Daily Devotionals

Deliberate: Week 3 - Saturday

 

He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19

It is only natural that we are careful with the things that are costly to us. Whether it is our cars, our homes, or a piece of jewelry that was gifted to us, we treat them carefully because we remember the price that was paid for those items. We think about the value of the costly things in our lives, whether we purchased them or were gifted them, often, but we do not often dwell on the invaluable gift of salvation we have been given through Jesus' gift on the cross.  

As Jesus sat down with His disciples to share the customary Passover Dinner with His disciples, He shared that the bread they would eat and the wine they would drink during this meal was meant to remind them of the way God cared for and protected the Israelites as He freed them from slavery in Egypt would now carry even more significance. The bread they were about to eat and the wine they were about to drink represented His body that was broken and His blood that was shed on behalf of the sins of the world. As He told His disciples to eat the bread that represented His body that would soon be broken for them, He said, "Do this in remembrance of me" (verse 19). In the years to come, Jesus wanted His disciples to remember what He had done for them. After all, His sacrifice on the cross was precious and unspeakably costly. 

The call to remember how Jesus was tortured on the cross and how His blood was shed was not just for His disciples. It is still for you and me today. As Christ's followers, it is good for us today to remember what He did for us on the cross. Jesus endured excruciating physical and emotional pain when He paid the price for our sins. He did it for you, me, and the salvation of the world. May we never take Christ's sacrifice on the cross for granted. 

 

MOVING TOWARD ACTION

Take time to dwell on the costly gift of salvation that was made available to you through Jesus Christ. Consider the truth that your salvation cost the blood of Jesus. His sacrifice is not something to take lightly. After reflecting, pray. Thank Christ for His beautiful, costly, and precious gift of salvation that He made available through His death on the cross. 

 

GOING DEEPER

Luke 22:7-30

 

7 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”

9 “Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.

10 He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, 11 say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 12 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” 13 They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.

14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”

19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

21 “But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me. 22 For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him.” 23 The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.

24 Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. 25 Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ 26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. 27 Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.

28 “You have stayed with me in my time of trial. 29 And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right 30 to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.