Christians are instructed to partake of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week and to remember the Lord’s death, discern His body and examine themselves as they partake. The first article in this series examined the importance of doing that; this article will begin to suggest some practical and Biblical ways to fulfill that joyful experience every week.
I must keep my heart engaged while eating of the bread and drinking of the cup. With so many things to distract me, one easy way to keep my heart and mind focused the entire time is to read from the Bible. If I bring it with me to worship every Sunday, it can be my faithful resource for meditation and discernment. There are so many different aspects of Christ’s crucifixion on which our minds can focus. So, perhaps we keep a list (like the following) in our Bibles and focus on a different aspect (and read the associated Bible passages) each week. This kind of list could last me for weeks.
1. Read and meditate on the pre-creation (i.e., eternal) plan of God to send Christ to die for me (1 Pet. 1:17-21; Rev. 13:8; Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9).
2. Read and meditate on the prophetic utterances of Isaiah, who foretold of the rejection and suffering of Christ more than 700 years before its cruel fulfillment (Isa. 53).
3. Read and meditate on the knowledge that Christ would have had (before ever leaving heaven to come to earth) of the tremendous sufferings that He would endure (Psa. 22).
4. Read and meditate on the multiple predictions that Jesus made Himself of the things He would suffer (Matt. 16:21-23; 17:22-23; 20:17-19; Mark 8:31-33; 9:31; 10:33-34; Luke 9:22, 43-44; 18:31-33; John 12:27-33).
5. Read and meditate on the selfless acts of Jesus in the upper room, including His identification of two friends who would hurt Him (Matt. 26:21-25, 31-35; Mark 14:18-21, 27-31; Luke 22:21-23, 31-34; John 13:1-30, 36-38).
6. Read and meditate on the anguish of Jesus as He instituted the Lord’s Supper, when He told His friends, “This is my body” and “This is my blood” (Matt. 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-30).
7. Read and meditate on the prayer-filled sorrow, distress and heart-rending agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46; John 18:1-2).
8. Read and meditate on the intimate betrayal by a friend and being arrested like a violent criminal (Matt. 26:14-16; 47-56; Mark 14:43-50; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:1-11).
(more next week)