Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my meditation today is "What the Lord Has Done for You." I read from Mark 5: 14-20 (NLT). All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.
14 The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. 15 A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. 16 Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs. 17 And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. 19 But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” 20 So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.
This story takes place in the Decapolis region on the Eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. This is Gentile territory. The only reason I can surmise for Jesus and the apostles to travel there is because He has a divine appointment with a man possessed by a demon named Legion. Up until this point in the story, the conversation has been between Jesus and the demon. Now Jesus was conversing with the crowd who had either heard of or seen a herd of about 2,000 pigs that plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drown. They also observed the demon possessed man, who was now dressed and in his right mind. The crowd was afraid of this powerful man, Jesus, and perhaps further economic ruin! After all, Jesus had only been in their region a few hours and look what had happened! On the contrary, the healed man wanted to be with Jesus. Imagine how he must have felt to be set free at last. Up to this point, Jesus asked those He healed to keep quiet. The people did not listen to His request and the crowds kept growing and growing. They were coming from all points of the compass to see Jesus. Jesus tells this man; however, "…go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” He becomes yet another one Jesus sends out to share His message but to a completely different audience! As we assemble to partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we reflect on Jesus' suffering and death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. We, too, have a story to tell our family, friends, and neighbors of "everything the Lord has done for us and how merciful He has been." We, too, have been set free—from sin and death and given a new life lived with the favor of God. Let us pray.
Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. As we dwell on this story, Abba, Father, we are amazed by Jesus' love and compassion that He would journey across the Sea of Galilee to set one man free. Then we pause and are reminded that He traveled from heaven to Earth to set all men free, including you and me. We cannot grasp that this man, Jesus, would willingly sacrifice His life for us. In response, Abba, Father, we bow our heads and lift up our arms in praise and ask for strength to be like the One who saved us. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember Your Son, Jesus, and what the Lord has done for us and how merciful He has been. In His Name I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.
And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"
Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26 (NLT), "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."
Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories. The benefit of creating an account in one of the directory apps, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify or iHeart, is that you can add this podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. I do not receive compensation of any kind when you download and listen to my podcast. Please note there is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!