“And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9, ESV)

If you are participating in the Lord’s Table, most likely, you have given your heart to Jesus. But I would venture to say most people have never thought about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb as connected to communion.  

Chapter 19 of our text explodes with one of the greatest crescendos of worship the Bible has ever seen! The place: The Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Gathering are the Saints from all nations and all backgrounds for one purpose: to celebrate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!!! The banquet hall is filled to capacity! The people talking was like the roar of a great waterfall! Suddenly! Bright flashes of lightning, loud peals of thunder. Then the Lamb appears, and all of heaven breaks out in song:

“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” (Revelation 19:6–8, ESV)

​Because you are celebrating communion, The Lord’s Table has become your invitation. Enter in good and faithful servant!

“And he took bread, and when he had 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.” (Luke 22:19, ESV)

The word remembrance comes from a Greek word denoting a written record used to record and memorialize a person’s actions. When we receive communion, we are calling to remembrance what Jesus did on the cross for us.

Thanksgiving at my grandparent’s home was always a big deal when I was a child! My cousins and I would be in the yard playing football under bare winter trees. Inside my grandfather would be smoking his pipe while talking with the men. The kitchen would be filled with moms and my grandmother cooking a delicious Thanksgiving meal. Still, to this day (I am 62), when we celebrate Thanksgiving, I remember. I remember the smell of turkey roasting, pumpkin pies baking, blowing out grandpa’s match for his pipe, and the warm hugs of aunts and uncles. So many memories!

Think about the disciples. When they celebrated Passover, they would remember Jesus for the rest of their lives! They would remember the smell of unleavened bread baking, the sweetness of wine in their mouths, and laughter around the table. They would remember the contentment on the face of Jesus with His friends. They would remember Him washing their feet. They would remember His teaching, miracles, promises, and comfort. They would remember His awful death and glorious resurrection. They would remember all the days of their lives—their Messiah, Jesus.
    
Receive communion and remember. Selah.

“And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.” (Matthew 26:19, ESV)

Prepare, now that is an interesting word. It's definition is relatively straightforward. It means to make ready in advance. My favorite expression of it is John 14. Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am there, you may be too.”  Isn’t that what His death was all about? To prepare a way for us so that where He is, we would come.  

The logical consideration is this: If He goes to prepare a place for us, then obviously, we have to prepare to go. We must make ourselves ready in advance. One poor fellow in scripture, Mt 22:11, did not prepare for the wedding feast. When he entered, the King questioned why he was not dressed or prepared for the wedding. The man had no answer and was quickly removed and cast into outer darkness.

In our text, Matthew 26:19, two words stand out in Jesus’ command to his disciples: He directed them, and they prepared. God so graciously has prepared a Lamb for us and lavishly poured out grace on us so that we would prepare to be with Him.

How prepared are you to celebrate communion today? Are you prepared to enter the Wedding Feast of the Lamb?

“These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14, ESV)

The Apostle John is talking with one of the Elders of heaven, who asks him a question. “Who are these in robes of white?” John does not know. The Elder tells him the answer. “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. (Implying that they died for Jesus.)  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  

Communion brings us to the reality of a salvation worth dying for. In our earlier devotions, we saw that we have redemption, justification, peace, and sanctification through the blood of Jesus. The blood makes us clean, righteous, spotless, and holy. We have a salvation worth dying for!  

When we receive communion, we are brought face to face with the reality that Jesus laid down His life for us. He has made it clear that if the world hated Him, it would hate us too. He also said that in this life, we would have trouble but to fear not because He has overcome the world. Love motivated Him to die for us. And only love will motivate us to die for Him.

It was prophet Bob Jones who said to me one day as we spoke of martyrs, “It is harder to live for Jesus than it is to die for Him.” With that in mind, let His love motivate us to live for Him, and if it ever involves dying for Him, we will be ready. Ours is a salvation worth dying for.

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14, ESV)

The heart of the Lord’s Table is humility. Jesus exudes this throughout His life and ministry. But, at the last Passover, when He celebrates with His disciples His humility is most evident. I have had the opportunity to be a part of several ‘foot washings’ throughout my life, and I am always most humbled on the receiving end, not the washing. Jesus was impacting their hearts. They were uncomfortable with what He was about to do.

It is interesting what Jesus says, “If I then your Lord and Teacher...” He is announcing that this moment is a teaching moment and to please pay attention. “I am washing your feet as an act of a heart motive of humility. I am expecting this of you as my disciples.” “but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:7–8, ESV)

​The cross is, by far, the greatest act of humility the world has ever seen! When we approach the Lord’s Table, it should make us somewhat uncomfortable, mixed with grateful and full of thankful. It should also lead us into a place of deep humility. So that we, like Jesus, would have total trust in God that expects everything from Him and nothing from ourselves.

 “When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.” (Luke 24:30–31, ESV)
​
Isn’t it amazing that two men could walk with Jesus for a long way and not recognize Him? Isn’t it even more amazing that their hearts burned within them as He taught, yet they still did not recognize Him?  

I love Jesus! He kept himself concealed from them until they discovered: “It’s Jesus!” He waited until just the right time, the breaking of bread. When He broke the bread and gave it to them, their eyes were opened.  

Invite Jesus to your table. Jesus, as we break the bread today, open our eyes so that we might see you! Grant to us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. (Eph 1:17) The moment was so simple yet so profound that the risen Son of God would graciously surprise them, then vanish. God, mark our hearts with a surprise from the Lord's table today.

“For I tell you unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20, ESV)

The righteousness of the Pharisees was a righteousness of ‘doing.’ The righteousness that Jesus calls us to is the righteousness of being. It was a shock when Jesus announced in the Sermon on the Mount that people’s righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were viewed as highly righteous because of their commitment to keeping the law.

But the righteousness that Jesus spoke of was of the heart. It did not come by doing but by believing. It was not a righteousness that was earned; it was a righteousness that was given. It was not a righteousness that men could obtain; it was the righteousness that only God could impart. This righteousness checked a man’s motives at a deeper level.

In the Lord’s table, one sees the body of Christ given and the blood of Christ shed for them. The blood applied by faith to the human heart makes a person righteous! That is why Paul declared, “The righteous shall live by faith!” His trust is now in the blood because he realizes the blood of Christ is what makes him righteous! Therefore, his righteousness, which is of Christ, exceeds that of the Pharisees. Declare with me: “I have an exceeding righteousness that comes through Christ alone! I am exceedingly righteous in Christ!”

“The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13, ESV)

We live in a world of signs. Everywhere you look, you see a sign. Why so many signs? Signs tell us something. They communicate information. The Father spoke to Moses and said, “The blood shall be a sign for you.” Therefore Moses instructed the children of Israel to place the blood of a lamb on their doorposts and lintels. That blood would be a visible sign to the Lord and the destroyer, and it would communicate: “... when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.” (Exodus 12:23, ESV)

The blood was placed on the doorposts and lintels by faith. If you did not believe the Word of the Lord, you would not have put the blood out as a sign. Death would have entered your home, and you would have experienced loss.

We apply the blood of Jesus to our hearts when we put our faith in His finished work on the cross. The blood that Jesus shed was the Blood of the Lamb of God, His Son. When applied by faith to our hearts, it becomes a sign that says, “No death allowed!” 

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live,” (John 11:25, ESV).  His blood is visible on our hearts.

 "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." (Colossians 3:15, ESV

Most of the time, my favorite part about receiving communion at home is the profound peace I experience. The morning is so quiet. The house is so still. Jesus is so close. Everything screams peace! And then there is one of 'those days' in which chaos abounds, confusion swirls, and nothing seems to go right. That is the day I am tempted; no, I venture into a place called...the flesh. 

On that kind of day, we may be tempted to run screaming away, but Paul encourages us to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. He is saying let the peace of Christ rule, dominate, and govern every emotion and situation you face. If we do not choose to let this peace rule, then fear, worry, insecurity, frustration, and anger will prevail. No one who believes in Christ wants to live like that.

Paul says, "let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts."  The word 'rule' comes from a Greek word meaning to umpire or referee. It is the picture of an athletic event in which an umpire oversees and directs. We will all have bad days, but it doesn't mean we must defile ourselves with poor choices. We can let the peace of God 'call the shots' in our life. We can let the peace of Christ 'referee our emotions and choices'. As we do this, the incredible peace of God will rise in us, and His peace will rule!

Let the Lord's supper help set the course of your life.

“When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.” (1 Corinthians 10:16–17, NLT)

One of the ways we can receive communion in an unworthy manner is to receive it while holding offense or unforgiveness towards someone else, especially if they are a brother or sister in Christ. Communion, by design, is about forgiveness and being united in Christ. Therefore how can we be joined to Him and separated from a brother or sister simultaneously? The truth is we can’t. To be ‘one body’ as Paul speaks of in 1 Cor 10:17 demands that all things that cause division between us be dealt with.

Jesus had this to say: “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.” (Matthew 5:23–24, NLT) Communion is all about reconciliation. How can we celebrate reconciliation with God yet not be reconciled to our brother or sister? The truth is we can’t. Go first and reconcile, then come and offer your praise to Him.

As you receive communion, pause for a moment and let the Holy Spirit review your life with you. If he points out an offense or door of unforgiveness, go make it right with your brother or sister and then bring you praise to God in the body and blood of Christ. Your joy will be fuller!

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28, ESV)

Jesus loves His bride (the church) so much! One of the many reasons we celebrate communion is that Jesus gave His life for His bride! Because He loves His bride so much, He actively takes care of her. Amazing! He is so kind, tender, loving, strong, and encouraging to His bride. No wonder she has such love for Him! The blood of the Lamb buys her because she is worth it!

Paul is speaking to the church’s leaders in Ephesus in Acts 20:28. But what he says to leaders also applies to all believers: “pay careful attention to yourselves, and all the flock for you are overseers...” In our faith, we are called to watch after ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is the heart that Paul carries in Acts 15:36 when he desires to return to the brothers in every city where he proclaimed God’s word. He wanted to see how they were doing. Jesus, in Matthew 25, speaks of feeding the hungry, giving a stranger a drink, clothing the naked, and visiting the prisoner. These are acts of caring for His people. We all have the responsibility to pastor and oversee God’s people.

​As you receive communion today, remember His body, His bride. Ask God to show you those one or two people He desires you to check on and to demonstrate His love to.

 “and through Him, God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” (Colossians 1:20, NLT) God made peace through the blood of His Son!

The word peace comes from the Greek word ‘eirene,’ whose equivalent is the Hebrew word ‘Shalom.’  “It expresses the idea of wholeness, completeness, or tranquility in the soul unaffected by outward circumstances or pressures. The word eirene strongly suggests the rule of order in the place of chaos. When a person is dominated by eirene (peace), he has a calm, inner stability that results in the ability to conduct himself peacefully...” [Rick Renner, Sparkling Gems pp 531].

The Passion Translation speaks this verse so clearly: “And by the blood of his cross, everything in heaven and earth is brought back to himself—back to its original intent, restored to innocence again!” (Colossians 1:20, TPT).  I love that phrase, “restored to innocence again!” It sounds like being ‘born again!’ I experience that peace when I allow myself to come into alignment with God’s Word and His ways through His blood.

When you were born again, your life aligned with God’s will. All fear was relieved. All bondage was removed. You are now free to breathe again and to live again! His blood brought us peace—enjoy!

Please take a deep breath and slowly let it out. Now, with the bread of communion in your hand and the cup of the New Covenant before you receive His peace, body, and blood.

 “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.” (Hebrews 13:12, ESV)

After the golden calf incident, Moses no longer met with God inside the camp of Israel. “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.” (Exodus 33:7, ESV)

​Why did Moses go outside the camp? Because it was too unclean inside the camp. God was separating Himself from the people. God wanted the people to see He was ‘set apart’ from them. If the people were to meet with God, they had to set themselves apart to come outside the camp ‘to the holy place’ where God was. God wanted them to see He was ‘set apart’ from them. He is holy!

Jesus suffered outside the gate because all that was inside the gate had rejected Him. Jesus suffered outside the gate because all that was inside was defiled. The people were accustomed to thinking of the “camp” and everything inside it as sacred, while everything outside was profane and unclean. Jesus suffered outside the camp because, in Him, everything was made new and made holy. The old order of works inside the camp could no longer make a man holy. He would have to come out to where the Set Apart One was in order to be set apart, made holy by the blood of Jesus.
 
As you receive the cup today, remember that you have been made holy by His blood. You too, are a set-apart one. Only the blood of Jesus can sanctify you!
​

“In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7, ESV)

The word redemption comes from the Greek word ‘luo.’ It means to loose, and is used for release from prison and opening what is closed. With the preposition ‘apo’ in front of the word, it means to loose with a ransom. Hell had you locked up, and it threw away the key. Yet Jesus had the keys to death, hell, and the grave. He purchased our redemption! And, He set us free!  Salvation is a free gift offered to humanity by God. But it cost Jesus His very life and blood! (Thirty-nine lashes, crown of thorns, three nails, speared side, and brutal beating. All His blood.) This is why Paul wrote the Ephesians saying, “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of His grace!’  

Jesus did not pay off the devil. He satisfied the justice of God that had to punish our sins with His own blood. Jesus, in paying the price of our redemption, suffered and died in our place. And by faith in Him, our sins are forgiven, and we are free!

As your receive communion, remember, “This was His work!” The Father paid the price by sending His perfect Son. Love motivated the Father to send the Son. And love motivated the Son to die—for you and for me! Oh, the riches of His grace

“And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.” (Romans 5:9, NLT)

Who would have ever thought it possible that we could be made righteous? Yet, God, in His infinite wisdom, before the foundation of the earth was set in place, had a plan! That plan was to take sinful, fallen, broken people and make them righteous before Him. God had a plan before creation began to make people righteous, like Himself!

Jesus carried out that plan.

You cannot receive communion without thinking about the blood of Jesus. May it become your reality that when you think about the blood, you simultaneously remember you are righteous, not because of what you have done but because of what He has done for you. Through the blood of Jesus, you have been made righteous! You can say, like Paul, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!”

Because you are now, by faith, the righteousness of God, you will not have to experience God’s wrath, now or in the future! Hear the words of The Passion Translation: “And there is still much more to say of his unfailing love for us!  For through the blood of Jesus, we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in my sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:9, TPT)

 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,...let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith..let us hold fast to our faith.” (Hebrews 10:19,22 ESV)

What does a person have who has been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb? He has confidence! Confidence to what? Confidence to enter the holy places. Confidence to draw near to God. Confidence to hold fast to his faith without wavering. Why? Because he is spiritually clean. Because he is spiritually clean, he can stand before God. Because he can stand before God, he can easily stand before men. There is nothing that can keep him away from God. There is nothing that will shake his faith. Through the blood of Jesus, he has confidence in God.    

Confidence comes from the Greek word 'parrhesia'. It means to speak openly, boldly, and unashamedly. One who can speak boldly, openly, and unashamedly has confidence.  

Many believers approach God in a timid, fearful, undeserving way. Why do so? The blood of Jesus has cleansed you. Through the veil of His flesh, he made a way for us to enter God’s presence. To be a presence-driven people, we must possess the confidence that Jesus has cleansed us, making a way for us to enter, draw near and stand firm in our faith/confidence before God. As you receive the cup of the New Covenant, do it with confidence before the Living God.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7, ESV)

Cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, God’s dear Son is one of the most preached messages in the body of Christ, and rightfully so! Pause for a moment and enjoy your God-given purity. The blood of Jesus did the work of cleansing in your heart. As the hymn says, “What can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again, nothing but the blood of Jesus!”  That blood has washed away all of your past sins; celebrate! That blood covers all of your future sins; celebrate! That blood washes you right now; celebrate! 

If you have any unconfessed sin, bring it into the Light. When you bring your sin into the Light, you are walking in the Light. When you are walking in the Light, you have fellowship with other believers because everyone can identify with each other. We had the same problem, sin, and we found the same cure, the blood of Jesus!

What is clean is transformed to have fellowship with God. “O’ the blood of Jesus, it washes white as snow!” “There is power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb.” Praise God! He made a way for us to fellowship with each other and Him! Only the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, can cleanse like this!

“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood, you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,” (Revelation 5:9, ESV)

Such a celebration of victory in Revelation five! John saw no one worthy of taking the scroll. He begins weeping bitterly over the situation. Suddenly one of the twenty-four elders cries out, “Stop weeping! The Lion of the tribe of Judah has won the victory!”

The Lamb steps forward and takes the scroll! All heaven falls before the Lamb in humble adoration! No one can ever match this victory! Jesus moves! All heaven moves! And they break out in a new song! “You are so worthy to take the scroll! Worthy are you to break its seals! And YES! By your blood, you have ransomed people for God from every tribe, language, and nation! Revelation five is so filled with victory that it causes the heart to rejoice! It was His blood that satisfied the justice of God and paid the price of our redemption.

In receiving communion, we get a glimpse of that Revelation five victory, for His blood redeemed us from the pit of despair and the sentence of death. Yes, He is worthy of all glory, honor, dominion, and power, now and forever more!

​Receive the bread and cup today in a 'spirit' of victory!  Jesus is worthy!

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:51, ESV)

The manna that the children of Israel ate in the wilderness came from heaven. It was supernatural sustenance. Every day the Israelites rose in the morning to go and gather the bread that would sustain them for over forty years of wilderness wondering. The manna, like God’s mercy, was new every morning! That manna was a foreshadowing of the true Bread of Heaven to come.  

Jesus made direct reference to the life-sustaining Manna as Himself. Like the manna, He, too, came from heaven. The significant difference between the manna in the wilderness and the Bread of Heaven was twofold: The Bread of Heaven comes as a one-time permanent supply; and it comes in the form of eternal life! The Israelites ate the manna in the wilderness and still died. But those who eat the Bread of Heaven live forever!

The bread that Jesus offers the world is His flesh, the sacrifice of His life for theirs. Anyone who believes that He is the Son of God and receives His sacrificial offer by faith will never die. Yes, we will taste physical death, but thanks be to God, we will never taste spiritual death.

As you receive communion, remember the Word that became flesh. And remember the flesh given at Calvary that you might live forever!

Yesterday we established that there is healing in communion by looking at Isaiah 53:5 and Matthew 8:17. After Matthew sees Jesus heal everyone, he states that Jesus did this to fulfill the words of Isaiah the prophet. Matthew makes the connection that the suffering servant of Isaiah is the same Jesus who heals everyone, thus proving that by His stripes, we are healed. Today, I want to go back to Matthew 8:17 and look at two words Matthew uses. “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

The first thing I want us to see is Jesus took our illnesses. The Greek word for ‘took’ is lambano. It means to take, receive, collect, and seize. The same violence the Romans used to seize and flog Jesus is the same violence that Jesus uses to take, receive, collect and seize our illnesses! Jesus was not just taking a beating; He was seizing, collecting, and taking our sicknesses from us! 

The second exciting word we must consider is ‘bore.’ Jesus bore our diseases. The Greek word is bastazo. It means to lift up, bear away, and to pilfer.  Jesus, through His death, lifted off of us our diseases! 

As you receive communion today, remember His body given and His blood shed for you. Picture the violence that Jesus received from the Romans as His deliberate seizing of your sicknesses and your diseases!

Lambano & bastazo - Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 495). W.B.

There Is Healing In The Atonement

Sickness is limited death. Jesus clearly states in John 10:10 that He came that we would have life and have it abundantly. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. Sickness steals quality of life. Sickness wears down the body. Death is the intended desire of sickness.

Jesus overcame death, hell, and the grave. That includes sickness and disease. When Jesus declared, "this is my body given for you." (Lk 22:19 ESV) He was declaring the Isaiah 53:5 passage, "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5, ESV)  Jesus gives His body to be pierced, crushed, beaten, and whipped, so we are forgiven, set free, healed, and made whole. 

Are you starting to see? There is healing in the communion because Christ is in the communion. He held the bread and said, This is my body given for you. This is my blood, the blood of the New Covenant! The bread and the cup are not some magical spell the believer performs. The bread and the cup remind us of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. We respond in faith! And all things become possible for those who believe! Keep your eyes on Jesus as you receive communion today! Speak to the disease/sickness! Tell it to go in Jesus' name!  Be healed, my friends!

There Is Healing in Communion

“That evening, they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” (Matthew 8:16–17, ESV)

Why is there healing in receiving communion? God put it there... for us! In Isaiah 53:5, we read, “And by His stripes, we are healed.” Isaiah prophesied these words nearly 700 years before Jesus was born. The passage states that we are healed by His stripes or the wounds he took upon His back.

Seven hundred years later, Matthew is writing his Gospel after watching Jesus heal everyone who was sick. He remembers the words of Isaiah the prophet, or perhaps Jesus took him to the words of Isaiah. Matthew discovers, this is that which was written by Isaiah the prophet. Now Jesus heals everyone to prove the word of Isaiah to be true.

Paul states in 1 Cor 11:30 that many in the church are sick because they have not discerned the body of Christ. They failed to see Jesus as God’s sacrificial Lamb. They did not understand that salvation, healing, and deliverance were all provided by Jesus at Calvary. Jesus took 39 stripes upon His back as Pilate scourged him, so we could walk in health.

Peter picks up this theme in 1 Peter 2:24, “By His stripes we were healed.” Isaiah looks ahead and sees the cross. Peter looks back and sees the cross. Jesus goes to the cross, taking with Him our sicknesses and diseases! Yes, my friends! There is healing in the communion. As you receive communion today, believe He heals you by the stripes he took upon His back!

There Is Healing In Communion

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." 
(1 Corinthians 11:26, ESV)

Eating the bread and drinking the cup is a point of remembrance of what Jesus has done for us. It is both a celebration and a declaration. Jesus single-handedly defeated death, hell, and the grave! A cause for celebration. Jesus generously provides for all—salvation, healing, deliverance, and hope! A reason for declaration!

The point of the Lord's table is to proclaim salvation through Christ's death. The visual is His body given; the bread. And His blood shed; the cup. Our salvation and healing are only through His death. At Calvary, He became sin, sickness (limited death), and death. The resurrection declares His life! Sin could not overpower the life of God in Christ Jesus, His Son. 

Every time we receive communion, we remember His body given and His blood shed, proclaiming His death. Jesus single-handedly defeated death, hell, and the grave! We celebrate! Jesus generously provides for all—salvation, healing, deliverance, and hope! We proclaim!

As you receive communion today, bring your pain (no matter how great or small), sickness, disease, etc. Declare with Peter, "By his wounds, you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24 ESV) Say it out loud. Say what God has said! It is your confession of faith. Receive what the Father has provided for you through the sacrifice of His Son.

There Is Healing In Communion

"That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” (1 Corinthians 11:30, ESV)

Everything we will ever need was purchased at Calvary and made available to us. Accessing everything made available to us through Calvary is what we, as believers, are challenged to grow in.  I believe there is healing in communion!

Paul states that many are weak and ill, and some have died because they have received the Lord’s table in an unworthy manner without discerning the body of Christ. Paul does not write this, so we, as believers, go to a place of deep introspection. He is writing because of two abuses of the Lord’s table. One, people were being selfish. They were coming together, stuffing themselves, drinking too much, and neglecting the poor. Two, they were not discerning the body of Christ. When people are being selfish, they see the Lord’s table as being about them and not Him. When people are not discerning the Lord’s table, they are not thinking about what was purchased for them at Calvary. Therefore doubt and unbelief enter in. When doubt and unbelief fill one’s heart, one cannot receive what Christ provides.

Paul’s point was to lead the church back to the body and blood of Jesus, where all things are provided. If I can see what He provides, I can believe to receive what is mine in Christ. There He gets the glory!

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest ... he entered once for all into the holy places, ... by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:11–12, ESV)

Under the old system, a priest entered the holy places as required regularly. This priest entered these sacred places by carrying the blood of goats and bulls. That blood gave him temporary access to the presence of God. And his priestly duty had to be repeated again. 

But thanks be to God! Look at what He did. He sent His Son as the better priest, the better sacrifice, and the better blood! Therefore...“Once for all!”

What Jesus did never needs to be done again. Final! Case closed! No one needs to question this again: He has secured eternal redemption through His own blood for us.
 
Jesus secured for us eternal redemption! He did what no other priest could do. As our great high priest, he entered into the holy place not made with human hands and sprinkled His own blood on the altar of heaven, thus procuring our eternal redemption forever. “Once for all!”

The cup you receive today is to remind you that it is the cup of the New Covenant, His blood shed for you. It is for all people! It covers all sin! And it is secured by Christ alone, “once for all.”