Hello All,
First let me say I'm still on nomail but was
reading and noticed something in a familiar
passage. If you reply, being I'm reaching to the
list from the depths of nomail *smile*, I'll not
be able to recieve it and no need to reply
anyway... this is just some food for outloud
thought when I was reading this morning.
And when He had taken some bread and given
thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying,
"This is My body which is given for you; do this
in remembrance of me." And in the same way He
took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This
cup which is poured out for you is the new
covenant in My blood."But behold, the hand of the
one betraying Me is with Mine on the table. "For
indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been
determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"
If we've seen or heard that scripture once we
heard it a thousand times. A familiar literary
pilgrimage to the time of year we celebrate
commonly known as Easter, a pagan holiday giving
homage to the god of spring and light, which was
adopted by Christians as the resurrection of
Christ after his crucifixion. So many times we've
read and listened to the words of breaking bread,
drinking from the cup and Jesus instructing "do
this in remembrance of me". So we read, and do
just as it says, lick our lips, wipe our mouths
and we move on to the next program item in the
pamphlet. Remembering what Christ did indeed is
important but also from reading how Jesus prayed
three times profusely in the garden "if possible
remove this cup from me but nonetheless let your
will be done and not mine", we see the "man" part
of Jesus and we see he is concerned over what he
will endure and sensitive to all what lies ahead
as well what he is currently enduring. We often
identify the last supper with Christ taking on
the world's issues at the cross, and yet I wonder
how often we gloss over the feelings and
sensitivity of Jesus in his time of announcement
here? Even in the midst of one of his most shared
times with his friends, his disciples, he is
tossed off from the sin of selfishness. What do I
mean? If we continue on to read from the scripture above we read…
"And they began to discuss among themselves which
one of them it might be who was going to do this
thing. And there arose also a dispute among them
as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.
So here is, for this point, a man who is about to
endure the greatest sacrifice on Earth sharing
his news with his friends over an exemplary meal
and what happens? The men decide to discuss who
is the one who will do this. And that then leads
to them leaving Jesus out of the conversation
and out of mind as they then ensue in a
conversation with each boasting about who is
greatest among them. So the conversation has
evolved to a selfish "I'm greatest" or "he's
greatest" while their friend and mentor only a
few feet from them is carrying the weight of the
world on his shoulders. Did they not really
believe him? Did they not understand? I can't
imagine they didn't because of the conversation
of who would be the one so wicked to do this
betrayal. And yet they let Jesus off to him self
and selfishly begin discussing who is greatest among themselves.
Can you imagine what Jesus must have felt sitting
back from the table, bringing the news of his
betrayal and death, only to find his friends have
turned the topic of concern to themselves?
Where's the compassion? The concern for Jesus?
The interaction with Jesus? Certainly what Jesus
was soon to endure was much worse, but what a
feeling of loneliness he must have had as well
with the selfish thoughts and concerns the disciples had at such a time.
Whether or not Jesus actually felt this way being
the Son of Man but also the Son of God, it caused
me to consider my own life, my own conversations.
Often times we will listen to a friend or
acquaintance tell us about their woes and worries
and in an effort to let them feel they are not
alone; we will identify a similar or applicable
situation in our lives. To a point that is
useful, although perhaps not always necessary.
Those kinds of conversations twists are generated
out of compassion for the other person, but have
we brought such experiences of our own to light
in the midst of a friend's expression of fear,
trouble, or anguish and found that the
conversation focus had turned to ourselves and
their needs are left lying in the dirt? Was there
a time when we left our friend feeling as though
we only cared about ourselves, and in their
search for a sounding board found themselves a
loud speaker? It is cited that a good friend is a
good listener, and we might keep the disciples in
mind next time we are held in confidence by our
friends unloading and seeking compassion and friendship.
Similarly, at time of communion when we as
Christians are to take of the elements sincerely
and not abstractly, as well come to the table
having cleansed our minds and hearts, purged them
before coming to the Lord before recognizing his
sacrifice and remembering it, how much do we
focus on ourselves? How many "I"s are in our
thoughts and how many "You"s are there? So just
as in the day of the last supper, it is good to
not indulge in thoughts and conversations
regarding ourselves in what we've done right or
wrong, indeed come to the table clean, but shower
before going to church, not at the altar of
remembrance, and keep focus on Christ remembering
what he did, not what we did or didn't do since
the last time we broke bread and drank of the cup.
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