1 Corinthians 16:1 – Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. ² On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once. ³ When I come, I will write letters of recommendation for the messengers you choose to deliver your gift to Jerusalem. ⁴ And if it seems appropriate for me to go along, they can travel with me.

⁵ I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia, for I am planning to travel through Macedonia. ⁶ Perhaps I will stay awhile with you, possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next destination. ⁷ This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me. ⁸ In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. ⁹ There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me. (NLT)

History records that during the years 53-56 there was a great famine in Israel.  Crops failed each year, and starvation was rampant.  Paul urged the churches to collect funds that would be used to buy food for the people.  Paul mentions this collection in this passage, and in Galatians.  He also mentions churches collectively giving to the poor in 2 Corinthians, and in Romans.  It is important for churches to look beyond themselves, and to do what they can to help those less fortunate.

However, this is not the only lesson from this passage.  In verse eight, Paul says that he will be in Ephesus for a while, and then in verse nine he writes something we often overlook: “There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.” Paul had an open door for great work, yet there were many who opposed him.  Friends, these two go together.  The devil does not want us to go through the open doors of Christian opportunity!  If you always find your work for the Lord to be smooth sailing – try a little harder! 

Jesus told us in Luke 10:2 – “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”  For the Church in the world today, the doors are open for a great harvest.  The fields are ripe for the harvest, but harvesters who are willing to face opposition are few.

The Holy Spirit can supply the strength we need to face opposition.  Our task is not to make all of those who oppose us happy.  Our task is to share the message of Jesus Christ with the world.  Today, let us boldly work in the fields, trusting God for the harvest.   

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 12:1 – At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. ² But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.”

³ Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. ⁵ And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? ⁶ I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! ⁷ But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

⁹ Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, ¹⁰ where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)  ¹¹ And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. ¹² And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³ Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one! ¹⁴ Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus. (NLT)

Opinions about ‘proper’ observance of the Sabbath have been dividing God’s people for thousands of years.  These divisions continues today.  In this passage, Jesus is specifically ‘doing good’, but just what is and is not good to do on the Sabbath?  My wife, Lisa, and I enjoy working in our yard.  Lisa has a wonderful knack for arranging flower gardens.  I enjoy helping her.  It is something that we enjoy together, and it brings us closer to God as we work with God’s beauty in nature.  However, I have been questioned by good church people as to why we would work in our gardens on a Sunday!  No one seems to question good church people who sit in front of the television watching football and drinking beer on a Sunday, but oh the horror of working in the flower gardens!

To answer the age-old question of what is and is not good to do on a Sabbath, let us consider what Jesus said in Mark 2:27 – “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (NIV)  The Sabbath is God’s gift to us.  It is a day to draw closer to God.  It is a day to honor God.  However, as a Christian, is not everyday a day to draw closer to God? Is not everyday a day to honor God?  Of course!  As Christians, we must not seek to compartmentalize our relationship with God.  We are not to live in any way that we desire for six days a week and then remember God on the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is a gift from God.  We should take full advantage of this gift.  We live in a busy society, and we need a Sabbath to slow down.  We need a Sabbath not only to honor God, but to rest.  Rest is different for different people.  For my wife and I, working in our flower gardens is restful.  It renews our spirits.  For others, rest comes from a hike in the woods, and for some it may come from sitting on the back porch while enjoying the beauty of the day.  I know some good folks who enjoy going to the homes of the elderly and helping them with household chores on their Sabbath.  It renews their spirit!

When is your Sabbath?  Personally, I work fairly hard on a Sunday!  I’m at church by 7 am, and there are some Sunday’s in which I don’t get home until late in the evening.  Those days are not very restful, and my spirit can be drained after a fourteen-hour day, but I do make sure that I take a Sabbath.  Whenever your Sabbath is, it is important to take a Sabbath for it is God’s gift to us.

Today, honor God in all you do.  You may be working hard today but look forward to the Sabbath that God has in store for you!

Posted by Ramón Torres

1 Corinthians 15:41 – The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.

⁴² It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. ⁴³ Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. ⁴⁴ They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

⁴⁵ The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. ⁴⁶ What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. ⁴⁷ Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. ⁴⁸ Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. ⁴⁹ Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.

⁵⁰ What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. (NLT)

One of the many issues that the Church in Corinth was dealing with was differing opinions concerning the Resurrection of Jesus.  Connected to this issue was the resurrection of our own bodies.  Earlier in this chapter, Paul states: “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died” (1 Corinthians 15:20).  Jesus is the first of a great harvest, and we will follow.  Today’s passage addresses just how it is that we will follow in this harvest.

Basically, Paul is saying that our resurrected form will be so different, that we really cannot comprehend it all.  In verses forty-two through forty-four, Paul uses four terms to describe our resurrected bodies.  He states that our resurrected bodies will be imperishable, or as the New Living Translation has it, they will live forever.  They will be glorious, strong, and spiritual.  This last attribute, spiritual, was an answer to my own questions some years ago.  I grew up in a church that recited the Apostles Creed each week.  One line always bugged me: I believe in the resurrection of the body.  I was unsure about this – I mean which age of our body, young, old, older still!?  I’d really rather have my body from about age twenty-five, thank you very much Lord!  What about people who have lived their lives with physical deformities?  The Word of God is clear; however, our resurrected bodies will be spiritual bodies.

Paul emphasizes this in verse fifty:  “What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.”  I suppose we all have questions about spiritual bodies – what are they really like?  Well, my friends, we trust Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, and we trust God for eternal life, so let us trust that whatever our spiritual bodies will be like, God has it all figured out! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Psalm 15:1 – Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
² Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
³ Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
⁴ Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
⁵ Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever. (NLT)

This psalm is simply titled, A Psalm of David.  We cannot say when this psalm was written, but it has traditionally been believed that this psalm was written while the Ark of the Covenant was being brought to Jerusalem.  In this psalm, David longs to be able to stay in the presence of God.  We must remember, only the priests were able to enter into the innermost area of the tabernacle (sanctuary), and David was not a priest.  David loved the Lord so much that he desired to be in the presence of the Lord at all times. 

What a wonderful picture of the love that one has for God, and an even more wonderful picture is that we can be in the presence of the Lord at all times.  When Kind David ruled, many of the Jews believed that God resided in the Ark, and the Ark was kept away from the people.  Let’s fast forward centuries later to the death of Jesus.  In Matthew 27:50-51 we read: “Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.  At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”  This curtain essentially kept all but a very few priests from ever entering into the presence of God.  If we return to this psalm, we know that the reason that the Jews did not allow the common man (and woman) from entering into the presence of God was their sin.  Sin separates us from God.  The death of Jesus – for our sins – removed from us this separation from God.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote:  “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.  By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.  And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

When Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, he was promising the very presence of God – no more separation.  This promise has been fulfilled, and the Holy Spirit is available to all. 

Today, let us not live like God is unapproachable.  Indeed, let us live confidently, and powerfully, as we live and breathe in the very presence of God!

Posted by Ramón Torres

Psalm 22:1 – My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
² Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.

³ Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ Our ancestors trusted in you,
and you rescued them.
⁵ They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
⁷ Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
⁸ “Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
let the Lord rescue him!”

²⁵ I will praise you in the great assembly.
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.
²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied.
All who seek the Lord will praise him.
Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
²⁷ The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him.
All the families of the nations will bow down before him.
²⁸ For royal power belongs to the Lord.
He rules all the nations.

²⁹ Let the rich of the earth feast and worship.
Bow before him, all who are mortal,
all whose lives will end as dust.
³⁰ Our children will also serve him.
Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord.
³¹ His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born.
They will hear about everything he has done. (NLT)

Psalm 22 may have been the last prayer that Jesus prayed before his death.  Mark 15:34 records Jesus as uttering the first verse of this psalm just before he died.  I like to think that Jesus had this entire psalm in mind.  While I did not include the entire psalm in this post, it certainly fits the events of the last week of Jesus – including the Resurrection.

Yes, Psalm 22 has it all, from defeat in the presence of one’s enemies, to victory in the presence of God. 

This psalm is divided into two major sections.   Verses 1-21 are a cry of agony towards God.  Verses 22-31 are a hymn of praise and thanksgiving.  Not only is this the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus, but it can also be our story, as well.  Left on our own, sin has us defeated.  We stand powerless against sin, our enemy.  With Jesus, however, we can move from being defeated by sin to praising God in the presence of the great assembly (verse 25). 

Our praise of God for granting us victory is not something we keep to ourselves.  The Psalmist looked forward to a time when the whole earth would acknowledge God and bow down to God (verse 27).  If there was ever a generation that has had the resources and technology to get the message of God to the whole earth, it is ours!  Our churches should be doing everything they can to get the message out to our communities, and to the world!  We should do everything we can do to ensure that our children, and children not yet born, will know of the victory that has been won for us (verses 30-31).

Today, let us celebrate that we have come from defeat to victory!  Let us be eager and willing to tell the world! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 11:7 – As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? ⁸ Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces. ⁹ Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. ¹⁰ John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way before you.’

¹¹ “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is! ¹² And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it. ¹³ For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come. ¹⁵ Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! (NLT) 

These verses follow a passage in which John the Baptist was in prison.  John had sent word to Jesus asking if he was indeed the one of whom he preached.  His questions were honest, and considering his circumstances, understandable.  When we find ourselves in dire situations, we, too, may ask if Jesus truly saves.

Jesus understood that his followers were questioning John in their hearts, so Jesus praised John for his ministry.  Then he tells them that even as great as John’s ministry was, he and his ministry were less than the least in the kingdom of heaven.  This was in no way a cheapening of John’s ministry, for Jesus even tells us in verse fourteen that John had the spirit of Elijah, the one who would proclaim that the Messiah had come.

What Jesus was saying was that in the fullness of the kingdom, which Jesus would usher in with his death and resurrection, what came before was but a shadow of things to come.  Jesus states in verse thirteen that all their history was lived looking forward to the kingdom, and Jesus would bring it.

Jesus has brought it!  We are living in the best of times, for we can realize the kingdom.  We can live without questioning the kingdom, for Jesus has opened it for us.  Are we living like we have been given the kingdom?  Are we living confident in the promise that has been given to us? We should be! We should be living with confidence.  Chapter five of the Book of Romans speaks of this confidence and this hope.  Paul wrote: “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”  (Romans 5:5-6).

The one of whom John the Baptist preached has come, and our hope is secure!  Today, let us live confidently, not matter what trials we may face.

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 10:34 – “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵ ‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
³⁶ Your enemies will be right in your own household!’

³⁷ “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. ³⁸ If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. ³⁹ If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

⁴⁰ “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. ⁴¹ If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. ⁴² And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” (NLT) 

To understand this difficult passage, we must understand what the Jews of that day were expecting from a Messiah.  They expected the Messiah to be someone who would remove foreign governments from the land, creating once again the nation of Israel.  In verse thirty-four, the word that we translate as peace is not the peace of shalom.  The word is εἰρήνη, which meant a state of national tranquility.  To paraphrase verse thirty-four, let us understand it this way: “Don’t imagine that I came to remove Rome from our land.”  Jesus was not the kind of Messiah that many were looking for, indeed, Jesus may not be the kind of Messiah many are still looking for! 

So, what are we to do with the verses that speak of Jesus setting families against one another?  Again, we look at the context of that day.  The people were going to have to choose what kind of Messiah they were looking for, and what kind of Messiah they would follow.  If one family member rejected Jesus because he was not a political or military Messiah, and another family member chose to follow the teachings of Jesus because they believed that he was a spiritual Messiah, it would cause divisions within the family.   

This choosing still has to be made in our day.  We have to choose what kind of Messiah we are looking for: a worldly Messiah who blesses us with things such as money, possessions, or status; or a Messiah who saves us from our sin and teaches us how to live with one another here and now.  Sadly, families are still dividing over who and what to follow.  Ultimately, Christians must love Jesus above all else.  This may sound harsh, but placing Jesus as our Lord will then put every other relationship into perspective.  Indeed, placing Jesus as our Lord will enhance all of our other relationships.

This day, we will all have at least one opportunity to make a choice.  Let us choose Jesus over everything else.   

Posted by Ramón Torres

Psalm 119:1 – Joyful are people of integrity,
who follow the instructions of the Lord.
² Joyful are those who obey his laws
and search for him with all their hearts.
³ They do not compromise with evil,
and they walk only in his paths.
⁴ You have charged us
to keep your commandments carefully.
⁵ Oh, that my actions would consistently
reflect your decrees!
⁶ Then I will not be ashamed
when I compare my life with your commands.
⁷ As I learn your righteous regulations,
I will thank you by living as I should!
⁸ I will obey your decrees.
Please don’t give up on me!

⁹ How can a young person stay pure?
By obeying your word.
¹⁰ I have tried hard to find you—
don’t let me wander from your commands.
¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
¹² I praise you, O Lord;
teach me your decrees.
¹³ I have recited aloud
all the regulations you have given us.
¹⁴ I have rejoiced in your laws
as much as in riches.
¹⁵ I will study your commandments
and reflect on your ways.
¹⁶ I will delight in your decrees
and not forget your word.

¹⁷ Be good to your servant,
that I may live and obey your word.
¹⁸ Open my eyes to see
the wonderful truths in your instructions.
¹⁹ I am only a foreigner in the land.
Don’t hide your commands from me!
²⁰ I am always overwhelmed
with a desire for your regulations.
²¹ You rebuke the arrogant;
those who wander from your commands are cursed.
²² Don’t let them scorn and insult me,
for I have obeyed your laws.
²³ Even princes sit and speak against me,
but I will meditate on your decrees.
²⁴ Your laws please me;
they give me wise advice. (NLT)

Psalm 119 is a lengthy psalm, as it is an acrostic.  It is divided into twenty-two parts, or stanzas.  In Hebrew, stanza one begins with the first letter of the alphabet, and each following stanza begins with the next letter.  In the twenty-four verses of this reading, we work our way through the first three stanzas. 

It’s been said that integrity is doing what is right when no one is looking.  For a Christian, integrity is staying in the will of God even when no one would know otherwise.  The Word of God tells us that this will bring joy into our lives (verse 1).  Verse three tells us that the godly do not compromise with evil.  For a Christian, evil is best defined as anything outside of the will of God.  Even seemingly harmless things can be evil.  If God’s will is for us to be involved in a certain activity, but we choose to involve ourselves in something else, we are outside of the will of God.  True joy comes from staying on the path that God has set before us. 

All three stanzas of today’s reading speak of living a life of integrity.  Note in verse nineteen the psalmist writes that he is only a foreigner in the land, and so he asks God not to hide God’s commands.  Our true home is with God, and the Word of God is our map as we travel through this foreign land.  Without our map we would end up hopelessly lost, with our map we stay on course.  The psalmist knew the joy of being on track because he knew the pain of being of course.  He wrote in verse twenty that he was always overwhelmed with a desire for God’s regulations.  What a picture of life – life lived to the full!

Today, let the desire for God’s Word be overwhelming in you!  Let the joy of the Lord be your strength this day! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Genesis 37:29 –  Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief. ³⁰ Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I do now?”

³¹ Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. ³² They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”

³³ Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He mourned deeply for his son for a long time. ³⁵ His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave mourning for my son,” he would say, and then he would weep.

³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard. (NLT)

Several years ago I preached a sermon series on dysfunctional families from the Book of Genesis.  Jacob and his father Isaac were two of the main characters in this series.  While today’s passage seems to be just a tragic story of unruly brothers secretly selling their brother into slavery, we must realize the family dysfunction that precedes this story.

Jacob had a dysfunctional relationship with his sons.  He favored Joseph over his other sons.  Genesis 37:3 – Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. (NLT) A careful reading of Genesis 37 clearly shows that Jacob showed his favoritism with special gifts to Joseph, while Joseph spent his time reporting to his father on the behavior of his brothers.  This set up a very unhealthy family dynamic.  When we consider the childhood of Jacob, it is easy to see why he behaved in such a way, for his own parents showed their favoritism to different children.  Genesis 25:27 – As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home. ²⁸ Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob. (NLT)

Whether it is with our families, or with anyone else, showing favoritism creates dysfunction.  We may look at these ancient stories and tell ourselves that we do not behave in such a way with our own children, but the spiritual application compels us to ask ourselves: “Do we favor certain types of people over others?”  It is a fact of life that some people are more likeable than others, but it goes against God’s design when we treat certain people with less favor because we find them less likeable.  Consider James 2:1 – My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? (NLT)

This is a bold statement, but then it is God’s Word!  Our faith in Jesus Christ must be displayed by modeling our lives after the life of Jesus.  Jesus loved all, and he was willing to even embrace those that society cast aside.  Certainly, this is something that we all battle, but is something in which we must continually seek strength from the Holy Spirit so that we may overcome the temptation.

Each of us, at some point this day, will be tempted to show less favor to someone less likeable.  When that moment comes, let us seek the strength we need, so that God will be glorified in our interactions with all of God’s people! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Mark 14:12 – On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

¹³ So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions: “As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴ At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ ¹⁵ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” ¹⁶ So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.

¹⁷ In the evening Jesus arrived with the twelve disciples. ¹⁸ As they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me here will betray me.”

¹⁹ Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one?”

²⁰ He replied, “It is one of you twelve who is eating from this bowl with me. ²¹ For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”

²² As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.”

²³ And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many. ²⁵ I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”

²⁶ Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. (NLT)

This familiar passage depicts the story of the Last Supper.  While this passage is usually reserved for Holy Week, it provides us with a powerful lesson on any day.  To understand what this passage can teach us, let us consider two revelations that Jesus shared with his disciples during the Last Supper.

First, in this passage Jesus shared that one of the twelve would betray him.  That revelation ‘greatly distressed’ the disciples, and each asked, “Am I the one?”  If we look at the other Gospel accounts of the Last Supper, we discover the second revelation that Jesus shared that night – he told Peter that he, too, would deny Jesus not once, but three times! (John 13:38, Luke 22:34).

How shocking it must have been for these disciples to know that at least two of them would deny Jesus.  They had known Jesus for several years, and followed him everywhere.  As difficult as Jesus’ revelation must have been that night, how many of us who have known Jesus for years still find that we stumble and deny Jesus?  How many times, by our actions and words (or lack of), have we denied truly knowing Jesus?

While it does sadden us to think that we have denied Jesus, we should celebrate the covenant that Jesus established at this meal.  Because of the Body and Blood of Jesus, we have peace with God.  Paul tells us in Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” Because of Jesus, we do not have to fear God when we stumble, for we have grace!

Today, let us celebrate the peace of God, which certainly exceeds anything we can understand! (Philippians 4:7). 

Posted by Ramón Torres