Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my meditation today is, "Two Brave Men; One Loving God." I read from Acts 10: 1-8 (NLT). All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.
1 In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. 2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. 3 One afternoon about three o’clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!” the angel said.
4 Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel.
And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! 5 Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.”
7 As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal attendants. 8 He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa.
Cornelius was a brave man. He had risen in the ranks of the Roman army to be a centurion, the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer. He was a devout, God-fearing man. He did not subscribe to the cult of Roman emperors and had left the pluralistic gods of his ancestors and Rome to believe in the one God. God honored Cornelius and chose him to be the first Gentile convert to Christianity. While Cornelius was searching for God, God found him and sent an angel to deliver a message. He could have ignored the message and went on with his life, but he did not. He sent for Peter. In the meantime, Peter was living in Joppa with Simon, a tanner of hides. This was a very stinky business and must have given pause to Cornelius' messengers as they arrived at Simon's house. Peter's missionary journey takes him from Jerusalem to Lydda to Joppa to Caesarea. God sends Peter to Caesarea to deliver the good news of the gospel to Cornelius and his household. Before God could send Peter, God revealed to him that there was no longer Jew and Gentile; everyone was entitled to hear and obey the gospel. God was now ready to complete the command Jesus gave to the apostles, "…And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). Peter was also brave. The keeper of the keys of the kingdom is about to act boldly for the sake of the gospel. He will enter the home of a Gentile and share the message of "Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all." Even as he is sharing the gospel, the Holy Spirit is poured out on all who were listening to the message. To Peter and his brothers from Joppa, this sign is the final affirmation that the Gentiles are now included. Peter, the brothers from Joppa and the whole church will come to know that this was God's intention all along, having been revealed by his prophets long ago and now fulfilled. I am amazed by the extraordinary measures God has taken to save His children. He asked His Son to offer His own life that there might be forgiveness of sin for those who believe. In the case of Cornelius and even to this day, we know that "the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." (2 Chronicles 16:9). Further, He acts to prepare and equip His messengers to share the good news of the gospel that the hearers might believe and be saved! Just now, we honor His Son, the who died and was raised to life, the judge of the living and the dead, and the one who is able to bring peace between God and man, by partaking of the bread and drinking from the cup. 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. I am amazed, Abba, Father, of the depth of love You have for us. First and foremost, we thank-you for Jesus, who offered His own life that we might be saved from our sins. And we continue to thank-you, Abba, Father, for Your work in the world to strengthen those who seek You, that they might find You, and know Your great mercy and grace! Thank-you, Abba, Father, that You strengthen us through Your word and Your Spirit. We are so much blessed, Abba, Father! We are thankful for this opportunity to partake of the bread and drink from the cup to remember Your Son, Jesus, and the sacrifice He made 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, "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!