He will give to all the faithful His own self for heavenly food.
This line from the hymn Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, which is heard almost exclusively during the Advent season, points us towards the events described in this morning’s sermon text in Mark: the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Words and images of eating and drinking abound in today’s service. We’ll sing phrases such as, “Eat we manna from above” (At The Lamb’s High Feast We Sing), “Lord, sup with us,” and “Be known to us in breaking bread” (Shepherd of Souls). But Christ does not merely provide for our needs—He gives Himself for the Passover Lamb. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5, He is “our Passover lamb” which “has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the festival.” We’ll finish our “festival” with the classic hymn, There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood. As we declare in the final verse, “Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power,” we experience what Isaac Watts would describe as singing “His bleeding love” (Not All The Blood Of Beasts). —Henry C. Haffner
Key Words: Unleavened Bread, Passover, Betray, Eat, Bread, Drink, Wine, Kingdom
Keystone Verse: Take; this is my body. (Mark 14:22)