Today’s post is by guest writer Keith Ward

Laast year the Florida basketball team lost to Kentucky. Kentucky did not win, we lost. I suspect that over the next days, coach Billy Donovan pointed out in detail, and possibly at volume, exactly how the players managed to lose a game in which they were vastly superior. All year, he had difficulty getting the team to play his way. In fact, he benched players to try to wake up his playmakers once pulled a starting player for most of a game. Here is a coach who has won two national championships and numerous conference championships and is on the list of all time winning coaches and they will not listen to him! Instead of running the game the way he makes them practice, the playmakers descend into “street ball.” Only 1 of our 5 losses came at the hands of a team that played better, they had one of those Cinderella nights and just won. Many of our wins came because the team was good enough to win despite ignoring the coach, but his frustration was evident on the sideline. 

Our war has already been won. The scripture is abundantly clear that Jesus defeated Satan at the cross, and cast him down (Rev 12, Lk 17). The game has been won. There is no way we can lose, Jesus is helping and the Spirit is guiding as an on-the-floor playmaker. When we sin, one can hear Jesus saying, “What part of ‘no temptation above what you are able to bear,’ did you fail to understand? Why are you playing street ball instead of my championship game?”

“If God is for us, who is against us?” The answer is that we are. We excuse ourselves by saying the situation is different in the game, by deceiving ourselves that “we are doing the best we can,” or by our hope that if we think on the Lord’s Supper real, real hard, that will fix everything. 

Jesus has to be even more frustrated than Coach Donovan. So much more is at stake. He gave so much more to make our victory certain. And again and again, we lose games because we do not listen to our heavenly coach.

Jesus played the game on our court and HE WON. He can make us champions and lead us to victory—but we must stop playing our own game.

Keith Ward

Today’s post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

The story of Jesus as a twelve year old visiting Jerusalem on the Feast Days with his parents and being left behind has been on my mind lately.  He said at that time, “Don’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?”  What was Jesus, as a 12 year old, able to do to be about his Father's business?"

Well, where did his parents find him? -- In the temple. Doing what? -- Asking questions of the scribes and priest. Probably listening to their debates and teachings. In short, he was studying the Word of God. He was building up a bank of knowledge to be used later when he would be able to do something with it. To me, that's the lesson of the story.

When our young people decide it is time to be about their Father's business, and that's what they are saying by being baptized, what should they be doing? Realistically, most 12-15 year olds can't go on missionary journeys to Africa, South America or Asia. They won't even be very effective trying to teach in their neighborhoods because most adults aren't going to listen to a teenager tell them how they should live their lives.

So, what can they do? Exactly what Jesus did: study. Learn the Word of God. They should try to get as comfortable with it as Jesus who, even though unable to carry around a Bible, quoted it liberally and was confident enough of his command of scripture to make arguments based on the tense of a verb. Our young people should be building up a bank of knowledge now so that later, when all of the various opportunities to use it begin to arise, they will be ready. If a young person isn’t busy “about his Father’s business,” then maybe he has no business trying to make a lifetime commitment to it yet.  Jesus didn't waste his youth "hanging out." He got ready for his adulthood.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:14-15)

Lucas Ward

Today’s post is by guest writer Melissa Baker.  See more at maidservantsofChrist.com.

Have you ever justified your sin by saying, "At least I don't do _____?"  Have you ever felt a secret pride in your sin because you didn't recognize it for what it truly was, a thorn trying to grow on a grape vine (Matthew 7:16)?  I'd like to say I've never done that.  It seems like such an obvious thing to avoid.  But when I was studying the Fruit of the Spirit, I had to face my own sin, and worse, I had to face the way I have treated sin in my life.


It starts with the difference between me and my husband.  You see, I have a temper, a very quick temper.  I'm like a match; I get angry quickly, but it burns out quickly too.  My husband is more like an oven.  It takes a lot to make him angry, but when he does he tends to hold on to it for awhile, silently "stewing."  I don't like "stewing."  So I justified my anger.  "Maybe I do have quick temper," I said, "but at least I don't stew."  I felt a twisted sense of pride in my short temper.

Then I started to study about patience.  I wonder if my "great idea" to cover the fruit of the Spirit in this blog may have been a bit providential.  When I looked at the word patience, the first definition in my concordance that jumped out at me was "slow to anger."  When I looked at the origin of the Greek word, I understood why.  The KJV is probably closer to the Greek when it lists "longsuffering" instead of patience.  The word in the original language is actually a compound word.  The two words?  Long and Temper.  Ouch.  

Long of temper. Slow to anger.  These phrases reminded me of multiple Old Testament descriptions of God himself.  Once again, the Fruit of the Spirit takes us back to the character of God.  I found nine references in the Old Testament where our Father is described as being slow to anger.  Why is it important to me that God is slow to anger?  The answer to that is obvious, and beautifully stated by the Psalmist:

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.  He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.  He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.  As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.  Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him (Psalm 103:8-13).

If God were not patient with us, then he would punish us according to our sins.  God has every right to be angry with my sin, especially with my justification of it.  Even before Jesus shed his blood to cover our sins, God was known as a merciful God.  He continued to lead his children even after they turned their back on him in the incident with the golden calf (Nehemiah 9:15-20).  

What about me?  If God were not patient, we would all be punished in the way we deserve.  As a Christian, I am striving to be more godly.  What happens when I am not longsuffering?  Unfortunately, my family can tell you exactly what happens.  I lash out with my tongue.  I show how angry I am by my petty actions.  An angry shout here, a slammed door there, it all adds up.  I don't abuse my children physically, but I have bruised their hearts.  Sure, I get over it quickly, but the wounds from my hurtful words to my husband are still there. I am not being godly.  God is patient and holds back the punishment that I rightly deserve.  I am impatient and punish my family with my anger.  Sadder still, I usually snap at stupid things.  They don't deserve the treatment I give them.

What I saw as "stewing" in my husband was really him being righteous.  Maybe he is angry, but he is "suffering long," withholding punishment in the form of angry words.  He is not bottling up his anger; he is modeling for me what I need to do.  Be quiet.  Calm down. Show grace.  Be patient.  I've learned that when I feel the smug feeling of superiority over someone, I probably need to look a little closer at my heart.  Self-righteousness in itself is wrong.  Don't believe me?  Read what Jesus had to say to the Pharisees.  In my case, though, the sin ran much deeper.  My self righteousness was a cover for a deeper sin that I refused to see.  Next time that ugly smugness rears its head, I'll be looking for a hidden sin.

Melissa Baker

Today’s post is by guest writer Keith Ward

Such a simple problem—if faith comes by hearing, why doesn’t everyone believe?  Paul clearly states that not all obeyed the “glad tidings,” which matches our experience (Rom 10:16-17).  In fact, few believe.

Shall we blame God?  Perhaps the problem is that most never have an opportunity to hear the word.  That seems to match the reality of billions of people and relatively few Christians of any shade, much less those preaching the whole gospel.  But, Paul declares, “Their sound went out into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world” (10:18).  When we note that God manifested himself clearly in the things that are made, “his everlasting power and divinity,” the reality is that the gospel is available to any with open ears (Rom 1:18-20).  Most of us can relate stories that are ridiculously unbelievable concerning an honest seeker finding the gospel over insurmountable odds—how about the Ethiopian Eunuch?  The Philippian Jailor?  God’s word is available.

Well, then, if the word is God’s power and is available to all, why do the majority fail to have faith?  Paul is especially concerned that the majority of the chosen people, his people the Jews, had not found faith in Christ.  He points out that they had been warned that this would come to pass.  Israel would be provoked by other nations finding God and God declaring himself to them while they were left behind. (10:19-20).  This failure to believe is an open refusal to face facts, and the reason most never come to faith.  And Israel’s failure is often reflected in the churches of Christ where people will not hear the reading of scripture that does not match “the way we have always done it.”  As Daddy used to say, “It goes in one ear and out the other.”  Whether it be that the work of the preacher is not visiting the sick, or that the Lord’s Supper is to be a  fellowship/communion not oneself alone with his thoughts, or that the church was not given a name or any number of other traditions that simply are not so, THE people do not hear, but those without prior understanding—usually new converts--have open hearts.

Paul identifies the problem as the same one Jesus described in the parable of the soils.  There was no problem with the seed.  There was no problem in the manner of sowing.  The problem was the hearts into which it fell, or, “all the day long did I spread out my hands unto a disobedient and contrary people.” (10:21).  People do not hear because they do not want to be accountable to do what the gospel says and thus they turn away or never expose themselves to truth that might inconvenience their choices.  Others have that contrary attitude that seeks exceptions and excuses and problems, and never yields to the things that are heard.

So, indeed, Faith does come to ALL who hear the word.  The disappointment is that so few, in or out of the church, will hear.

If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead, Luke 16:31.

Keith Ward

Today’s post is by guest writer Helene Smith.  See more at maidservantsofChrist.com.

The day my oldest daughter was born I couldn't help thinking of Mary.  Here I was in July, in an air-conditioned hospital room, hopped up on pain killers, following a C-section, and I am thinking about nativity scenes.  Weird, I know.  But I bet I am not the only Christian mom who looked at her own baby and thought of the mother of that holy baby. Mary was haunting my thoughts.

Luke records Mary's story almost as if he sat down and chatted with her.   He was inspired but he still did research (Luke 1:1-3). So I wonder about his source. Did he have her diary? Did he sit down with one of her children or an old familiar friend to record such intimate things? How did he know Mary "treasured these things in her heart?" (Luke 1-2) Regardless of his research materials, Luke lays out Mary's path, beginning with joy and confusion, passing through deep sorrow and landing soundly back in the land of joy.

After the angel delivers the astonishing news that she, a virgin, will conceive, she runs off to see Elizabeth. She declares in her song, "For the Mighty One has done great things for me" (Luke 1:49). Elizabeth names her blessed among women and Mary says that she will be counted as blessed for all generations.  The conversation between the two of them overflows with the idea that Mary has been gifted by God.  

Yet only a few months later the story seems bleaker.  Joseph, hearing that the girl he never touched is pregnant, almost ends their engagement.  After angelic interference he remains betrothed to her, but it was not the marriage she envisioned. They remain celibate until after the baby's birth.  Not every young girl's dream.  When Augustus' fiscal policy crashes through their life, things get even worse.  Swinging a heavy belly in front of her, Mary walks (my college professors thought that donkey thing was unlikely at best) all the way from Galilee to the overcrowded Bethlehem.  

Far from her home and family, far from all the things she would have carefully prepared for her baby, she gives birth to the son of God. This blessing thing doesn't seem to be working out for Mary.  An unexpected twist brings some shepherds in to see the new baby.  So instead of the parade of adoring grandparents she might have had, she has a parade of shepherds. Instead of old friends comfortably passing the news about the weight and length of her little son, she has shepherds proclaiming all through the streets that her son's birth was hailed by an angelic chorus.  
 
Mary was blessed and that very blessing caused her pain. Although the idea seems a little strange at the outset, it is the story of being a mom.  We see the double lines on the stick and we cry with joy.  Even moms who regretted a pregnancy find it impossible not to delight in those tiny little fingers and tiny little toes.  Yet no child is brought into the world without pain. The 5-year old who brings us daisies is the 15 year old who screams, "I hate you" across the house.  

If we stopped here, things don't look too bad. On the eighth day, Mary and Joseph head to Jerusalem to circumcise Jesus.  In a lesser known story they meet two elderly people, Simeon and Anna, who see the infant Savior and instantly know who he is.  Simeon breaks up what till now has been a relatively cheerful tale. He looks at Mary and says, "and a sword will pierce even your own soul."  That doesn't sound like a story with a happy ending.

When our children are born, we aren't promised happy endings.  I have a friend whose son was born with several birth defects that will prevent him from reaching adulthood.  I know a couple whose middle school aged daughter has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. I knew an elderly couple who though 10 years removed from the event, never made it back to full functioning after the death of their daughter.  I can't imagine a more accurate description of the horror of losing a child than "a sword will pierce even your own soul."

Jesus had two parents standing by the cross.  One watched from Heaven and the other from earth.  I cannot comprehend what it must have cost both of them.  But I understand Mary the better of the two.   When I think of the "fellowship of His sufferings," it's Mary that comes to mind. (2 Corinthians 1:5, Philippians 3:10, 1 Peter 2:21, 4:13).  

I can mouth the words, "suffer with Christ," but Mary stood there and watched her oldest child, the one she played patty-cake with, the one she bathed, the one she watched take his first step, die.  I've given baths and played patty cake, so I can begin to imagine how I could share in His sufferings.  I have a friend who's a missionary.  When she left home it broke her mother's heart.  Having a mom with enough faith to send her anyway healed my friend's heart.  What comfort it must have been for Jesus to look down and see Mary there suffering alongside him.  

The day my oldest girl was born my feet were set on a path of blessing and suffering, and I began to learn what it is like to be Mary. I want to suffer at the sight of my Savior's suffering.  More than that, I want to stop whining about the minuscule things I suffer for Him.  Mary's story ends in joy.  Her son went from the Suffering Servant to the resurrected glorified Messiah.  Even if we have to follow Mary's path all the way to the end, we have the hope that we too shall be reunited with our children in glory.

Helene Smith

Today’s post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

Psychologists have long argued over the topic of "Nature vs. Nurture," what makes a person who he is. Which makes a bigger impact, the inborn traits inherited from parents and ancestors (Nature) or how he was raised and the environment he was exposed to at an early age (Nurture)? One of their favorite tests is to study the personalities of identical twins who, for whatever reason, were separated at birth and raised in completely different environments. Both have the same genetic inheritance from their parents, so how did the different types of child rearing philosophies, economic strata, and/or geographical locations affect who these people became? It is an interesting debate and I have my personal theories, but what is truly intriguing is that God weighs in on the matter. 
God's attitude seems to be that the whole question is moot. Regardless of what you have inherited or what you've been through, you had better live righteously, or else.
Let's take the "Nature" side of the argument first. What if I were to say to God, "I've inherited these tendencies; it's in my DNA; I can't help myself?" What would God's reaction be?

Interestingly, someone did say something like this to God. Ezekiel 33:10 "And thou, son of man, say unto the house of Israel, "Thus ye speak, saying 'Our transgressions and sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?'" They believe they are swallowed up in their sins and can't change. "How then can we live" speaks to their mindset, as does "we pine away in them". They know they are sinning, they know the consequences, yet they feel that they just can't change. "This is just who I am!"

God’s response is “Turn from your evil ways.  O why will you die?”  His attitude toward this seems to be, "Well, I don't like how you are, so change." Apparently, he doesn't think that DNA controls our every action. Remember, he knows more about DNA than any scientist. After all, he created it. Apparently, he expects us to learn to control the tendencies that our DNA has programmed into us. (Rom 7)
"But my Daddy was a bad man and he trained me to believe in and do bad things. It's not my fault, it's just how I was raised!"

Ezekiel 18 answers this with the hypothetical story of three generations: a righteous man who has a wicked son who in turn has a righteous son. The two who are righteous aren't punished for the wicked, the wicked isn't saved by the righteous, and the son of the wicked doesn't get a free pass because he was raised in a bad environment. He is judged the same as the others, based on how he lived his life. The circumstances don't seem to matter. How we live our lives is what matters. Our Lord said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." He didn't discuss the type of tree and whether this strain generally yields as well as that strain. Neither does he discuss the type of soil the tree is planted in, nor whether it has rained recently, nor the amount of sun the tree has received. All he mentions is the fruit borne by the tree.
As Christians, we must hold OURSELVES responsible for our sins. While there may be a lot of circumstances and pressures and other reasons that led to our sin, we need to realize that, bottom line, we've sinned. God isn't happy with us. We need to change. No one is saying it will be easy. Change never is and some of us have a lot more obstacles to overcome in our efforts to change than others of us do. Still, we need to realize that our sins are OUR FAULT, not Dad's fault or circumstances’ fault, or society’s fault, or anything else's fault except ours, and "man up" (1 Cor 16:13).

If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. For ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory. Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things sake comes the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience; wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things: but now do ye also put them all away: wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings and have put on the new man, that being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him, Col 3:1-10.



Lucas Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

How do you make choices? What counts in a buying decision? Is your focus on looks, glitter? How much does it matter to you that it is the choice of the rich and famous? Will a fast-talking salesman get you to over-commit for features that were not in your plans? We have lived on a tight budget for so long that we learned to make good choices from necessity. We try not to make the same mistake twice and to learn from the mistakes of others.

When I began to consider a new mower, it was not a whim, the old one had become unreliable and its steering actively hurt my arthritic hands (RA, the kind that both aches and damages). I talked to a friend who had bought a good mower, but then the dealer quit carrying that brand, and their service became grudging. He must now drive further. I talked to neighbors and even tried out their mowers. I listened to a salesman and he skillfully explained all the benefits of his brand. Then I talked to others who own that brand and others who have dealt with that dealer. I asked the dealer, you are my age, what happens when you retire and he replied, “My two sons have been in the business with me for __ years”. Furthermore, he has dealt the same brand for 30+ years.

How do you make your spiritual decisions? It is a mighty big investment, much more than a mower. Do you check out the features and consider the consequences of getting an inferior product? Can you afford to start over later if you “lose your shirt” on a bad choice?

Paganism ruled for thousands of years and came to despair by the time of Christ —no hope, no meaning, no answers, no power. This is one reason that it was “the fullness of times” for Christ, and the gospel swept the world.
God is stable. He has always been there with the same product—life. He has always offered mercy and grace as part of his finance plan. His power has been proven over and over by prediction, miracles, resurrection. The life he gives does not offer as much glitter and fun as the popular one. He places limits on your choices and makes demands that no other philosophy does. If “weekends” are the goal of your life, He is not for you. But make an informed choice. If you go for the pleasure here, that is all there is, ever, and there is no guarantee you will have much pleasure at that.

Buy from God.

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goes and sells all that he hath, and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls: and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matthew 13:44-46.

Keith Ward

Today’s post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

We have two excellent examples of prayer in the latter part of the Old Testament. Daniel is the more famous of the two, with his habit of praying three times a day, a habit which resulted in him being thrown to the lions from which God saved him. I like Daniel's example because it shows the devotion of a busy man. Remember, at the time of Daniel chapter 6, Daniel was the leader of a council that headed all the satraps of the kingdom of Babylon (which was subject to Persia at the time). He was, in effect, the number 2 man in the kingdom behind Darius. So he was busy.

But regardless of how busy he was, he set aside time every day to pray. This is a great example for us today with our busy lives. We always have more things that need to be done, too many things, in fact. We shouldn't (can't) allow our busy-ness to keep us away from time with our God.  If necessary, schedule an appointment with God and then keep it. It's your most important appointment of the day.

The second example is less well known: Nehemiah.  As I have studied through Nehemiah the thing I have noticed most is that he prayed constantly. The account doesn't mention a regular praying schedule like Daniel’s, but at every turn Nehemiah is praying. In chapter 1:5-11 he prays after hearing of Jerusalem's sad state. In 2:4 he says a quick prayer before asking the king for permission to repair the city. In 4:4-5 he prays that God will punish those hindering the work. In 4:9 he prays when he hears of them coming to attack. In 5:19 he prays for God to remember his good deeds. In 6:9 he prays for strength to continue in the work. In 6:14 he asks God to notice the evil his enemies are doing. So, he prayed when he was sad and troubled, when he was scared, angry, worried, when he wanted God to notice his good deeds, when he needed strength, when he wanted God to remember the evil deeds of evildoers. At every turn of his life, Nehemiah prayed.

Some of these prayers were lengthy. Many were short. At least one was internal and so short the king didn't notice an undue pause. Still, at every trying time, Nehemiah prayed. What would happen if we prayed every time we were scared and worried? Would our faith be stronger and our sense of peace unassailable? What if we prayed every time we were angry? Would we sin less often? If we prayed when problems arose, would the solutions seem easier? Nehemiah is an example of a man whose faith in God was so strong that he took everything—everything--to God in prayer.

So, combining the examples, we need to set aside time to pray, time to spend communing with God.  We can't allow our busy lives to estrange us from God.  We also need to turn to God when things happen between our "appointments". We need to take all our troubles to Him. They don't need to be long prayers, but if we cast our cares upon Him our lives will be easier and we will be better equipped to keep on the straight and narrow.

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. Psalms 116:1-2

Lucas Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

When we started gardening in Illinois, the second year of our marriage, I wanted a hoe like the one I grew up using.  I could not find one in any of the hardware stores. This hoe has two opposite blades with a hole in the center: One blade is narrow, about an inch or an inch and a half wide, and works wonderfully for laying out rows; the other blade spreads to about 4 inches wide and works well for chopping weeds or breaking up rain-packed beds.  I have never seen another hoe that could do both.  Few other hoes are such heavy gauge steel.  When I was a child, Mom used it in place of a tiller since we never had one of those.  My sister and I were tasked to beat the dirt out of the grass clods and toss the grass aside. Finally, I asked Dad to get me one and he had to order it.  I doubt that he let me pay for it.

We marked a place on the handle with electrical tape to know how far apart to put the garden rows.  For years, I would rent or borrow a tiller in the spring and then that hoe did all our gardening thereafter.  After I got a tiller, one year it rained so much I could not use it and the ground was turning sour and the plants dying.  I stood in mud to my knees, with my feet sunken to the hardpan clay underneath, and hoed the surface to aerate the soil and managed to save our harvest.

A few years ago, the handle rotted some at the end and the hoe tended to rotate so I filled it in with JB Weld.  It finally broke after 38 years of service.  I searched 3 hardware stores before I found a handle.  I put a healthy dose of JB Weld where the hoe would fit and put the hoe in a vise and drove the handle on with a 3 pound hammer.  Then I smoothed the JB Weld on both sides and kept rotating it in the sun so it would not drip until it dried. This hoe should be good for 40 years which is more than you can say for me.

I liked that hoe because it was the kind I grew up with.  Is that why you like your church?

…to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages has been hid in God who created all things; to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: Ephesians 3:9-11.

Keith Ward

(Today’s post is by guest writer Keith Ward.)

Too often, we limit our thinking concerning the meaning of this bread to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. When we do so we cannot comprehend fully the breadth and depth of what did occur on the cross. Jesus’ sacrifice of his body began so much earlier: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…A body thou didst prepare for me…to do thy will, O God … and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory,” (Jn 1:1, 14; Heb 10:5-7).

Jesus spoke, "This is my body,” and soon he gathered his disciples, sang a hymn and left for the garden of Gethsemane. He left the eight, and even went a stone’s throw beyond Peter, James and John, and began to pray in an agony so great that drops of sweat poured from him as drops of blood. We can imagine his prayers:

Father, I came to do your will. I left heaven and emptied myself to take the body you prepared for me, to become a servant. I thirsted and hurt and sweated and was sore and tired so that I could be human and intercede for them. Now, it is the time to die; the cross, horrendous pain for a long time, beatings, mockery and humiliation. “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me…but, thy will be done,” (Mt 26:34).

Then Jesus returned and found the disciples asleep. He wakened them and rebuked, where were you when I needed you (Mt 26:40)?  He again went forward to pray.

Father, I left the holiness of your presence to take a body and live in a world saturated with sin. My life was surrounded by the ugliest, vile wickedness against the joy of the life you decreed; My senses were assaulted by the constant rebellion against your righteous ways; My ears were assaulted with curses and filth from lips you created for praise. Yet, I kept myself unspotted; I maintained the same holiness I enjoyed with you from before the beginning. Now, I must bear their sins in my body (1Pet 2:24). The purity I have never compromised is to be stained with the ugliness we never even imagined. For their sake, I must become sin (2 Cor 5:21). “Father, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.”

And he came again and found the disciples sleeping. He reproved them and returned to pray a third time.

            Father, we have always been together. Before time was, before the world was, we shared plans and thoughts and ideas and feelings, and have never been apart. But now, on the cross, my holy body will become sin; all the evil from all humanity laid on me. You cannot be where sin is; You cannot accept sin in your presence. You must withdraw from me, and the fellowship that is without beginning will be broken. Alone. I will be separated. Hell. “Father, let this cup pass from me. But, thy will be done in my body.

And, again, the disciples slept.

Then Judas betrayed him.

In his body, Jesus sacrificed his position and became flesh; Jesus sacrificed his holiness and became sin; Jesus sacrificed his fellowship: “My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?”

“This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: yea, and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove one with another, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he that eats me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; he that eats this bread shall live forever,” (Jn 6:50-58).

Many have read this passage over the Lord’s Supper with little comprehension of the meaning. Jesus is not referring to his coming sacrifice in any way. Instead, his words demand an absolute commitment to his incarnation—that he is God in the flesh. Who he is must be the food that sustains the inner life of Jesus’ disciple. He cannot include any other philosophy; worldly ambitions cannot be on the menu; family obligations may not be considered. Jesus’ incarnate life must be one hundred percent of his sustenance. Taking the emblems at the Lord’s Supper is a token reminding every disciple of that commitment and a renewal of it. “This is my body.”

We are the body, he is the head. As we take the bread we must question our commitment to the purity of his body, the church. Do we pray in agony to maintain our personal purity? Will we give our position, our lives, even all that we were, to do God’s will? People say, “That is just the way I am,” or, “I’m doing the best I can,” while their lives demonstrate so little of the sacrificial attitude, “A body thou hast prepared for me, to do thy will O God.” No wonder some are sick and some have died (1 Cor 11:30).

When we take this bread, this memorial to his body, we are also partaking in a re-commitment to be his body. We made that commitment at baptism—crucified with Christ, put to death, raised to a new life, “To do thy will, O God.”

Keith Ward