Tues. July 22nd :: Lk.22 :: For You

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them,
saying, "This is my body given for you;

(Luke 22.19a)

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I’m resisting the desire to say something clever today.

You may not know it but we pastors are in a dangerous place with regard to God’s Word. That is, we need to be convicted and changed by it as much as the next person. Yet we also make our living (in part) by teaching from it. This may not sound like a conflicting situation, but it is. There is the subtle temptation to approach scriptures like this with an ulterior motive. Namely: ‘What can I find here that will sound clever enough to make someone stick around to hear what I have to say next week?’ If you’re new to the faith, we have a word for desires like that. They’re called sins.

So I’m resisting that impulse today.

The takeaway for me in Luke 22.19 is not clever, but it is profound.

Over a meal with bread and wine Jesus makes a startling claim. “This bread is my body given FOR YOU.” …for you… In other words, our situation apart from God is so dire, our sin so ugly, that only one remedy was sufficient. Jesus would have to give himself FOR US. He would have to suffer the punishment that was rightfully ours, so that we could receive the blessing that was rightfully his—to be in right standing with God the father.

That insight is hardly new or clever. But it must take hold. It must drop the thirteen inches from your head to your heart.

Tim Keller:
“The Christian gospel is that [we are] so flawed that Jesus had to die for [us], yet [we are] so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for [us].

Let’s meditate on that today.