The Lord’s Supper is something we celebrate every month. It is a symbolic activity that we do as part of our services. In some traditions this is celebrated each week, for us we do it once per month. And it is of such significance that we highlight this meal in our church documents. In our constitution we understand that,
“The Lord’s Supper is a service of spiritual fellowship whereby, through remembrance of Christ’s Life and Death, believers may experience in supreme degree the reality and influence of His Presence. It is an opportunity of entering into close fellowship with the Lord with a consequent rekindling of love and a reconsecration of life to His service.”
The idea, the establishment, of this traditional act of worship is given to the Church through the Last Supper event in the lead up to Jesus’ death. As recorded in Mark 14:12-25 we read of this new promise of God established through this final meal of Jesus. It is in this final supper with His disciples that Jesus shares with them not only His final meal with them, but establishes the new covenant, the new promise of God in Christ.
During the meal, Jesus broke bread and gave it to His disciples, saying, “This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” He then poured wine and gave it to his disciples, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” In this way He highlights the meaning of what He is about to go and do, give Himself up as a sacrifice of love for humanity. As we partake in communion ourselves, we remember that sacrifice of love, that new covenant promise that He established, by eating and drinking the elements that symbolise and remind us of this sacrificial love of God. As we walk through this Easter Week, remembering these events in the lead up to Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are reminded of what He continues to teach despite where He was heading. Here He continues to fulfil the promises of God in the Old Testament and makes new promises in the New Testament. This is a time where we can commemorate the love of God, the promises God gives us, which point toward the cross and are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
This is a devotional series I’ve written for my church for Easter Week 2023. It follows the Passion narrative in the Gospel of Mark. This is day 3 of 8.
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The cleansing of the temple serves as a powerful example of Jesus challenging the religious establishment and pointing to a change in peoples understanding of God.
In this event, in Mark 11:15-19, Jesus enters the temple and becomes angry at what He sees. He sees merchants selling animals for sacrifice and money changers exchanging currency for special temple coins. In both these cases He sees people not only making profit from religious duty, but they are also turning the purpose of the temple into ‘a den of robbers.’ Rather than be a place of worship, a house of prayer and devotion to God, this temple has become a place of material and worldly profit.
It is no wonder that Jesus becomes angry. That He reacts in such a way as to destroy these tables, set the animals free, and cracks the whip on the animals’ hides. This description in the gospels of Jesus’ ‘righteous anger’ shows how much Jesus cares for the temple, cares for the proper worship of God, and cares for any defilement and injustice of such worship.
However, alongside the reality of Jesus coming into the temple and turning its tables over, so too Jesus turns our understanding of worship upside down. With Jesus entering the world, coming as the King, and being divine Himself, we find that true worship is no longer centred on a place but in a person.
This is the new understanding of the worship of God.
Rather than a centre for sacrifice and cleansing, Jesus Himself becomes the sacrifice, Jesus does the cleansing of sin through the cross and resurrection.
As we reflect on the Easter event this week, and as we make our way through this narrative toward the cross and resurrection, may we understand more fully the true worship of God in light of the true sacrifice and cleansing that Jesus has done for us.
Perhaps a way to think about this is through the lens of what occurred at the temple and then how Jesus changes everything for us.
We can be cluttered with anxiety, long to-do-lists, and life stressors but Jesus comes in and helps us find the peace that surpasses understanding.
We seek after profit or pleasure, but Jesus comes to give eternal life and enduring joy.
We expect to pay our own way to worship God and be accepted by Him, but Jesus comes to pay it all.
We judge ourselves by the rules we make up, but Jesus comes to help us understand it is by faith and a matter of the heart.
The temple had lost its true purpose, but Jesus understood that He was the true purpose for the temple.
May He be the true worship of our lives.
This is a devotional series I’ve written for my church for Easter Week 2023. It follows the Passion narrative in the Gospel of Mark. This is day 2 of 8.
If you’d like them to hit your inbox each morning then please subscribe here.
The arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem is a significant moment in the gospel of Mark. As Jesus rode into the city on a donkey the crowds hailed him as the Messiah, the one who was to fulfil the Old Testament prophecies about a future king who would rule with righteousness and justice.
By this point Jesus had already performed many miracles, had gained a following, and had a committed group of disciples who had placed their hope in him. When Jesus rides into Jerusalem not only are His disciples aware of his significance but it seems many in the city are as well.
Jesus’ arrival was a statement. It specifically fulfilled the prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9, which states that the Messiah would come riding on a donkey. Those who knew their scriptures, which will have included all the religious leaders in the city at the time, would have understood the meaning and significance of this moment. It was a declaration that Jesus was the true Messiah, the promised one from centuries ago, who would come and restore God’s people to their rightful place. Those recognising this prophecy spread their cloaks and placed palm branches before Him to express their devotion and admiration.
Of course, it wouldn’t surprise us to know that this was a direct challenge to the religious leaders in Jerusalem. They were increasingly threatened by Jesus’ popularity, but this moment was a challenge to their authority.
It reminds me of footage that shows the late Queen Elizabeth on her coming to Melbourne. There she is in a private car, looking out upon the crowds who line the streets just waiting to get a glimpse of her. There is recognition that she is someone special, she is someone who holds a position of authority, she was someone who people would come out specially to see and greet. When she is spotted by those in the crowd they cheer and clap as they know this is the one they’ve been waiting for. In a similar vein Jesus was the one who God’s people had been waiting for and they recognised His place, His position, and His authority as He rode into Jerusalem.
As we begin Easter Week today it is worth asking ourselves whether we recognise Jesus’ authority in our lives. For example:
When we are afraid to trust God, are we forgetting that His plans are good?
When we face opposition for following Jesus, do we trust He will make a way for us?
When we are distracted by our culture, are we forgetting that He is our portion?
When we experience temptation to sin, do we remember the victory Jesus has already won?
When we step into change, do we hold fast to the unchanging nature of God?
When we encounter those who are different to us, do we extend the love and grace of Jesus to them?
Are there areas in our hearts that we don’t want to give over to God and have His authority in our lives?
This is a devotional series I’ve written for my church for Easter Week 2023. It follows the Passion narrative in the Gospel of Mark. This is day 1 of 8.
If you’d like them to hit your inbox each morning then please subscribe here.
Years and years ago, back when I was working as a personal trainer, I’d often train people in groups. That is, me as the trainer and then 2-5 others all working out together under my guidance. They may have been friends who wanted to workout together. They may have been mum’s who trained together after school drop-off. They may have been colleagues who would train together on the way to work. Whatever the case, it was common to have a group of people to train together rather than just a one-on-one session.
Now, economics was often part of that decision. It was cheaper for those who were being trained to split the cost across a group than for an individual session. But even greater reasoning was the aspects of motivation, accountability, and having fun together. There was something about training together that made the experience of fitness work more enjoyable. There was something about training together that provided better results because clients were spurred on by one-another to do the work.
As I continue to write about Bible reading in 2023 this got me thinking about what it means to read the Bible in community.
Reading the Bible on our own over and over and over again is not an easy thing to do. We may wish to have it be a delight rather than a duty but there can come a point, perhaps even 3 days into some new Bible reading plan whereby we get a little lost in what we’re doing. We get a little deflated because reading the Bible can be a hard exercise and discipline to do on our own. We get confused by what we’re reading and can’t understand what’s going on. We can quickly become unmotivated to do what we set out to do because we don’t have anyone around to encourage us.
Like group fitness sessions we gain motivation and encouragement from reading the Bible with others. In fact, throughout the course of Christian history the Bible has been read in community, whether it has been spoken to a group, shared with others in public, or remembered through story around the table. The Bible is a book to read communally.
Even if we think about Paul’s letters for a moment, they are all written with the view of being read to all in a public setting. Before the printing press the Bible would be read aloud in churches by the clergy. And it really is a modern phenomenon that the Bible has been able to be read privately on the comfort of our couch.
But there are key advantages to reading the Bible in community, reading the Bible with someone else or in a small group. Below I’ve outlined five of these and I’m sure you’d be able to come up with more..
First, reading the Bible in community means more people need to listen.
When we read the Bible alone and for ourselves then we really have to concentrate on what is being read. Of course, this needs to be the case with another person too, but when we read in community we have more people around to help us listen to the Word. Each person hearing the Word will listen differently and listen to the reading in different ways. The more people listening to the Bible being read can only be a good thing. As the Word is read or heard the Spirit works within, and the more ears to hear provides greater opportunity for depth in conversation.
Second, reading the Bible in community means there can be conversation.
When you read alone you can only have a conversation with yourself. Of course, the Lord is there with you and you can be in prayer about the passage with him. But in reality there are more times than not whereby we read the passage and then move onto the next task, rather than dwelling on it and thinking through what is being said. When reading with another there is opportunity to have a conversation about what is being heard. There is the chance to actually talk about issues of life and faith with another. There is a mutual encouragement and growth that comes from this kind of conversation, hearing perspective, ideas, and thoughts about a passage of scripture.
Third, reading the Bible in community means there are different perspectives given.
Linked to the conversation aspect of this is the hearing of different perspectives. More often than not these are helpful. If you’ve ever been in a small group where there are one or two who think they have the answers for everyone else then I will admit this can get awfully tiresome awfully quickly. Some perspectives are not worth sharing. But in my experience there is more benefit than not in hearing how others are reading the scriptures and listening to what is being said through them.
And as a quick sidenote, if this group is intergenerational then I think this provides even more perspective due to life experiences and maturity in the faith.
Fourth, reading the Bible in community means there is mutual encouragement for one another.
Christians love to use the word accountability and I’m deliberately avoiding that in this post. It’s such a Christianise word. I prefer to think reading the Bible together, particularly when it is with someone else or only 3-4 people as being mutually encouraging. I still remember going through university reading Romans with two other people and gaining such encouragement from the wisdom, insight, and teaching from the people I was with. Reading the Bible in a community like this can be so formative and encouraging, even years later.
Fifth, reading the Bible in community means we recognise its power and authority.
Whenever we come to the Bible as God’s revealed truth to us then we are recognising its authority and power over us. Through the Word of God the Holy Spirit reveals more of God to us. It is an exercise in humility to submit to the Lord through listening and obeying his Word. In community this becomes even more powerful as the group discerns what is being said together and reflects on its meaning and application in their own lives. Through the conversation that flows there is often encouragement in faith and encouragement in life–to keep on in the scriptures and in obedience to God.
Well, it seems I’ve begun the year and a return to writing regularly by focussing on Bible reading. There could be worse topics to write about, couldn’t there? In any case, if you like to catch up on some of the posts that focus on reading the Bible then feel free to browse along:
In her fascinating longform essay, ‘Letting Go’, Amy Westervelt writes about the study of forgiveness in academia. And much of it aligns with what Christians have known for many centuries – that it’s good for us but that it’s incredibly hard.
And in the continuation of our series on the Lord’s Prayer we come to one of the more challenging phrases in the prayer itself. After asking for forgiveness from God for our own individual debts, or sins, we now find ourselves stating to God that we are forgiving the debts of others.
There are no two ways around this. The gospel calls on us to trust in our own forgiveness through Christ on the cross. Colossians 1:13-14 remind us, “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” But in turn, the gospel calls us to action; the forgiveness of others for their wrongdoing against us.
And so “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” has to be the hardest phrase of this prayer, the hardest action to put into practice.
Who can so easily forgive those who have wronged us?
Degrees of Forgiveness
In our world, like the justice system we operate by, we recognise there are degrees of wrongdoing and therefore find justification to argue for degrees of forgiveness to give. The person who calls us names in high school does not require the ‘same level’ of forgiveness as the spouse who commits adultery, or the sexual abuser of children, or the murderer? We would say, our humanity would say, that forgiveness for one over the other is dependent on the wrongdoing against us. Forgiveness may be easy or hard to give, but we often find ourselves doing so as long as justice has been metered out correctly.
This is not to conflate justice into forgiveness. The Lord’s Prayer doesn’t make allowance for various levels of wrongdoing, nor does it speak of justice here either. Rather, it is a direct call to forgive others and encapsulates all types of wrongdoing in the process. We are to extend forgiveness to everyone. And of course, this is always a process. For some the giving of forgiveness will take longer than others, it isn’t easy reaching a place in your heart to forgive someone who has wronged us. Certain things are quick to forgive, other things seem to linger.
Forgiving From The Heart
A particularly salient point this phrase brings up is the challenge of how quickly and how good we are at forgiveness. It sets forgiveness in the context of a spiritual practice, a spiritual discipline. Forgiveness is not something that means the person who wronged us gets away with everything they have done. No, there are still consequences for any wrongdoing. But whatever the case may be, forgiveness is an act of the heart.
And this is why following Jesus is often harder than first appears. For who forgives everybody who has wrong us from the heart? As Westervelt’s article affirms, forgiveness is a ‘change of heart’, a very apt definition in light of this prayer and what God has done for us. Yet so often the hurt and the pain has a long tail. Part of our nature is to hold onto hurts and wrongs and slights in a way that often leads to bitterness. And not only bitterness, but actual power. For when we hold onto the wrongdoing of others against us we give them power over us. They shape our thoughts and may even guide our actions. In the act of forgiveness we actually release the power others have over us because of their wrongdoing toward us.
Forgiveness is not easy, particularly if the wrong is significant or life altering. Yet, the good news is that we are able to be forgiven by God through Christ and as a result are shown the way of forgiveness.
This continues our series in the Lord’s Prayer. More posts can be found at the following:
