Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Matthew 26:26, 28 "Take, eat; this is My body ... This is My blood of the new covenant."
THANKFUL FOR HIS WONDERFUL MEAL
When tomorrow you eat the delicious meal prepared by the cook of the family, will you pat yourself on the back for eating it? No, you'll thank the one who made it for you and served it to you.
The Sacrament of the Altar, in which Jesus gives us His very self for the forgiveness of sins, is not something you do for God. It's something God is doing for you. God is inviting you to receive a meal that He has prepared and given you at the cost of His Son's life. In this meal God wants to fill you with confidence that your sins are forgiven, to assure that the door to heaven's eternal banquet stands wide open.
Martin Luther once said that if we were handing out gold coins at the altar, the balcony would collapse under the weight of those who would be waiting in line. "Blind people," he said, "would swim across rivers" to get such a treasure! But the Lord's Supper is a treasure that moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal. Here we have the body and blood of our crucified, risen and ascended brother!
The Lord attaches his words of promise to the eating and drinking of bread and wine. God's promise, "Given and poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins," fills our ears and moves our hearts to faith. His grace also touches our lips. We, quite truly, "taste and see that the LORD is good" (Proverbs 34:8). After a week of struggling with sin, there is no more personal way that God could assure us that what was done on Calvary is ours when we come to His Supper!
Is this for me? I am forgiven and set free!
I do believe That I receive His very body and His blood.
Oh, taste and see -- the Lord is good!
(Worship Supplement 2000, 755:5)
