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These past number of Friday mornings I’ve talked about various cups which have reminded me of different incidents in my life, happy and sad, good and bad. Today the cup sitting in front of me is tiny. It has no handles and is made out of Olive wood. It’s significant to me because it reminds me of a time a group of us shared Communion at The Garden Tomb located just outside the city walls in Jerusalem. We had just been on a guided tour of this peaceful haven in the midst of a noisy city by a Hebrew believer in Jesus who had explained the gospel story from the Old Testament.
As he pointed out the hill where the Lord Jesus had been crucified, he read these prophetic words from Isaiah 53:-
He is despised and rejected; a man of sorrows, and familiar with grief.
He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities: the punishment that brought us peace was upon him; and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray; each one of us have turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Then as he encouraged us to go from the place of the cross right into the empty tomb, Shimon read these words from the oldest book in the Bible: Job Chapter 19:
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that on the last day He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
This week we have just begun a 6 week period called Lent leading up to the events of the cross and resurrection. To sit in the stillness of The Garden Tomb outside the city wall in busy Jerusalem was to be reminded of God’s amazing provision through all the events of life, good and bad, happy and sad for as the Scriptures say “Those who take this cup, remember him until He comes.”
Good morning.