Spiritual Salvation for All!

I had an epiphany last night when I read the account of Jesus eating the Lord's Supper with his disciples in Matthew 26:26:  "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  I immediately hearkened back to the similarity when Jesus fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish.  Matthew 14:19 reads, "Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes."  In both instances, Jesus took the bread, blessed, broke, and gave it to the disciples.  The main difference was when they were feeding the people the disciples were instructed to distribute it to others.  The leftovers were more than enough to satisfy even the greatest hunger among them:  12 baskets full.  In the upper room, however, Christ's disciples were told to eat the food given them by Christ themselves.

The main reason for this command reaches beyond the satisfaction of physical hunger. It becomes even more clear in the following verse that the bread and wine were representatives of Christ's own body which would be broken and blood that would be shed.  Matthew 26:27-28 says, "Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."  After Judas left to betray Jesus, the remaining disciples were loyal to Jesus Christ.  They believed that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God sent to seek and save the lost.  Their faith allowed them to enter into a new covenant with Jesus Christ through His blood which would be shed for all sinners.  This teaches us that we must receive of Christ personally before we can effectively share Him with others.  Later that night Jesus would be arrested, and the following day He would be crucified.  At that point, the Holy Spirit had not yet been given without measure to Christ's followers.

After Jesus was risen from the dead, He appeared to them in John 20:21-22:  "So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." ²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."  Jesus is the Living Bread come down from heaven, so all who repent and partake of Him through faith will live forever!  Much more important than the feeding of the body is the saving of the soul.  Jesus then sent His disciples to deliver this message of salvation to all people, even as He commanded them to distribute the five loaves and two fish to the multitudes from His hand.  But Jesus told them to tarry in Jerusalem until they were baptised with the Holy Spirit.  Acts 1:7-8 states, "And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  They were to spread the Gospel not only to those seated in groups of fifties, but to all people in all places of the earth where He would send them.

What wisdom of God, that Jesus would give thanks as His body was broken and offered as a sacrifice for all sinners.  More wonderful still is this message of salvation has been committed to those saved by Him, that we might distribute the Gospel and fragrance of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit throughout the world.  No longer should we tarry, for the Holy Spirit has been given without measure.  Who is sufficient for these things?  2 Corinthians 3:5-6 reads, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, ⁶ who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."  Have you received?  Have you tasted and seen that the LORD is good?  He who has redeemed you has also made you sufficient to perform His will, for it is God who works in us both to will and do of His good pleasure.  Share your life with others so they might receive and live!