September 3, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Corinthians 11.27-29)

“In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.’” (Luke 22.20)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

“An indispensable factor or influence which gives something its strength and vitality” is the dictionary meaning of lifeblood. Using it in a sentence, it would look like this: “Faith in Jesus as the Christ is the lifeblood of discipleship.” Without that faith what would the meaning and purpose of discipleship be? In the mountains above Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I AM?” (Matthew 16.15) Some of the disciples responded that they heard them say Jesus is John the Baptizer, Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah or another one of the prophets. Even in such a short amount of time of ministry and with limited exposure to the greater population, there was talk spreading like wildfire filled with anticipation. Caesarea Philippi was one of the Asian crossroads connecting north and south, east and west. It was a multi-cultural city and not without influence itself. It is possible that these considerations of identity for Jesus were shared by many of the disciples themselves and influenced the understanding of their call to follow Him. Bearing that in mind, Jesus paused and asked the most important question for the moment, “And who do you say that I AM?” While Matthew reports Peter’s response following that question, I have a feeling that based on human nature being confronted with revealing personal truths there was a pause. Jesus asked a personal question. In some way He may have been calling them out. We know that Jesus always heard what the disciples were saying amongst themselves and often addressed their thoughts, questions and even innuendos such as the argument as to “who was the greatest among them.” When Jesus asked a question there well may be been a feeling of the air leaving the room. We know the feeling ourselves when we quickly give an opinion in such a way that it speaks for others more than for self but it is really one’s personal opinion under the guise of “I have a friend who….” Nature abhors a vacuum and something have to fill it, especially when it comes to human nature. Who was the best “vacuum filler”? I suggest it was Peter the Brash. It didn’t take long for Peter to speak the truth as he knew it. He also was one to say what he thought someone else wanted to hear. Peter declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus responded to Peter’s words as his true declaration of faith. While the other disciples may have responded (my “story” assumption, of course) with murmurs of initial groans like “Here he goes again” as Peter spoke boldly thundering more than even James and John, they may have followed it with echoing affirmations that would have sounded like “Yeah, what he said.” Jesus told Peter that it was upon such faith that He would build up His Church. Jesus wasn’t speaking of a literal building to stand in opposition to the Temple in Jerusalem. No, He was speaking of the community of faith where the believers would all his “this” in common. Yes, having faith in Jesus as the Christ is the lifeblood of discipleship.

It is with this “lifeblood” concept that I offer the didache of sacrament as it pertains to the cup of blessing and promise which Jesus offered to the disciples that evening in the Upper Room. Following the Seder Feast format, there were four cups presented by the host of the feast. The first is offered to invoke the sense of holiness to the celebration. The second is offered to invoke the remembrance of the Deliverance of God’s people out of their Egyptian sojourn. The third is offered as a thanksgiving for their time together remembering how God had delivered them from bondage and led them to the Promised Land. The fourth cup speaks of that deliverance which is yet to come when all things will be made new and God’s people truly restored and every living thing will bless God alone. (It is from this that Paul would write to the Church in Philippi, “And at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess the Jesus is Lord.” (Philippians 2.10) It is this fourth cup that Jesus was offering to His disciples according to the Seder/Passover tradition which He transformatively reimaged as “the cup of the new covenant made in His blood.” When Jesus was declaring “I will not eat of this bread nor drink of this fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes” it was with the third cup. Luke makes it clear that after the meal, Jesus took up the cup the fourth time and declared “this is the cup of the new covenant made in My blood.” I have no doubt there was that same intimated gasp in the room in that moment as I believe there was when Jesus had asked them two years before, “I know what people have said about me but the real question is ‘Who do you say that I AM?’” Luke reminds us that it was in that moment the transition of momentum toward Jesus’ personal sacrifice began. Judas, according to John, would be dismissed to do his duty that would result in the arrest of Jesus in the Garden betrayed by a kiss.

When we partake of the cup it is “this cup” of the new covenant from which we drink. It is the cup of decision invoking inwardly and outwardly our own answer to that first question, “But you, who do you say that I AM?” In that moment we are affirming that we are governed by the covenantal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is a relationship bounded by grace and not by works, lest we should boast. Look at the works of the disciples which followed that moment: Judas betrayed Jesus into the hands of the accusers; Peter crouched in the shadows as a voyeur to the events and denied three times even knowing Jesus much less be associated with Him; and the rest of the disciples hid themselves for fear of being accused themselves as part of the insurrection against the Temple. It would only be John who would venture to Golgotha to chaperone Mary, the mother of Jesus, to the foot of the cross and help to carry Jesus’ body afterward to the tomb to be buried. No, not by works but by grace are we saved. Only by the grace of God who exercises the required perfection of forgiveness with the blood of Jesus being painted over the doorways of our lives can we be saved. Not by our works but by the work of God in Christ Jesus alone are we saved. When we partake of the cup, it is the inward anointing of this new covenant being internalized to fill us up to fullness from the inside out. This is what we are challenged to remember whenever we gather to “break bread” in fellowship with other believers. It is our moment of truth preparing us for the real “moment of truth” when every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. It is the cup of the “lifeblood of our salvation” putting our faith in Him alone.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.