T H E K ING ’S BUS INESS
349
the bargain is soon closed. Contrast these two pictures:j*Mary spending her all to anoint the Saviour for His burial; Judas selling Him for thirty paltry pieces of sil ver. Which of the two do you most re semble ?
that “good werF it for that man if he had not been born” (v. 24 R. V.). Surely that statement of the Master does away with the dream of the Universalist. But Judas was unshaken -in his evil determination and with brazen effrontery asks, “Is it I, Rabbi?” (R. V.). It is to be noted that Judas ¿id not call Him “Lord” as did the other disciples. In not one instance in any of the Gospel stories is it recorded that Judas ever called Jesus “Lord” (cf. 1 Cor. 12:3). . The breaking of the bread was not sig nificant of the breaking of Christ’s body on the cross (John 19:36; 1 Cor. 11:24, see R. V.). It was> simply significant of the distribution of His body among those who should feed on Him: There has been end less discussion over the force of the word “is” in the sentence “This is toy body.” Does it mean that as Jesus blessed the bread it became the actual physical body of Christ, or does it mean this bread represents my body, and just as you eat this bread and it becomes part of you, so you are. to eat Me and I will become part of you? One can find help to the answer to this question in Ezek. 5:4, 5; 1 Cor. 10:4, 16; 11:25; Ezek. 37:1b; Matt. 13:28; Luke 12:1; John 10:7j Rev. 1:20; Gal. 4:25. But after all the been said, there doubtless is a real presence of Christ in the elements, and when we do partake of them, “discerning the Lord’s body” there is a real feeding upon Christ, so that just as the bread we eat becomes part of us, so He Himself becomes part of us. On the other hand, if we partake in an unworthy manner (as a mere form, not thinking what we do, “not discerning the Lord’s body”) “we are guilty of the body and blood of Christ,” and we eat and drink judgment to ourselves (1 Cor. 11:27, 29 R. V.). Our Lord wished this eating of the bread and drinking of the wine to be continued by the disciples until He Himself should come again (1 Cor. 11:24, 26). The Old Covenant was “sealed with blood” Wednesday, April 28. Matt. 26:26-30.
Tuesday, April 27. Matt. 26:17-25.
Jesus gave very strange and improbable directions by which the man at whose house the Passover was to be eaten was to be known. (See Mark 14:13-15; Luke 22:10- 12). But Peter and John, who were com missioned for this work (Luke 22:8) proved themselves to be disciples indeed by doing exactly as Jesus told them (v. 19 cf. John 15 :14). Soon after they had taken their seats at the table Jesus gave them another proof of his insight into the heart and of His omniscience by saying, “Veritly, I say unto you, that one of you shall be tray me.” All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do (Heb. 4:13). Jesus knew all the depths of Judas’ heart and He knows all the depths of our hearts (John 2:25). This was no new discovery of Jesus (John 6: 70, 71) : it had been prophesied hundreds of years before (Ps. 41:9), but the awful announcement came upon the disciples as a thunderclap out of a clear sky, “They were exceeding sorrowful,” and well they might be, but our Lord Himself was more deeply troubled at the thought (John 13: 21). Each man looked into his own heart and there saw the possibility of such in1 famy, and.unconsciously cried out, “Lord,; Is it I?” When we each of us look into our own hearts, what depths of evil possi bilities we see. Many, of course, never look deeply enough to see them. Others are too blinded 'by self-confidence to see them, but they are there. Thank God, there is grace enough in Christ at our disposal to keep these possibilities from becoming actualities (Jude 24). All that was to happen to Jesus was to be in accordance with what was written of Him (v. 24). So fearful was to be the doom of the betrayer
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker