The Lord's Supper

Jesus once responded to a young rich man’s rejection of the gospel with this timeless phrase, “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” (Matthew 19:30)

One of the prerequisites for entering the kingdom is poverty and humiliation! But who wants that kingdom?! We naturally seek a land that offers “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” A place where “dreams come true” and “hard work pays off” Is that the picture of God’s kingdom?

In a world that frequently rejects those things that seem “less” in our eyes, God redirects our focus on those with less as an opportunity to model kingdom behavior towards them. To do that, it often means we have to take less so that they can have more.

The Lord’s Supper was a fresh perspective on an old memorial feast that reflected on God’s faithfulness to deliver those in trouble. The Passover feast had certain conditions in which it must be eaten (Exodus 12). While that was a feast of remembrance, it was also a reminder that the journey has just begun, and there will be a great day of feasting when we get where we’re going!

I’ve heard people say that communion doesn’t fill you up. But it wasn’t designed to fill you up but remind you of the things to come. The lesson in the encounter with the rich young ruler wasn’t necessarily aimed at the rich man (although Jesus hoped he would get it), but rather the lesson was for those who chose to give up what they could be “feasting on” for the anticipation of what’s to come. Jesus said it another way in Luke 18:29-30, “No one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Paul reminds us of a passage from Isaiah, “‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived’ the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) But Isaiah continues that message of hope for the Israelites who had lost so much because of their poor choices, “The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create…” (Isaiah 65:17-18)

The Lord’s Supper is intended to cause you to reflect on the sacrifices necessary to make heaven a reality for you. 1 Corinthians 11:24, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” But its bigger focus is for us to keep in mind that we will be filled up when we give our allegiance to God by sharing our blessings with others.

Like the small bite-sized portions on a sampler plate of desserts is intended to make you want more, so is the paradoxical “supper” of “little” intending to cause you to want more of it. The way to the kingdom should bring new hope to how life will be like when Jesus truly is king!

Judas Iscariot

When the Romans took over the world, the Celtic’s Day of the Dead was moved around and purified a bit to become a more holy event – All Hallows Eve, which means “all the holy people” was celebrated on November 1. But what about the bad people, not “holy” ones?

[Enter Halloween stage left]

What made the “holy” ones different from the “unholy” ones? We should feel confident to say, "Decisions." Hebrews 5:12-14, “You need milk, not solid food! [Because you are] not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

Making good decisions is something parents should be teaching their children to do (Deuteronomy 6:7-8; Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:1-4). When someone knows how to make good decisions, they can look ahead to see where that decision could lead them and determine if it’s good or not.

Judas made a decision that cost him tremendously: he betrayed Christ! But what else can we know about Judas Iscariot? Apparently, he was a businessman, since he was given the charge of the purse (the bank account).

In John 12:5-6, we read that it was Judas who objected to the woman anointing Jesus’ with expensive oil by saying, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” The next line paints a picture that will probably never be erased, “He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” Was this an inspired description of Judas, or did Jesus call Judas to serve alongside Him just like the others? In Matthew 26:13 Jesus says of the woman anointing His feet, “Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” It’s Judas’s decision that would become his identifying mark forever!

In fact, most people don’t their child after Judas because of how bad his decision was.

We may not know much of him, and what we do know may be skewed a little because of the impact Judas’ decision had on all of the followers of Christ, but hopefully, we can see that Judas teaches us about the cost of our decisions, and the impact those decisions can have on others. Remember that all the apostles decided to follow Christ at one point. And in time, they all had to make other decisions about how long to follow Him, under what conditions, and whether or not they were willing to truly give all for Him. That’s true for us as well.

Remember Paul’s words to the churches of Galatia, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel…” (Galatians 1:6) They too were making decisions that made a negative impact on the body. It’s healthy to reflect on the life of Judas and ask what we can learn from his weakness? Our weaknesses have probably been the source of many acts of betrayal towards our pledge to Christ; thankfully God can provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:12-13), just as Jesus told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

The key? Don’t give up on Christ when it seems like He can’t help (perhaps Judas’s weakness) – that’s when He shines the brightest!

The End of All

Try to imagine what it must have been like for God to speak the cosmos into existence. Those first words echoed through the formless and empty void of darkness, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:1-3) To know that God had a plan in mind is evident by the way He created an increasingly more complex infrastructure to support the pinnacle of His plan—mankind! Yet, the first scene we read, after mankind was created, was mistrust, rebellion, and deception. The story just gets worse from there; read Acts 7 some time to hear Stephen’s recount of the “chosen people” of God. It’s quite dismal!

Isaiah 46:9-10, “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I [planned].’”

As God had a plan in the very beginning, He knew how the very end would happen, too. That didn’t stop Him from making great efforts to convince His creation to trust Him, to obey Him, and to live by His truth. He has given mankind plenty of reasons to put our faith in Him, and yet…

Jesus spent much of His time on earth preparing His followers, those who trusted Him, how to stay faithful even through hardships. In Luke 21 Jesus informed them that the things they’ve put a lot of trust in (like the temple), wouldn’t be what would “get them through” the difficulty.

Paul would remind Timothy of the need for a deep faith in Jesus (not the temple) in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”

Peter would tell God’s elect, exiles, scattered throughout [Asia] that we have so much to praise God for, giving us an amazing inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade; protected by our faith in Jesus! But he told them, “for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” But these “opportunities” make our faith stronger than ever, and because of that strong faith, we will be filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy—the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9).

Thinking about “the End” can be a scary thought. But it’s one that God has had in mind from the beginning, and it doesn’t have to be awful—if we trust Him.

End Game for the Temple

The mission statement for Habitat for Humanity describes their “love for God being modeled by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope.” Their vision: “A world where everyone has a decent place to live.” The concept is great! People help others who are helping build their own homes. The people who will be living there are required to help on a large percentage of the construction of the home, with only limited customizations they can make to the design. Once the foundation is poured, the layout is set. From there, they won’t get to move in until the final touches are complete. But in the end – it’s theirs!

When you think about the house that Jesus is building for us, we too have to be patient for the final touches to be completed. He says in John 14:1-3, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.”

“But when will it be completed?!” is a question that many homeowners ask during the construction process which is similar to the question about the end of time. As Jesus’ earthly ministry was drawing to a close, He emphasized the difference between an earthly kingdom and the one He was building.

Imagine how you would have interpreted what He said in Luke 21:6, “The time will come when not one stone [of the temple] will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” To a Jew, the temple represented God’s dwelling with them (Exodus 25:8-9 or 1 Kings 8:27-30). Therefore, to have it destroyed (again!) would seem so utterly hopeless. The Jews had suffered the loss of their temple at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (587 B.C.), and now Jesus was talking about something similar.

Even today people are still asking those questions, still wondering what it's all about. After all, the walls of the temple did fall in 70 A.D. by General Titus, Vespasian’s son. How are we supposed to grapple with the events leading up to “the end” when some of the specific language Jesus used has already taken place, but we’re still here!? Basically – Trust!

We must trust that what He has planned for us will come at the appropriate time. Those aren’t always the words we want to hear, but that’s what we’re reminded to do… “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown” (Revelations 2:10b). Perhaps our biggest lesson, as well as the Jews listening to Jesus, is that bad events will happen, but you must be part of God’s kingdom (the church) to remain hopeful. The temple they put their trust in was just man-made, but Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”