Week of 3/31-4/6: His Life - The Suffering King

Day Two: Matthew 26:26-29 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is My body.” Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. But I tell you, from this moment I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in a new way in My Father’s kingdom with you.”

I GREW UP IN A SMALL NORTH TEXAS town where sports is kingpin began my athletic career at the ripe old age of 5.The first organized sport I played was tee-ball, which is similar to baseball. The difference is the ball is placed on a tee, instead of being pitched by the opposing team

I vividly remember one of the first lessons I learned in tee-ball: “Get your body in front of the ball!” This means that it’s not good enough to simply stick your glove out and hope the ball lands in it.Instead; we were taught that we had to place our entire bodies in the path of the ball. Why, you may ask? So that if we happened to miss the ball with our glove, our body would stop the ball, and we’d prevent the opposing team from gaining extra basest put it another way, we were taught that we had to sacrifice our bodies for the sake of the team.

This same lesson was reinforced as my athletic horizons expanded. In high school, my basketball coach devised something he called “blood drills.” This consisted of the player starting on the baseline. The coach would roll the ball in the opposite direction, and the player would have to run and slide to get the ball. Then, the player would dribble back to the basket, only to find another coach waiting with a big blocking pad trying to prevent an easy lay-up. After these workouts, we all huddled in the locker room to compare court burns!

The purpose of the “blood drills” was the same as the lesson taught in tee-ball: You must sacrifice your body for the sake of the team. Interestingly, this is similar to what Jesus has already done on our account. At the last supper, Jesus explicitly told the disciples that He was sacrificing His body and His blood for the sake of humanity. While we sacrifice our bodies in small, insignificant ways, Christ gave the ultimate sacrifice. And with that ultimate sacrifice came complete and total victory over sin!

PAUSE AND REFLECT

▷▷Why did Jesus sacrifice His body and His blood?

▷▷What benefits do we receive as a result of Jesus’ sacrifice?

▷▷How should Jesus’ sacrifice affect the way we live out our lives on a day-to-day basis?