of that promise had already happened!  John the Baptist had already been there and announced the arrival of the Messiah, that being Jesus Christ!

• Vows of abstinence were often offered, such as: “I will not eat any of that until this happens,” or “I vow that I will not use this until that happens.” 
• Jesus vows not to drink wine again until the kingdom comes, therefore abstaining from drinking the fourth cup.  The Millennial kingdom is also called the Wedding Feast, and therefore, it is a time of celebration here on earth for a thousand years.  Isaiah 25:6 says, "Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine." You can also check out Amos 9:13-14.

• Singing hymns after the Passover meal was customary, which consisted of psalms of praise and thanksgiving (in particular Psalms 113–118).
• Jesus "wrote" the songs!  Since the Bible is God's infallible word, and the entire Bible is God-breathed, this is God's love letter to the world!  And it should be our most cherished "memory aid"!

relationships (Matthew 17:14-22) Thinking Beyond Human Terms

(Matthew 17:14-22)

14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” 17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was healed at once.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 And He said to them, “Because of your meager faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be handed over to men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

There are "Christians" and "churches" who will ignore certain verses, like verse 17, that portray God (the heavenly Father and Jesus) in a way that they don't like, because they don't really know or understand the Lord and His word.  And then, to carry on pretending to be Christian, they create Jesus and God in their own image, while simply ignoring the Holy Spirit's presence and His role within the Trinity.  In this way, they are left trying to be "good" people, all in their own efforts and thinking, while trying to justify their sinful behavior/s.  But if they'd really access their idol/s, they would see how shallow, ineffective, contradictive and evil their god really is.  

God is love!  But that doesn't mean that He approves of everything we do, or think we are.  In verse 17, Jesus calls the people (including His disciples) "unbelieving and perverse"!  These are very strong words, as well as very true!  The word "perverse" means to turn away from... to misinterpret, distort and corrupt.  

Every word in the Bible is true and important, and they should never be ignored or distorted!  But that is what people tend to do, and that is what the Jews also tended to do.  Because mountains were thought to be the most stable of all things, their colloquial saying of "removing mountains" became a figure of speech used to describe what one would be able to do if one mastered the Torah.  In other words, if one were able to perfectly carry out all the do's and don'ts, THEN they could do amazing things!  But God's words are very clear, we all have sinned!  None of us are perfect!  On our own, we are hopeless.  No one can get into heaven or have a relationship with the Lord based on our own merits.

Jesus then used another colloquialism:  the mustard seed, which was used to describe a very small quantity, since the seed is extremely tiny.  When we put our faith and trust in the Lord, even our tiny bit of faith will accomplish much!  In other words, nothing God asks us to do will be impossible when we stop relying on our feeble strength and abilities and look to and rely on God, who is all-powerful! Whatever God plans, it will happen.  Whatever God asks of us, He will make sure we can do it, if and when we have put our faith and belief in the Lord Jesus, and then trust in Him through our obedience, relying on His strength and guidance!

This brings us to the next seemingly "disturbing" thing, which was Jesus' comment regarding how long He had to be with them and put up with them.  But here again, let's interpret His words correctly and clearly by keeping it all in context!  In verses 22-23, Jesus reminds the disciples once again that He was going to die, but then rise again on the third day!  This was to pay the price for all sins, of all times!  

Jesus knew He had to do this!  Because He is holy, He cannot have a relationship with sin.  Therefore, because of our great sin, He cannot have a relationship with us in that condition.  And because of His great love for us and His great desire to have a relationship with us, He had to "leave"!  Accomplishing His work through His death and resurrection was the only way to provide a way for us to be reconciled to Him, to receive His salvation and eternal life, to all those who believe!

From the disciples' reaction to grieve, we can see that they didn't understand, and were still only thinking in human terms.  They do this again when Jesus tells them that He has return to heaven, not understanding that even though Jesus in flesh would not be there with them, the Lord's Holy Spirit would come upon all those who put their faith and trust in the Lord.  In this way, all true Christians have the Lord's indwelling Holy Spirit of promise, who seals us for all eternity.  We can grieve and quench the Holy Spirit, but we can never get rid of Him, or lose our salvation.  

Once we are a child of God, we are forever a child of God!  But this is our decision!  Because of God's love, He will never force anyone to love Him back.  And this is a love that the world really does not understand, because they only see and think in human terms.

relationships (Matthew 10:16-20) We're Not Alone

(Matthew 10:16-20)

16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves. 17 But be on guard against people, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues; 18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings on My account, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who are speaking, but it is the Spirit of your Father who is speaking in you.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY

As believers, we are not to be naive.  There is a level of knowledge and understanding that we should have about the world around us.  At the same time, we are to strive in remaining innocent, which is to trustingly and obediently live in the righteousness of Jesus.  

In this fallen, broken world, there are terrible things that happen to all people, but the Lord is giving us a heads up, that, just because we have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, people will target us.  Those who are not seeking for truth, will be the ones who hate and fear the truth, and they will be looking for ways to silence the truth.

While this might sound scary, we are told not to worry or fear anyone or anything.  God is sovereign!  He is with us!  He is fighting our battles!  And as we remain steadfast in the Lord, if and when something happens, we can know that God has allowed this for a reason, as verse 18 says.  

As well, verse 20 should give us great courage and confidence, because the Lord will work for, in and through us, even regarding what to say in those trying times!  When God allows us to go through something, He will be there with us, every step of the way.  We just have to remember to take His hand, rely and trust in Him, and remain focused on God and His will, in His strength, love, wisdom, peace and joy!