DEVOTION
THE 1ST
LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
REJOICE AND AGAIN
REJOICE
1 Cor 11:23-26
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.
NIV
To be in communion with Christ
and with the rest of the body of Christ is one of the most excellent moments of
worship. How could we ever forget that Jesus offered himself, gave up his body
to be beaten, mocked, and nailed to a cross to die despised by the very people he
came to, the people he called His very own. How could we ever forget that his
blood was shed so that we would have forgiveness for our sins. Jesus tells us
to remember him when we partake in the bread and the cup. Of course, these
instructions were given to the Corinthians because of their making their gatherings
a food feast, instead of a time of worship as they share in the body and blood of
Jesus. One of the things we wonder about we practice this time when we take the
bread of the cup. It seems to us that most of the over the years communion is a
solemn moment, a time to reflect on the suffering of Christ for us. However, perhaps
it should be the most excellent moment of worship. That should be the point of
our being in communion with Christ and with each other. At the one moment in time,
we all are united in worship as we partake in each element at the same time. It is
a solemn moment in one sense because of what Jesus had to endure for us, but at
the same time this should be the time we worship him for what he did for us.
Maybe it should be a time of rejoicing, of praise, with thanksgiving in our
hearts. We wonder about that first “Good Friday” and why it is called that. Shouldn’t
our “Good Friday” be a time of celebration because it is “Good” instead of “Bad
Friday” We should rejoice on that day, but instead many times we hang either black
or dark purple over a cross to signify the solemnest of this day when Jesus went
to the cross. But that is a good event planned by God so that we could be free
of our sin, and once again be in perfect peace and harmony with God and He with
us. That is why it is “Good” Friday and this communion is the time for us to
celebrate that wonderful plan of God for our redemption. We should especially
be rejoicing because the grave had no power over Jesus and he was raised from
the dead and lives forever at the right hand of the Father always making intercession
for us. Why should we not rejoice and give all the praise and honor to God and
Jesus as we share in the bread that is his body broken for us, and as we share
in the cup that is his blood that was shed for us. Rejoice and again I say
rejoice! He is coming back for us!
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