This week’s devotions are based on this week’s message: Shadows: A Glimpse of a Savior! (WATCH HERE)
1 Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
There is a phrase in these verses which I have probably said hundreds of times but never really paused long enough to reflect on it. It’s a phrase that indicates the timing of the Lord’s Supper with an even that completely contrasts yet at the same time richly highlights the gift that Jesus gave.
“…on the night he was betrayed…”
Paul in instructing the Corinthians of the Lord’s Supper could have said, “the night before Jesus died,” or “the evening of the Passover celebration” but instead chose to mark the evening Jesus gave the gift of the Lord’s Supper by the event of Judas’ betrayal.
What would you do on a night you were betrayed? How would the phrase end for you?
“On the night I was betrayed…I plotted revenge for the one that betrayed me.”
“On the night I was betrayed…I fumed at the gall of a friend to treat me that way.”
“On the night I was betrayed…I was ready to write off all of my friends.”
Yet Jesus didn’t do that on the night he was betrayed.
He took bread and gave it to the disciples with the promise, “This is my body.”
He took wine and gave it to the disciples with the promise, “This is my blood.”
Did Judas receive this? We don’t know for sure, yet Jesus knew Peter would deny knowing him and the rest of the disciples would desert him.
Yet Jesus didn’t withhold himself from them, but rather gave himself for them.
What makes this phrase profound is on an evening when even his closest followers would abandon him, Jesus was giving himself for them.
Before the action even was committed, Jesus was assuring them of his love and grace. His body and blood was for their forgiveness. The impact of the Supper was felt perhaps more after a betrayal, a denial, and desertion…Jesus was giving himself for those that would sin against him.
The same is true for you. Perhaps we change the phrase from “on the night he was betrayed” to things like the following:
“On the day after acting unloving toward my spouse…Jesus gave his body and blood for me.”
“On the night my heart was filled with greed…Jesus gave his body and blood for me.”
“On the week I was chasing my career and forgetting my Savior…Jesus gave his body and blood for me.”
How profound is this gift of the Lord’s Supper that it is given to us EVEN WHEN we sin against the one who gave it. How amazing is the Lord’s Supper that it FORGIVES US even when we don’t deserve it. How loving is the Lord’s Supper to assure us that ALL has been done to secure our relationship with God when our sin is certainly enough to separate us from him.
Tonight is the night we remember that “on the night he was betrayed…Jesus gave himself for you and me.”
Apply: How would you react if someone betrayed you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for giving your self for us even when we sin against you. AMEN.