FBC Daily Devotional – August 17, 2021

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, a good Tuesday to you. I hope you're doing well, that your morning has gotten off to a good start today.

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And maybe you've been able to get into God's Word a little bit. If so, are you reading through the reading schedule that the devotionals are going along with?

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If so, then today we're in Luke chapter 22 and come to a really sober moment in what is supposed to be a celebratory meal.

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I'm talking, of course, about the Passover meal. In the Jewish faith, the

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Passover meal is a high experience in the calendar because it's a meal to celebrate, to remember and celebrate

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God's gracious deliverance from that bondage, that oppression in Egypt.

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And you know, God told the Israelites, establish this, do this meal, this

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Passover meal, every year to remember what I've done for you. So this is what's going on in Luke chapter 22, that Jesus and his disciples,

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Jewish, of course, are celebrating this Passover meal. But then, in the middle of this

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Passover meal, probably actually near the end of it, Jesus says something that sobers everybody's attention, gets their attention.

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He picks up a loaf of bread and he breaks it and he says, this is my body which is broken for you.

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And he tells the disciples to take a piece of it and to eat it, passes it around the table.

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And then he takes the cup, that cup is that red wine, and he says, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

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This cup is my blood. And all of this, of course, is pointing to the crucifixion.

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Jesus has been telling his disciples that this is coming, the crucifixion is coming. And again, they haven't gotten it, you know, they haven't gotten it.

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But here he is, you know, it's less than 18 hours away probably before he's going to actually cry out, it is finished, and give up the ghost and die.

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And he's pointing to that moment where his body is broken and his blood is shed.

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What a sobering moment. And then he says to the disciples, besides all that, one of you is going to betray me.

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One of you is going to betray me. And of course, they get into a discussion about who's going to do that, who could that be?

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Could I do that? And so on and so forth. Of course, we all know it's Judas, and they found out eventually. But anyway, the point is, this is supposed to be a supper of celebration, and Jesus has turned it into a time of, number one, sober anticipation, and number two, sober reflection.

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Where they are, they shouldn't be reflecting upon themselves and having some introspection about what's happening in the next 24 hours, and what

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Jesus came to do, and so forth. And as well as the possibility that, the fact that one of those disciples, chosen apostles, is going to betray him.

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But then I want you to notice what happens after he does this. Instead of these sober announcements, compelling, somber introspection and reflection, the disciples begin to argue with one another about who's the greatest.

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I wonder if that's in response to somebody's going to betray me. Well, it couldn't be me. I'm too good to do that.

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I'm too great to betray. No, I couldn't do that. Well, I'm greater than you are. And they get into this argument about who's the greatest.

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And this causes Jesus to capture their attention once again. And he says to them, in verses 24 and following, he says to them, you know, the kings of the

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Gentiles exercised lordship. There's argument among the Gentiles, the the nations, of who's the greatest, who's the greatest leader of the other nation, and all the rest of that.

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And within the nation, who's the greatest? Who's the greatest warrior? Who's the greatest politician? There's all kinds of argument about who's the greatest.

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But Jesus says this. He says, this isn't the way it is among you. Instead, he says, on the contrary, he who is the greatest among you, let him be the younger, and he who governs be as one who serves.

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He says, who is greater? Who is greater? He who sits at the table, or he who serves? Then he says, is it not he who sits at the table?

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And yet, Jesus says, I am one who has come to serve. So Jesus arrests their attention and says, essentially, you need to be like I am.

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Quit arguing about who's great. Quit arguing about who's great. Be concerned about serving.

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Serving others. Serving me. So the Lord Jesus uses these last moments before he's going to be arrested and taken away, and then eventually crucified, to focus the disciples attention on what's really, really important.

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The crucifixion, it is critically important. Loyalty to Christ, critically important.

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And serving. Serving Christ and serving his people. These are important things.

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Jesus uses these last moments to emphasize them. May we learn them as well.

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Our Father and our God, I pray that we would, we would be truly, truly aware of the depths of the importance of the crucifixion.

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Christ died for our sins. He laid it, let his body, gave his body to be broken for us, and his blood to be shed for us.

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And Father, I pray that we would soberly consider our own loyalty to Christ and then consider whether or not we are really servants and thereby, in your eyes, great in your kingdom.

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Bless these thoughts to our hearts today, we pray, and we ask this in Jesus name. Amen. All right.