Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: John 1:29

a full cup — March 28, 2024

a full cup

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Our church was participating in communion.  A group of us stood at a table.  The bread had been received and we were preparing to drink the grape juice.  The pastor held up a tiny cup and said to us, “This is the cup of His blood shed for the forgiveness of sins. Take and drink.” 

And we did – except for the guy standing right next to me.  His cup was empty – dry as a bone.  Wow!  I wondered, “What sin did this guy commit that was so bad that he was denied communion?”   

Or maybe this was still another evidence of “shrinkflation.”  Just not enough Welch’s in the bottle to serve everyone.  

Well, it’s most likely that the juice in the cup had leaked out or those who had pre-filled the cups accidentally skipped over that one.

Regardless of why, the pastor quickly handed the confused guy a replacement – and he was able to commune with the Lord and us.

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic rite, but our little service made me wonder, “Is it possible for an individual to stand before God one day, and find that he too is holding an empty cup?”

Communion was given to perpetually remind us that Christ shed His blood on a cross to cleanse us from sin and put us in good standing with God. 

So, I suppose the question here is, “Did Jesus shed His blood for some and not all?”  John the Baptist said no.  He saw Jesus and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” – John 1:29. According to John there is a cup for everyone – world-wide.

Jesus also told us that His sacrifice was for all.  He said in John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”  He gave Himself for the lives of those in the entire world!

Paul agreed in 1 Timothy 2:6 where he told us that Jesus gave himself as a “ransom for all.”

Evidently there is a cup of redemption poured out and prepared for every individual who will have ever lived.  No one will ever peer into an empty cup when they stand before the Lord.

But – not all will be redeemed!   Though Christ died for the whole world, many in the world will nevertheless perish in their sins.

I have officiated at many communion services, and inevitably there have always been some present who have declined to participate.   Their reasons varied, but for some, they chose to let the tray pass, because they did not identify with Christ.  They had never come to believe in Him and trust Him as their Savior.

Maybe they came to church out of curiosity.  Or maybe they were grandparents who were visiting family and the family asked them to go to church with them.

But the tray is passed to grandpa, and grandpa quickly passes it on.  There was a full cup prepared for him in that tray, but he let it slip by – a tragedy.

Equally tragic – I recently sat down and spoke with a mother, who had come to faith late in life.  But she was passionate about Jesus and wanted her adult son to have his chance to meet the Lord. 

So, she set the cup before him, but he refused to drink.   This mom is now profoundly sad, because her boy was recently involved in a car accident which took his life.

She is inconsolable now because he is gone and because he had never come to Jesus.  She doesn’t expect to ever see him again. 

The cup is full!  Continue to drink from its lifegiving flow if you know Him.  Take your first sip if you don’t.   

A Prayer: Lord thank you that there is a cup of redemption for each one of us.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you always.

Biblical references from the NET Bible ®

goat of God? — July 27, 2022

goat of God?

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I was at the garden shop, lifting a bag of potting soil to place in my cart.  A couple in their fifties happened by.  She stopped and said with urgency, “Oh can I help you with that?”     

Well, I hope that kind lady didn’t see the outrage and humiliation on my face.   “Hey, I ain’t that old yet!   Maybe your husband and I should arm wrestle.  I’ll show you who needs help.” 

That was embarrassing!  Do you know what else would be embarrassing?  If Jesus had been known as the “goat of God.”

It was a possibility!

When John the Baptist first looked upon Jesus on the banks of the Jordan River, this is what he said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  – John 1:29

John spoke metaphorically of Christ and quite literally of what He would take away.

John knew the sacrificial system of Israel quite well.  He understood that it was designed to pre-shadow the actual work of redemption that Jesus would one day bring.  The sacrificial blood of a lamb was a type of the blood of Christ which would be shed for us on the cross.

But here’s the thing.  There were multiple kinds of animals that were perfectly suitable as a sacrifice for sin.  A young bull would work according to Leviticus 4:3. A male goat would also an acceptable option (Leviticus 4:25) and of course a lamb would also suffice.

So, was there a reason then, why Jesus was known as the Lamb of God and not the goat or bull of God?  I can think of at least one possibility. 

Obviously, a bull would be most costly, the goat less and the lamb the least.  The value of the animal that was offered had to do with a person’s social rank and economic standing.

The high priest was required to offer a bull.  A ruler had to offer a goat.  Those guys were well-to-do relatively speaking.

But suppose you were just a regular Joe – a paycheck-to-paycheck kind of person.   How could you ever be able to afford to buy a bull and then surrender him to the flames of the altar? 

God, in His goodness, thought of this guy in Leviticus 4:27-28.  There it says, “‘If an ordinary individual sins by straying unintentionally when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty, or his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring a flawless female goat.”

An ordinary individual!  I can relate.  Other translations use synonymous phrases like commoner or common people.   

So, this everyday guy could offer a goat if he wished, but if that were not possible then the passage goes on to say, “‘But if he brings a sheep as his offering, for a sin offering…”  Leviticus 4:32   A sheep could be substituted.

So, because Jesus was the Lamb of God, and not the bull or the goat, the message to us is this: Jesus’ sacrifice is for all of us – including the commoner. 

You don’t have to be the cream of society to be saved.  The balance in your bank account does not matter to God.  Your social standing is irrelevant to God. 

Jesus’ blood is also for the common person – the truckdriver, the mother, the garbage collector, the accountant, the teacher and on it goes.

Hey, scour the Gospels and you will find that it was the common folk that most quickly responded to the ministry of Christ. 

I am the son of a truckdriver.  I worked in the warehouse and often loaded my dad’s truck.  My roots are not with the elite of this world.  So, I am thrilled that the grace of God reaches out to people like me – and you.   

A PRAYER: God you are so omnipotent, and I am so ordinary. Thank you for reaching out to me

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Scripture passages are from the NET Bible ®