Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my meditation today is, "The Loose Grip of Death." I read from Acts 2: 22-31 (NLT). All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.
22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. 25 King David said this about him:
‘I see that the LORD is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
26 No wonder my heart is glad,
and my tongue shouts his praises!
My body rests in hope.
27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.
28 You have shown me the way of life,
and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’
29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.
If time travel becomes possible in my day, then one of the events I would like to see and hear is Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. Since everyone gathered in Jerusalem heard the message in their own language, I would not need a universal translator like the kind worn by James Kirk, captain of the starship Enterprise. Peter delivered his sermon at 9:00 AM on Sunday morning. Above his head was a tongue of fire; he was speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit! The religious leaders of the day were divided on the question of whether there was life after death. Even those who believed in life after death accepted the fact that the dead went to their new home, the grave, never to be heard from again in the land of the living. Death had a firm grip on its subjects; they could not escape—until Jesus. Peter told his audience, "But God released him [Jesus] from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip." This fact had been revealed to King David, the prophet, and knowing this, he said, "No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. For you will not leave my soul among the deade or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave." King David died knowing that God would loose the grip of death and he would live again! We have this same hope for ourselves and for those who die in Christ. Sadly, without Jesus, death's grip cannot be broken. There is no hope of life after death for those who reject Him! Today, we remember Jesus' suffering and death on cross when we partake of the bread and drink from the cup. This dark day was followed by the dawn of a new day, Jesus' resurrection from the dead, the day when the grip of death was forever loosed for those who believe in Him. 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. Thank-you, Abba, Father, for the hope we have in Jesus. As You loosed death's grip on Jesus when He was resurrected from the dead, so we have that same hope. He was first and we will follow. Today as we assemble to partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we experience both sorrow and joy. We are sorrowful for the suffering He endured for us, yet we are joyful knowing our sins are forgiven and we have the certain hope of eternal life. We give praise to Your Son, Jesus, for He has saved 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, "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!