“Take It; This Is My Body”

The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

“It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

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.”

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “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.”

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mark 14:16-26

Since Jesus died for our sins, billions have followed the example of faith set by our Savior. At the Last Supper He spent part of the evening singing with friends. It is remarkable that He could sing under such circumstances, but what is even more remarkable is what He sang. On that night He and His friends had a Passover meal, which always ends with a series of Psalms known as the Hallel, Psalms 113-118. Facing death, that night Jesus sang about the “cords of death” entangling Him. Yet He praised God’s faithful love and thanked Him for salvation. Surely these Psalms comforted Jesus on the night before His crucifixion.

Jesus’s trust in God was so great that even as He approached His own death – a death He had done nothing to deserve! He chose to sing of God’s love. Because of Jesus, we too can have confidence that whatever we face, God is with us.

How sweet is the sound of God’s amazing grace!

Our Daily Bread – October 10, 2018