The Past, The Present & The Future

    I was looking for a devotional and came across one by Will Graham where he talked about how he accepted Christ because of wanting to take communion. His father stopped him and later talked to him about the meaning of Communion – and what Jesus did for us by dying on the Cross. He came to accept Christ, he explained, from that conversation, and later in life he would write about the importance of Communion using the past, present and future as an example. I liked his devotion, however, I felt that it could be told another way using the same thing, but looking at it from our interpretation of the Past, Present and Future.

        The Past:  Our past knowledge of the Passover in the Upper Room which took place before Jesus’ death and resurrection, is what we know as described in the bible passage that was read in Luke. Jesus and the Disciples came together to share a Passover meal that was normally celebrated to remember how God freed the Hebrews from slavery.

        But this time, it turned out differently and establishes why we celebrate communion. Jesus relayed what was about to happen to Him and told the disciples how to celebrate communion from now on until His final return. They did not understand what was to take place in the following days. His persecution, His death, and His resurrection. All done to save us out of His Love for us. We can see that he took ordinary men who did not understand what was coming and prepared them to do great things for God, our Father, so we can experience eternal life.

        The Present:  Today we know more about what Jesus meant about the bread being His body and the wine being His blood because we know the events that took place after this meal in the Upper room. The disciples did not have the rest of the story at that table. They had no idea about the prayer in the garden, and Jesus being arrested nor the torture that He would endure. They would never have though to hear the crowds screaming, “Crucify Him!” or to witness His death on the cross. They did not know that in just four days, Mary would find an empty tomb and they would see Jesus once again! They did not know that Pentecost was coming and how they would be receiving the Holy Spirit in their lives. They did not have the rest of the story because it had not been written. They did not have the completed Bible and the history in those pages.

        But we, the ones who have not seen Jesus, yet still believe, have this history and understand what Jesus meant when they shared that communal time together. It is because we are able to read it in the Bible, God’s Holy Word. We know that Jesus said to come to this table with no baggage, no malice, holding no grudges and prepare our hearts to celebrate this Holy communion as a way to embrace the gift of grace given to us – knowing that because of His mercy we have a future with God in Heaven because of his gift of Salvation. The best present we will ever receive in our lives. These times of communion will end but in a way that we will realize the enormity of the Present we will receive.

        The Future:  It is what we are preparing for in how we live our lives in the present. This is the race we are running in this life we are living today. It is when we receive the Present that we are really longing for as we go through each day. This is when it is no longer a solemn time of remembrance but a joyful feast. It is when we all get to Heaven and OH what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we Will sing and shout the Victory! Because our future is a life eternal with God in Heaven. It will be more than we can ever imagine.

That is why as we take communion today; we must remember:

The Past:  What was done for us?

The Present:  Our response by living for Jesus, &

The Future:  Our real Present! Eternal Life in Heaven!

~From Our BE Ministry Sister,                                                                                                       Rachel Roccia