Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my meditation today is "His Eye Is on You." I read from Luke 22: 54-62. All Scripture quotations are taken from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.
54 So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance. 55 The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there. 56 A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!”
57 But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!”
58 After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!”
“No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted.
59 About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.”
60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
61 At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me. 62 And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.
I understand how Peter feels. His world is turned upside down. He is deep in enemy territory, and his life may be at stake. He may be the next one arrested and put on trial for believing that Jesus is the Son of God. For reasons he cannot explain, he denies Jesus despite the fact that he had literally been in the presence of God and heard Him speak (Luke 17:5), “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” At this point in Peter's faith, he loved his life more than he loved Jesus. What Peter did not expect was to see Jesus eye-to-eye as the rooster crowed. While Jesus is in custody at the home of the high priest and being mocked and beaten by the temple guards, He turns at that precise moment to look at Peter. None of us would be surprised if Luke told us that Jesus looked away at that moment, shaking His head in disappointment. Yet, Jesus was with Peter in the moment, reminding him of what He had prayed on his behalf, "But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” Knowing Jesus did not reject him in his hour of failure may have been integral to his repentance and return to Jesus. My Dad was a worship leader in his day. He had a great tenor voice. I can still hear him sing the chorus to "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," "I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free; For his eye is on the sparrow, And I know he watches me." As we assemble to eat the bread and drink from the cup to remember Jesus, please know for sure that He remembers you. If His eye was on me and you as He went to the cross, please know for sure that His eye is on us now! In success and failure, He encourages us to continue in the faith. He pleads, "Please do not let my life I gave for you be in vain." 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 recall the walk of our dear brother, Peter, we are reminded of our successes and failures in our faith. We are comforted knowing that You see us, and You lovingly encourage us to keep the faith. We are inspired to persevere, dear Lord, as we remember the resolute faith and indescribable love of Your Son, Jesus, as He went to the cross for us. 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, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. 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!