LS-41-Pictures Of Jesus

Pictures Of Jesus A Talk to Young People When our Lord Jesus met with His disciples at the Passover feast, on the night before His death upon the cross, He took bread from the table, and broke it. You may be sure that the disciples watched Him with much interest, and that they wondered what He was doing. Perhaps they would not understand all at once what He meant, when He gave them each a portion of the loaf, and said, "This is My body, given for you." He did not mean, of course, that this bread actually was His body. It could not be, for His body was there before them when He gave them the bread. He meant that this bread was a kind of picture of His body--a symbol, we call it, a thing which, when we see it, reminds us of something else. For instance, a boy has his photo taken, and when friends come in, his mother takes this photo and says, This is Tom. She does not mean that it really is Tom, but that it is a picture which shows the features of Tom, and the friend can see what Tom looks like. Well, Jesus was to be put to death the next day. His body would be wounded and broken. He was to die for His disciples. Afterwards, when they met together, and did as Jesus told them to do, and took bread, and broke it, they would see in it a picture of their Lord, who sacrificed His life for them.

Jesus then took the cup of wine. "Drink it," He said, "this is my blood, which is poured out for many, for the remission of sins." And yet it was not really blood. It was another symbol. Whenever they met in this way, and took the cup with the fruit of the vine, they would think of Jesus, who shed His blood for them.

We often think in pictures and symbols. For instance, when you see the Australian flag, you see more than a piece of cloth on a pole, with certain colours upon it. It stands for something of great importance. It represents our country’s honour, and the honour of the British Commonwealth. Some people see in the colours a picture of the best qualities of our people-red meaning sacrifice, and white, purity, and blue, loyalty.

Now this bread and wine, which we take today, mean more to us than something to eat and drink. If that were all, we could have better meals at home. But as we take them, they mean to us that Jesus’ body was broken, and His blood was shed, for us. So we should come to this Table--the Lord’s Table, we call it with earnest and thoughtful minds. As we take these symbols in our hands, let us say Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your love for us, which took You to the cross; thank You for the love You still have for me, and for the help You give me every day.