Communion (Outline)
Mark 10:32 "Now they were on the
road, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus was going before them; and they
were amazed. And as
they followed they were afraid. Then He
took the twelve aside
again and began to tell them the things
that would happen to
Him:"
33 ""Behold, we are going up
to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be betrayed to the chief priests
and to the scribes; and
they will condemn Him to death and deliver
Him to the Gentiles;"
34 ""and they will mock Him,
and scourge Him, and spit on Him,
and kill Him. And the third day He will
rise again.""
35 "Then James and John, the
sons of Zebedee, came to Him,
saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for
us whatever we ask.""
36 "And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?""
37 "They said to Him, "Grant
us that we may sit, one on Your
right hand and the other on Your left,
in Your glory.""
38 "But Jesus said to them,
"You do not know what you ask. Are
you able to drink the cup that I drink,
and be baptized with the
baptism that I am baptized with?""
39 "They said to Him, "We are able."
So Jesus said to them, "You
will indeed drink the cup that I drink,
and with the baptism I
am baptized with you will be baptized;"
40 ""but to sit on My right
hand and on My left is not Mine to
give, but it is for those for whom it
is prepared.""
41 "And when the ten heard
it, they began to be greatly
displeased with James and John."
42 "But Jesus called them to
Himself and said to them, "You
know that those who are considered rulers
over the Gentiles lord
it over them, and their great ones exercise
authority over them."
43 ""Yet it shall not be so
among you; but whoever desires to
become great among you shall be your servant."
44 ""And whoever of you desires
to be first shall be slave of
all."
45 ""For even the Son of Man
did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give His life a ransom for
many.""
James did drink of that cup. We read in
Acts 12:2 "Then he killed James
the brother of John with the
sword."
Apparent popularity of Christianity
--Some teaching and planning for takeover of politics
--Some teaching prosperity, revival
of Jewish concept
wealth = God's approval
--Some teaching powerless love.
YOu will find that many of these not are willing to share the cup
What does cup mean, what does it take/hold in the Bible?
--Drink
--wine
--wrath, fury
--punishment
--indignation
--consolation
Word for cup in the Bible in the
original languages often used
in context of "lot" or "portion".
Today some would call it fate.
In Bible contents of a cup are often
distributed as a result of
choices made. 1 Cor 10:21
"You cannot drink the cup of the
Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot
partake of the Lord's
table and of the table of demons."
In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus
prayed 2 times "If it be
possible, let this cup pass" Matt 26:39
But in John 18:11 the beloved of
Jesus records that Jesus said
to Peter, "Put your sword into the sheath.
Shall I not drink the
cup which My Father has given Me?""
The cup that the Father gave Jesus
to drink was the wine of
God's indignation against sin. As
a result of this cup, Christ
faced, for the first time in eternity,
separation from God the
Father. Even His earthly friends
failed Him because they
couldn't stay awake.
There in Gethsemane, and on Calvary,
Jesus drank the cup of
God's wrath against our sins, that we
might not have to partake
of eternal death. Instead, we who
accept Christ will have the
opportunity of drinking the cup of eternal
joy in the earth made
new.
There is another cup for the Christian.
Psa 16:5 "The LORD is the portion
of mine inheritance and of
my cup: thou maintainest my lot."
Psa 23:5 "Thou preparest a
table before me in the presence of
mine enemies: thou anointest my head with
oil; my cup runneth
over."
Psa 116:12 "What shall I render
unto the LORD for all his
benefits toward me?"
13 "I will take the cup of
salvation, and call upon the name
of the LORD."
I believe that we must all share
the cup with Christ. We do it
in this service today, which directs our
thoughts to the blood
that was spilled when Christ drank the
cup for us.
What about us today? Are we
eager to share our sorrows with
others, but become uninterested when they
sorrow? Do we forget
to share with our frieinds and nieghbors
the good that God
showers upon us?
Do we forget that the most effective
witnesses for Christ have
always been forgiven sinners telling simply
what Christ has done
for them?
I pray not. And I pray that
as we share this cup today we will
begin to share more and more the material
blessings that God has
given us, and the spiritual joy we find
in partaking of His cup.
Whatever it may be.