Jesus willingly suffered and was viciously crucified for me! That thought never seems to settle itself calmly in my soul, and it never gets old to be reminded of it. Our Lord knew that! That is one reason, no doubt, that He Himself instituted His Supper and then told His followers to observe it every single Sunday! We need it! Oh, how we need it!
As we partake, we remember His death, we discern His body and we examine ourselves. There are numerous ways for us to do that, and so this series of articles has attempted to offer 21 different heart meditations (using the Bible) that one can use while communing with the Lord, perhaps using a different one each week. We will continue and conclude those practical suggestions in this article.
16. Read and meditate on His body, specifically discerning the wounds inflicted all over His innocent flesh, including His hematidrosis in the Garden (Luke 22:44), His lacerated skin from the scourging (Matt. 27:26; John 19:1), the crown of thorns (Matt. 26:29; John 19:2), the nails in His hands and feet (John 20:27; Psa. 22:16), the piercing of His side (John 19:34).
17. Read and meditate on His blood, as it flowed in the Garden (Luke 22:44), in the scourging (Mark 15:15), from the crown of thorns (John 19:5), from His hands and feet (Mark 15:25), from His side (John 19:34; 20:27); and consider all that His blood does for us (Matt. 26:28; Rom. 3:25; 5:9; Eph. 1:7; 2:13; Heb. 2:14; 9:12, 14; 10:19; 13:12; 1 John 1:7; Rev. 1:5).
18. Read and meditate on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, by leaving heaven (Phil. 2:6-8), by taking on human flesh to suffer as a human and to be tempted as a human (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15), by being made our sin offering (2 Cor. 5:21), by selflessly giving Himself for us and our sins (Gal. 1:4; 2:20; Eph. 5:25; 1 Tim. 2:6; Tit. 2:14), by enduring the shame of the cross for us (Heb. 12:2-3; Gal. 3:13).
19. Read and meditate on God’s amazing love for us (John 3:16-17; 1 John 3:1; 4:9-19; Rom. 5:6-11; Eph. 2:4-10).
20. Read and meditate on Christ’s amazing love for us (Eph. 5:2, 25; Gal. 2:20; 1 John 3:16; John 15:13; 2 Cor. 8:9; 5:14).
21. Read and meditate on the seven sayings of Jesus while He was hanging in agony on the cross (Luke 23:34, 43; John 19:26-27; Matt. 27:46; John 19:28, 30; Luke 23:46).
There are many practical ways for us to remember His death, discern His body and examine ourselves each week. In addition to these 21 ideas, we can read and meditate on the words of a hymn. The main thing is to properly focus our hearts on Him and examine our lives in view of the cross.