The Garden Tomb
Our Israel/Greece tour was canceled due to the coronavirus. We have postponed it to November 4-18, 2020. For each day that we would have been traveling, we will post an article about where we would have been traveling that day. Today we would have been visiting the Garden of Gethsemene and the Garden Tomb.
The celebration of bread and wine together did not begin with the “Last Supper.” The first mention of this celebration is back in Genesis 14 where Melchizedek, King of Salem, the priest of God Most High, brought out bread and wine before God to celebrate a victory in a battle. He gives God the credit for delivering the enemies into his hands.
You may remember that when God instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle, one of the first things God commanded for this Tabernacle was the gold-overlaid table on which the bread and the cups/bowls for the wine were to be placed.
The “Last Supper” was really a Passover meal. It was the beginning of Passover at the time.
In 1 Corinthians 15:17 Paul says, And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. But if Christ HAS BEEN RAISED, then this shows that on the cross He defeated death and sin, all evil injustice, once and for all. Jesus’ resurrection matters. The bodily resurrection of Jesus isn’t a take-it-or-leave-it thing. Some are sharing the gospel today and leaving out the resurrection part. Take that away and the victory has not happened. Without resurrection, Jesus died like you and I will. But there is POWER in the resurrection! There is victory in the resurrection. When we say, “Jesus is risen,” we are saying that Jesus is Lord of the world and that His death AND resurrection have paid the price and brought victory over sin and death.
It is because of this victory that we come to celebrate communion…just as Jesus did with His disciples at the Passover meal. He was preparing them for this victory. Let’s read it:
Matthew 26:26 says: And as they were eating [The Passover meal], Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body. Then He took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Take a moment to offer a prayer of thanksgiving and praise for the victory of the resurrection!
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