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Read
1 Kings 17:7-16. Elijah asked the widow to give all that she had
when everything within her said, “You don't want to do that.”
We're not told exactly what it was that changed her mind, but there
must have been something about what Elijah said and how he said it.
She believed his word, the promise he gave concerning God's ability
to provide. Her faith and her fear slugged it out, but it was her
faith that won after the 15th
round.
Being
Communion Sunday, we're thinking of Someone else Who gave
sacrificially. Jesus was asked to give all that He had. Something
inside Him struggled with the prospect. Let's hear His exact words:
“My
Father, if
it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;
yet not as I will, but as You will”
(Mt. 26:39). In Jesus' prayer, you hear both His humanity and His
divinity, both His vulnerability and His submission.
It
wasn't that Jesus was afraid of death. Being human, I don't think He
was thrilled with the idea, but I don't think that's why He had to
slug it out in prayer. What was it that Jesus battled through? The
answer, I believe, is found in 2 Corinthians 5:21. “[God]
made [Jesus] who knew no sin to
be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
It wasn't the righteousness part that caused the inner turmoil but
the idea of being a sin offering. Isaiah gives us insight here:
“But He was
pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed
for our iniquities;
The chastening
for our
well-being fell upon Him,
And by His
scourging we are healed.
All of us like
sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has
turned to his own way;
But the LORD
has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on
Him.”
(Isa. 53:5-6)
My
sin, His suffering. Not an appealing deal, if your name is Jesus
Christ. The good
news is that Jesus did
give His all, when He had every right to hold onto it.
“Jesus
paid it all,
All
to Him I owe;
Sin
had left a crimson stain,
He
washed it white as snow.”1
Before
you come to the Communion table, ask yourself, “What is it that
Jesus wants me to give to Him, but I am holding onto it?” Is it
bitterness or resentment? Is it fear or doubt? Is it anger or a
critical spirit? Is it disobedience in another area? You might want
to hold onto it, but today Jesus is asking for it. Won't you give it
to Him?
1Hall,
Elvina M. “Jesus Paid It All.” Hymns of Glorious Praise.
Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1969. Hymn #101.
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