21 Days of Prayer & Fasting, Day 18: Thursday – “This is My Blood”

by | Apr 1, 2021 | 21 Days

THE WORDS OF JESUS IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK

Introduction

We are so glad you are joining us for these daily prayer devotionals as together we seek the heart of our God. Over the coming weeks, we will focus on some of the most meaningful words of our savior Jesus Christ from the book of Mark, as we follow his journey with his disciples on the path toward the cross. Our journey of prayer and fasting will culminate on Easter Sunday as we celebrate His resurrection, declaring victory over sin, death and shame.

Each devotion will take less than ten minutes of your time.

  1. We will Engage the Word – looking at some of Jesus’ words in their biblical context.
  2. We will Connect the Heart – considering a truth that is applicable to our lives.
  3. We will Reflect on the Truth, asking a number of questions each day that invite us to look and listen with intent.
  4. And we will Depend on the Spirit – We will pray, for it is in praying that we learn to pray. And it is in praying that the Spirit changes our hearts.

We want to encourage you to grab a journal or a notebook – something to write on as you walk through each prayer guide. Yes, it will add a few minutes to the time it takes to do the devotion, and it will also deepen your experience and shape your walk with God for years to come. This journal or notebook will be a keepsake to remind you of God’s faithfulness during this challenging season for all of us.

Engage the Word

Mark  14:22-25

     

       22     And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.”

       23     And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.

       24     And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

       25     Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Connect the Heart

In this passage, Jesus instituted what we call “The Lord’s Supper” as he celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples. On Thursday, the night before his death.

The Passover had been celebrated every year at this time ever since Moses led the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt 1400 years earlier to cross the Red Sea. God used 10 plagues to harden Pharoah’s heart, not allowing the Hebrews to leave. Prior to the 10th plague, God asked Hebrew families to prepare a lamb to eat for their final meal. In the 10th plague, the angel of death “passed over” the homes of the Hebrews that spread the blood of this lamb over the lintel of the door of their home, but took the life of the first-born son of the families that didn’t. Hebrew families were spared. Egyptian families weren’t.

1400 years later – after centuries of celebrating the Jewish Passover in commemoration of this historic event – Jesus Christ, the sinless and perfect Lamb of God, broke the bread that represented HIS body and shared the cup of wine that represented HIS blood that would be shed the next day on the cross. On Passover. The Lamb of God sacrificed for us, substituting his death for ours, as our Passover Lamb.

The timing was perfect. The symbolism is impossible to miss. Jesus IS our Passover Lamb. And since that meal he shared with his disciples, there forevermore is no reason to celebrate Passover again. Jesus fulfilled that requirement. Let us reflect on this today.

Reflect on the Truth

  1. Why do you think it is so significant that God timed all of the events of Jesus’ life and ministry so that Jesus would share this Passover meal with his disciples the night before his death?
  2. When he took the cup that traditionally was celebrated as a Passover cup and said “This is my blood of the covenant,” what did he mean? What is the deeper meaning behind the words?
  3. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the deeper longings, desires or motives in your heart that these thoughts are pointing to. (for example: you may write down, “I want to partake in the depth of Jesus’ sacrifice this Holy Week. Please guide my heart, Lord..”) The Lord can help us discern the path forward – through His Word, His Spirit, and His people.
  4. What is something that you might reflect on – maybe in a more significant way this year – as we consider what Jesus did on our behalf on the cross?

  5.  

Depend on the Spirit

Ask the Holy Spirit to prompt you, to speak to you, to guide you as you find some quiet moments in the next few days to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

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This week, we will focus on the words of Jesus in the last days of His life leading up to His death on Friday, and His resurrection on Sunday.

For a guide to fasting, read our initial post “Why Fast?” and also Richard Foster’s great article on “The Purpose of Fasting.”