Good Friday, April 3, 2026
Celebrate the Covenant- again and again! Mark 14:17-24
Christians through time have celebrated the sacrifice of
Jesus with Bread and Cup, speaking to us of the broken body and shed blood of
Jesus. On the night before He died, the Lord Jesus observed the Jewish Passover
that marked the deliverance of the Jewish people from the judgment that fell on
Egypt when the first-born of every household perished. He made it a moment for
disciples through time. We read-
When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. … 22 While they were
eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it
to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
At FDC, we close almost every Sunday worship gathering with the Lord’s Table, remembering the wonder of God’s gift to us. It is not just a ritual tacked onto the end of the service that we hurry through. It is a holy moment and has been part of Christian worship for 2 millennia.
The bread that we eat holds so much richness for us. Jesus spoke of Himself as the “Bread of Life.” He promised that as we come to Him in faith and give our lives to His care, we will find the kind of deep satisfaction that a hungry person feels after a good meal. Bread comes from seeds that are ground and broken to provide sustenance. Jesus became our Bread only after allowing Himself to be broken. And, we learn that from His brokenness emerges our wholeness. Yes, when you take that bit of bread, remember the true Bread given in Him, and be fed not in your physical body but in your spirit!
As we take the Cup it is a wonder-filled moment of worship. Jesus spoke of the covenant written in love because of His spilled blood. The ancient practice before God was that sin demanded sacrifice. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” In the First Covenant, the blood of a lamb was shed to cover the sin of the people.
Christ Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1) Though we are sinners by nature, our guilt is removed, washed away by Christ who died in our place. He wrote a New Covenant, an agreement with God and humanity at the Cross. The result is that “we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus … (so) let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.”
What a mystery that we are now at peace with a Holy God, not because we are good enough, not because we have made some great sacrifice, but because Christ has provided for us what we could never earn for ourselves. We need not live in shame, guilt, or fear because “the One who knows us best, loves us most.”
So next time we take that little cup with bread and juice, let’s truly worship giving thanks for the Bread of Life and the blood-sworn Covenant of which the Cup speaks.
__________
For reflection –
Have I received God’s grace gift for myself or am I still attempting to gain
His favor?
When I worship in the time of Holy Communion, do I prepare my mind and heart
for the Spirit’s work?
How can I give proper thanks to God for His great and precious promise?
If you would like to share your thoughts or prayer needs with me you may do by emailing me – JerScott55@gmail.com
For a video of this devotion go to https://www.youtube.com/@FaithDiscoveryChurch
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