Worthy is the Lamb

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

WORTHY IS THE LAMB

Luke 22:14-19

14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."  17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." 

NIV

Although the order of things is different that Matthew records them, and we celebrate communion according to the order in Matthew and what Paul reminds us in his letter to the Corinthians, Luke still give us an account that shows us a truth the others do not focus on. We take this communion using various symbols of the cup of wine and the loaf of bread. We have made them either denominationally biased or with dietary correctness, as well as a religious ritual, instead of an experience of great spiritual significance. That is not to say all believers behave in that manner for many partake with a sincere and spiritual heart. But the truth which is revealed for us here is that Jesus says he will once again sit with his disciples and partake in some experience of Passover. It would seem right to consider that fact that as we have applied his blood, the blood of the Lamb of God over the doorposts of our hearts, and the death angel will not come to us, but we will gain eternal life, that once we have been reunited in bodily form with Jesus we will sit at the banquet table with him and celebrate a new type of Passover. We will actually be having communion with our Lord. Jesus said he would not eat the Passover again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God. This fulfillment is found in us being there with him. Once all is said and done, Satan is defeated, he, the beast, and the false prophet along with all those who refused to accept Jesus, and were deceived by Satan, are thrown into the lake of burning sulfur and it is truly over. The new heaven and earth are established and the new city of Jerusalem is set upon the new earth, we will be at that banquet table with our Lord and he will once again drink of the cup and eat of the bread with all his disciples which include us. What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, what a day, glorious day that will be. What a day that will be when I celebrate the Passover with my Lord. We will once again celebrate. This might well be the focus of our attention when we do these things in remembrance of him. Yes, we surely do need to examine our hearts, but not to see if it is unworthy of sharing in the elements of the Passover, for we can be assured it is in and of itself unworthy. But what makes it worthy to partake is the blood of the Lamb poured out all over it. That is what we should examine it for, has the blood of Christ been applied to the doorpost, the entrance to our heart. There is nothing in our hearts which can make us worthy, but if we partake without recognizing the body of Christ we bring judgment on ourselves. This is what we must do, we must recognize the body of Christ which was broken for us. We must apply his blood to our hearts and then we are worthy, because of him, not us, to partake. If we think we need to be free of sin in order to partake in communion, we are sadly mistaken, for it is not about us, but about Jesus, his body and blood. He and he alone makes us worthy and it will be those who know this who will be with him in the fullness of the kingdom of God.