The Lord's Supper Proclaims the Humility and Obedience of Jesus
Philippians 2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. What an enormous stoop our Savior took in order to save His people! From His existence in the form of God, He emptied Himself to take the form of a bondslave, becoming a man. Not a wealthy man or a man of consequence, but a carpenter in a small village. Yet this was not the end of His condescension - He went to the cross and there descended into hell to pay for the sins His people had committed. Can we ever comprehend the magnitude of the gap between how high and exalted God the Son was in heaven before the incarnation and how low He stooped in going to the cross as the man Christ Jesus? Can we even begin to understand that the One who is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, in Whom all things hold together (Col 1:17) endured mocking, sneering, spitting, beating, scourging and murder at the hands of those whom He was, at that very moment, maintaining in existence? That He Who is the eternal delight of His heavenly Father became instead the object of His wrath against the sin of His innumerable people? That He Who is the Light of the world, pure and holy, Whose clothing shone brighter than the sun on the mount of transfiguration, was plunged into the darkness of sin and damnation on the cross? Moses is called "very humble" in Scripture, and we do see him stoop from life in Pharaoh's palace to identify with the despised people of God. But is there any comparison between the great humility of Moses and what we see in the life of the Savior? Let us not lose sight, either, of the obedience of Christ in making this stoop at the command of His Father. Jesus showed us that there is no command that God can give that should not be wholeheartedly obeyed, regardless of the personal cost and sacrifice entailed. Indeed, the greater the cost, the more we should delight to obey in service of such a wonderful God. The result of Jesus' obedience shows us that even when obeying God brings dreadful afflictions and suffering, in the purposes of God there will be a good and glorious outcome. And now we come to the Lord's Table. Here are the signs that as a perfect man, not liable to death, Jesus took our sins upon Himself and underwent our death for us. This is a holy place indeed, where such deep and profound truth is proclaimed in such simple signs and seals! Who would not wish to be present at such a meal? www.gcmodesto.org