Thursday Before Easter - Better Than All Of Us

This is the day in the Christian calendar when we remember Jesus who is so one with us and yet so much better than all of us. 

At the point in His life when His followers and others should have been honouring Him and serving Him, they were focused on their own needs, their own fears, their own power – or lack of it – and their own uncertain future. 

At the Last Supper, Jesus should have been the focus of honour with His friends but he’s the one who paid attention to them and who got up and humbly served them by washing their feet. 

This Jesus is the one who explains how the bread of the Passover represents His body broken for our sins and how the cup of wine will become a reminder of His life’s blood poured out so we could all find forgiveness and life with God for all of eternity. 

And this is Jesus who offers that life to all those who sat with him – including Peter who would soon deny him and Judas Iscariot who was about to betray him and sell him off for a few pieces of silver. 

God’s Word reminds us:  I passed on to you what I received from the Lord. On the night the Lord Jesus was handed over to his enemies, he took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it. He said, “This is my body. It is given for you. Every time you eat it, do it in memory of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup. He said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do it in memory of me.” You eat the bread and drink the cup. When you do this, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again. 

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Lord Jesus, Today we want to pause and respond to the great love you have for us and the way you persevered until the end to offer us what we need – a way to be reconciled with the Father through the forgiveness of our sins.

We confess again today that we have no life outside of You.  We have no hope except the hope that we have that through your life’s blood, poured out for us in your death on the cross, so we can be washed free from our sin, brought to life spiritually, and enjoy life with You and the Father in heaven for all of eternity.

We rest our hope in your word that assures us, “For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.” 1 Thessalonians 4:14 NLT

Whether our time on earth is yet long or short, Lord Jesus, help us to be your followers today.  Help us to keep eternity in mind and view everything else from Your perspective.  As one writer in the Bible has said, “And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.” Philippians 1:20 NLT 

We know that each day of our life is a gift from You and we want to live each day in loving response to Your unfailing love until we see Your loving face – face-to-face.    We look forward to that day as we live today to serve You and others in love.  Amen

Let’s follow our Servant King, the Lord Jesus and be loving servants today.