“As you pick up the bread and the wine, you are promising to join Jesus in His ministry. Don’t do it unless you mean it.”
TEXT:
Chapter 8, Page 78 –
On our tour in the first apartment, what did you see to the right? There was a table and unleavened bread. There were pitchers and bowls and serving trays. Bread and wine. Sound familiar?
Let’s look at Exodus 25:30. What was this table and this bread called? It was called the Bread of the Presence – actually the Hebrews words read “the Bread of the Face.” We are talking about an up front and close encounter here. We are talking about an “in-your-face” experience.
Turn in your Bible to John 6:48. Do you remember this controversial sermon of Jesus? He said, “I am the bread of life.” Now notice verse 53 where He said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.”
Jesus’ disciples found this to be a hard saying. So, let’s help them out by connecting this Scripture with what Jesus said in John 4:34. “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” And our food is to be the same as Jesus’ food.
Do the words in John 6:53 make sense to you now? No? Okay, let me explain further.
The table and the Bread of the Presence represents the active ministry you will experience as a Priest of God. The experience of Christ – you now have to face it and begin to experience it for yourself. What Jesus said, what He did – how He felt, what He thought – His loyalty to the Father – His faithfulness in the face of persecution – His forthrightness to His enemies – His compassion for the multitudes – His focus on the path marked out for Him by the Father – these are to be yours.
Just as He told James and John, Peter and Andrew, and Matthew, He now tells you and me. “Follow Me.”
When you pick up the bread and when you drink the wine, this is what you are promising to do. Have you done that? Picked up the bread and drunk the wine? Of course, you have. We call it Communion.
