This table teaches us to worship God and hate evil rightly. Here at this table we share the signs of an execution: a broken body and shed blood. But unlike any other execution, or any other death in the history of the world, the man who died had done nothing deserving of death. He was innocent of every crime, every sin, every stain. He was betrayed by a friend and deserted by all the others. He was falsely accused. He was convicted of crimes He did not commit. And the judge that sentenced Him knew He was innocent. He was mocked. He was spat on. They hammered a crown of thorns into His head. He was whipped until His flesh was shredded. He was made to carry His cross to the place of His execution. They gambled for His clothing. He suffered every injustice, every shame, every backstabbing word, every taunting insult, every turn of the knife, and He was perfectly innocent.
“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He waswounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him” (Isa. 53:4-5). This is the center of a righteous, burning hatred of evil. Why do we hate evil? Because it grieved and wounded our Lord. Because it struck and afflicted our innocent Lord. Because He who knew no sin was bruised for our iniquities. They did to Him what our sin deserved.
To know Jesus is to know Him as the spotless Lamb of God, the perfect One, the innocent One, the Only Righteous One betrayed for you, deserted for you, falsely accused for you, unjustly convicted for you, mocked for you, beaten for you, bled for you, died for you. And this causes deep worship to well up inside you, deep love, deep loyalty, deep devotion. But also a deep and holy hatred of all evil. Because you love Jesus, you hate all evil.
See this bread and wine, signs of His body broken, blood shed for you. Remember and worship. Remember and hate all evil.
So, Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Bianca Isofache on Unsplash
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