Mark 14b

So much depth, so much richness - but my ADHD brain will not let me slow down to feast on all that God has for me in these verses. The Lord wants to give me a twelve course meal and i want fries at the drive thru!. Lord, slow down my heart.

Starting at verse 22, is the shortest account of the Last Supper in all the gospels, but every word in the Bible is packed with dynamite - or should I say Dunamis.

As Matthew Henry would say: The Lord's supper is food for the soul...Apply the doctrine of Christ crucified to yourselves; let it be meat and drink to your souls, strengthening and refreshing your spiritual life.

Remember back in chapter 10 James and John ask for the seat to his right and left? And Jesus responds, "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink,"? That was the cup of suffering. Now put that together with the phrase in 14:23, "and when he had given thanks..." So picture this, Jesus is holding the cup of passover wine, symbolizing his blood, the blood that was hours away from being poured out fro the whip, the thorns, the cross. And what he does is he give thanks.

Twice in the last week I have been given bad news, really bad news. Sometimes I was angry, sometimes confused, sometimes frustrated, sometimes afraid - but I can honestly say that giving thanks was not the first (or second, or third) thing that popped into my head.

But giving thanks is not something you do, but it is something that erupts. It erupts from a heart that is filled with faith in a God that is inclined to me (Psalm 40:1), who's mercies are new every morning (Lam 3:23), who rejoice over me with gladness (Zeph 3:17).

Like Job, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will redeem each of these situations for his glory and my good. I know that he has redeemed me! And I know that he loves me. So much so, that he gave thanks when he was given that cup.