In His Presence

I believe in partaking of the Lord's Supper every Sunday. It is a pattern of what Jesus did at His last Passover. He ate supper and then the bread and fruit of the vine with His apostles. We follow His example to feel and be in His presence. Acts 2:28 (NET) states: "You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of joy with your presence." When we remember His sacrifice by eating emblems that represent His body and blood, we commune with Him and one another in a special spiritual event.

A question I've pondered frequently is whether or not Jesus was advocating a special kind of bread and fruit of the vine? There were special arrangements made for the Passover, but were there special arrangements for the Lord's Supper? He took break. What bread? The bread that was available. Are we limited to yeastless, Jewish feast type bread? What about our wine? Like the  bread it was what was served as part of the evenings festivities. If we look closely at the ingredients in our loaf and juice today, we might be surprised. My opinion? These concerns don't matter...to me.

I do affirm I'm never going to spread peanut butter on a cracker as part of communion. The importance of the ceremony is that I should be full of joy with Christ's presence. The words of Sandi Patty's song In His Presence released in 1992 express it well:

In the quiet of this hour, as I kneel before You now, I believe Your promise to be faithful. I don't always understand what Your perfect will demands; but I've learned to trust You more in Your presence, Lord.

In Your presence there is comfort; in Your presence there is peace. When we seek to know Your heart, we will find such blessed assurance in Your holy presence, Lord.

There can be such sweet reward when we wait upon the Lord. As we take the time, He gives His perfect wisdom. To be found in Him alone; all our deepest secrets known. We're surrounded by His grace When we seek His face.

In Your presence there is comfort; in Your presence there is peace. When we seek the father's heart, we will find such blessed assurance. An ever open door to know our Savior more, in the presence of my Lord.

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What happened to the bread?

I've thought about the betrayal of Jesus by Judas many times. It began with Satan entering Judas in the upper room. Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover. Jesus stated that betrayal would come from the one to whom he gave the dipped bread. The other Eleven were questioning who that could be. They lacked the vision to even notice when Jesus handed a piece to Judas Iscariot.

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(John 13:20-38 MSG) "What you must do," Jesus said, "do. Do it and get it over with." Judas, with the piece of bread, left. It was night. That's all we hear about that small parcel of unleavened bread. We know that Judas approached the Jewish leaders with a plan. He told them the one whom he kissed was the person to be seized. He was paid 30 pieces of silver for his kiss. After that encounter in the garden, he returned and tried to give the money back. Upon being met with refusal, he threw the money down. He immediately went out into the dark night and hanged himself.

How could he? How could anyone? Many deep questions can simply be answered by, "It was God's will." My question is, "What became of that piece of bread?" Did Judas eat it? Did he dispose of it? Was it forgotten in the hem of his garment as he dangled breathless in the noose? I guess we'll have to wait to have that answered with so many other queries once we enter heaven. It is certainly not rhetorical; but it is trivial. We can only imagine and possibly hypothesize.