Seeds for 02/01/2024 - Matthew 26:26-30
Scripture: While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Observation: This passage owes much of its familiarity to the fact that it is rehearsed in some form or fashion as part of the liturgy when most Christians share in the sacrament of Holy Communion (alternately, the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper, depending on your denomination or tradition). The basic heart of the text is found in four places in the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians.
Here’s an observation for today about this familiar text: Jesus interrupted what they were doing.
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread…”
They were in the middle of the Passover meal (the Seder, in Jewish parlance), a holy commemoration of God’s deliverance of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. They had a script to follow for that evening. Each part of the meal meant something and they knew what to expect. Scholars have worked out good ideas about what section of the Seder meal He and the disciples were likely in when when Jesus intruded to institute a new holy meal for His followers.
Jesus’ interruption keeps us connected with His real presence among us. He interrupts our routines, our expectations… even our religious ones. He meets us in the common elements of life. For the disciples, it was through bread shared at dinner. He can meet us in a meal, an exchange at work, a text or call with a friend or family member, a task in our day.
Jesus’ interruption keeps us cognizant of the good news. He compared the cup of wine to His blood, poured out as an offering to attain forgiveness of sins (the disciples would have understood the connection with their religious sacrificial system). The Gospel interrupts our lives. Where we see dead end streets, Jesus intrudes with the hope that God can and has made a way. “When you were dead in your sins… God made you alive with Christ.” (Col. 2:13-14)
The sacrament of Holy Communion, much like the Seder meal, is for us a familiar religious observance with great comfort and meaning. But what if we recognize it as a sacred interruption as well—one that startles us and arrests our attention in order to reenact and remind us of the sacrificial love of God in Christ?
No matter how well we know the Gospel story, we need sacred intrusions of grace to remind us not only of its truth, but of its power. Jesus’ institution of the sacrament was just such a sacred intrusion, a holy interruption. Perhaps that’s what it could be every time we share it.
Application:
Where have you seen God interrupt your life with good news and with hope?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, you are welcome to interrupt my life with fresh intrusions of your grace. Have Thine own way, Lord. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
If you liked this post from Seeds of Faith, why not share it and/or subscribe?
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™