Author: Lynden McGriff

 

Todays Reading : Isaiah 52

The two elements that I think about during Easter are the bread and wine.  Two items that were the reminder of the Passover feast have become the representation of Christ’s new covenant with us.  But the choices of these elements werevery intentional and purposeful.  Christ chose these to give us a true representation of the sacrifice and process that would be necessary for our salvation.

During the traditional Paschal Feast, a lamb has to be sacrificed and the blood placed on the doorpost of the family to show that there had been proper sacrifice to atone for the sins of the family.  The process of sacrificing a lamb begins with the lamb being brought into the house of the family.  The lamb is brought into the house four days before the sacrifice. This originally was to emphasize the meaning of the sacrifice to the Egyptians, but then it became a symbol of the closeness that you had to be to the sacrifice.  The lamb had an intimate bond with the family and you knew the cost of the life given for you.  The lamb was taken care of and not harmed before the sacrifice.  Jesus was familiar with this custom as he was practicing his faith; but, he is revealing a new type of intimacy and price for sacrifice.

The elements that he intentionally uses are common among the people and they also have strong meanings.  Bread has been for several centuries the sign of health and food. Many times the people were so hungry that they only had a small piece of bread to eat and sometimes it was not available daily.   But Jesus had a different view of bread.  The seed of the wheat, first, has to be buried before it sprouts new life. Then once the wheat has grown, it has to be harvested and threshed.  The outer coating of the seed has to be broken to allow the inside of the seed to be use for nourishment.  Next the seed has to be crushed and grounded into a powder or flour.  Next the flour has to be worked until it is suitable for the loaf.  The process that transforms the seed into the bread, completely changes the form and the nature of the wheat.

The next element that he uses for the new covenant is the wine. Wine has for ages been the vehicle for celebrations, healing and ceremonies.  From ancient times to the modern times, wine was used to purify water in order to make it potable.  But the process of making wine is a very intricate process.  The vinedresser finds the correct fruit and then properly harvests the grapes.  Then the grapes are placed in a wine vat and pressed with extreme hard labor that crushes the skin and the essence of the grape.  The result is pulp and juice.  Then the juice and the pulp are stored for a time until the correct amount of fermentation has occurred and then the wine is ready to consume.

With the understanding of these elements it is easy to understand the verse of today: Isaiah 52:13-15

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;^[b]
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
¹⁴ As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
¹⁵ so shall he sprinkle^[c]many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.

Jesus was preparing us in the last supper for the transformation that was about to take place.  He was showing us that these were the true representation of His body and what was going to happen to it.  The process of his sacrifice was going to be unlike that of the traditional Paschal Lamb, he would have to endure a process that would change the physical, emotional and spiritual forms to produce something that was more power. He would not be recognized after the process.  “As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.”  This was the preparation to the eternal.  This is one reason that the women who came to see him after the resurrection didn’t recognize him, because they saw the marred and crushed body of the Messiah before he was transformed.   I am thankful for the sacrifice and the transformation of the body for my salvation.

Father,

Thank you for the awesome sacrifice and humility you endured to save us.  Thank you for the redemption and the elements to remind us of the love, power and glory you have.  Thank you for the remembrance of your victory over death and sin.  Amen.

 

Daniel’s longest night

Daniel Chapter 6

Over the last eight years, Jillian and I have had many long nights with our three children.  There have been nights where the kids have caught a virus or an illness and we are up all night with either child.   These nights have come and go as most parents can attest, but there have been some nights that have truly tested our faith. One particular night is when Oliver was in the hospital when he was six weeks old and had a procedure to secure nutrition.  He had to have a specialized intravenous preparation to give him the essential nutrients for his body to heal.  The procedure that her had to undergo would place an intravenous line directly into his heart and then he would be able to get the medication.  While in the procedure room with him the medical staff informed me that the next hours will be critical because of the risk of his body not maintaining the proper temperature and the risk for infection. After the procedure was completed, we returned to our room.   In the middle of the night we were woken with alarms in the room that he had dropped in temperature.  The drop was so significant the team had to use extraordinary measures to stabilize his body temperature and vital signs.  This was the longest night that I can remember.

In this chapter of Daniel, Daniel is presented with a long night as well.  To the causal onlooker, life and death are weighed in the balance, but for Daniel this was another opportunity to show God’s love and grace. In the previous chapters, God has revealed many times before that the circumstances that we are present with are chances for God to do some amazing work: for both you and the other person.   At this point in the journey Daniel is approximately 80 years old.  He has seen the height of the Jewish authority; been exiled into a new land; made high officer in three different kingdoms; interrupted and conveyed the hardest information to ruthless kings.  Through all of these years and experiences Daniel has seen the glory of God and how these situations worked out for God’s Glory.

Daniel  2: 46

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 

 

Daniel 3: 28

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside^[f] the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”

 

Daniel 4:1-3

King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! ² It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.

³ How great are his signs,
how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and his dominion endures from generation to generation.

At the beginning of the chapter, Daniel is reappointed to the highest position in the kingdom and is not admired by many except the new king Darius.  Darius makes proclamations about praying to other entities and deities, except for him.  This proclamation backfires on the relationship that Darius has with Daniel and Daniel is sentenced to the lions’ den.  This is a punishment that others have seen as ultimate condemnation for the acts against the king.  But this a final testament of the faith of Daniel, he was blessed by God to survive the punishment.

As we go through our journeys we will face many difficult and dark times.  Some we are able to navigate easily and others may be challenging, but we must always remember that when we have a relationship and have an unwavering faith in God, we will come out in the morning with renewed sense of self and bountiful blessings.