As I read these passages from Lamentations each day I am
reminded of the stories and pictures from Britain and Germany in World War
II. I can see people sitting among the
rubble that was formerly their homes, shops and other familiar and pleasant surroundings
without hope, without the ability to imagine rebuilding. What would be the use, it would all be bombed
again and destroyed? I can see those
people's eyes, open and yet not seeing, glazed with grief and emptiness at the
loss of all they had accumulated, not just their possessions but their
memories, this memory will overwhelm all for a long time. Into this devastation comes Jeremiah to make
sure that no one thinks this is unjust, that they were warned by the prophets
that this could have been averted, not by the false peace negotiated by Neville
Chamberlain in 1938 with Mr Hitler, but by repentance and forsaking of
idols. Jeremiah encourages them to
remember that truth and to allow their weeping and mourning to be complete but
let it be based in sorrow for sin, this need not have happened.
Jesus tells the disciples to look for a man carrying a jar
of water. Typically, women were the ones
who fetched water and carried it but Jesus specifies a man here. They are to follow him and ask the master of
the house a simple yet provocative question, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my
guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ One might ask who this teacher is but Jesus
said that the man would show them where they might eat, a large upper
room. Prior to re-interpreting the Passover
in terms of His body and blood, Jesus says one of these will betray Him and
they were all sorrowful. What did they
think it meant that someone would betray Him?
Two actually betrayed Him, Judas and Peter.
What does it mean that we participate in the body and blood
of Christ? It means more than simply
receiving salvation through the sacrifice of His body and blood poured out on
the cross according to Paul. The benefit
and blessing can't be only after death. His
life matters as well, a life of perfect righteousness that enabled the
sacrifice to be acceptable. That means
that our lives matter as well, that we receive empowerment through the Holy
Spirit for this life. When Paul says
that we must "discern the body" he is talking about, in my opinion,
the body of Christ as well as our own body.
Our confession of Him must be completely at one with who He not only
claimed to be but also with the Father's own testimony of the Son. Our own confession, discerning the body, is
that we are sinners and in need of the power of the blood of Christ, not only
when we first believed, but today. Paul is
clear that this confession of sin is important and we should not take communion
without it.
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