Dear Family at CCC,

     As we begin our Easter series this Sunday, we will have the privilege of partaking of the Lord’s Table following the sermon from John 18:1-4. In these verses we will see Jesus stepping forward to willingly embrace the quick succession of events that will culminate with His death on the cross. In His high priestly prayer in John 17 Jesus had already been preparing the disciples to interpret the true significance of what was coming. But the disciples, like us, were slow to understand. So, it will be especially encouraging to come to the Table and find in this means of grace a sign and seal that helps us to grow in our understanding and nourishes our faith in the truth that no one who belongs to Jesus will be lost.    

Here is how David F. Ford, in his commentary on John’s Gospel, draws our attention to this connection:

“[John’s] Gospel does not arrive at the summit of love and prayer in John 17 in order to stay there. It immediately comes down into the world of betrayal, violence, denial, falsehood, injustice, religion-related power politics, torture, and execution of the innocent. The love, prayer, and mutual indwelling of John 17 are to be enacted in such a world, and the whole Gospel is in the service of inspiring and deepening such a way of following Jesus.”

     As you prepare to partake of the Table this Sunday, ask the Lord to use this means of grace to deepen your understanding of the Gospel. Ask Him to reveal the ways in which your struggle with sin and your everyday encounters with the brokenness of our fallen world may be clouding your view and joy of the new life obtained for you by Jesus. Pray that together our church family would be strengthened by the bread and cup to press on to know Jesus and the life we have in His name.

In Christ,
Robby