We continue to consider the intimate occasion of the Eucharist and our response to Jesus as we accept his invitation to partake in it.
Peter and John would not have simply ensured that they had a good meal in preparation for another busy week of work. They would have done everything with great thought.
A Jewish family would first search the house to see if there was any leavened bread to be found and to throw it out. This was because leavened bread was made of fermented dough and was identified with rottenness or corruption.
Yesterday, we began considering how we might prepare to meet Jesus in the Eucharist.
Pause and
consider this a little more.
Are there things that you want to clear out within your life?
Perhaps you know you saddened God in some way – some refer to this as sin – and you wish to make amends with God.
What else might be getting in the way of a truly intimate connection between yourself and Jesus?
A
second big task was the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb. Worshippers would take their lamb to the temple and kill it themselves in a careful ritual so that the priest could catch the blood in a particular bowl. Blood signified life. The lamb would then be prepared in a strictly acceptable way and then taken home to roast.
Later that evening, the entire lamb would be eaten. Nothing was to be left, and with it, wine was thoughtfully
consumed as they remembered God’s promise to:
Free us from our burdens
Deliver us from slavery
Redeem us with outstretched arms
Take us as God’s people as we take God as our God. (Ex 6:6-7)
Regularly attending the Eucharist means that we can easily drift into simply consuming the elements of bread/wafer and wine without much
thought of their significance.
When attending your next Eucharist, could you pause and be mindful of what the elements represent?
What are you allowing God to fill you with as you take those elements into your own body?
Reflections by Cherie-Lynn van der Merwe
