Broken For You

And he took bread, and gave thanks and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Luke 22:19; I Corinthians 11:24

It is of paramount importance that we remember the substitutionary nature of the sacrifice of Christ.  The two verses which serve as our text for today point to this very discussion.  As Luke quotes Christ he speaks of Christ’s body as being ‘given for you.’  As Paul quotes Christ, he speaks of the body of Christ as being ‘broken for you.’  There are two parts of this discussion upon which we want to dwell.  We want to dwell upon the nature and extent of the breaking, as well as the purpose of it with regard to us.  This was a thorough breaking of the body of Christ.  Not one portion of His body remained unscathed.  He endured such abuse and ill treatment that He was unrecognizable as a human being.  The catalogue of His wounding included the piercings of the crown of thorns; the lacerations from the Roman whip; the nails through hands and feet; and the excruciating experience of hanging hour after hour from the cross.  All of these physical breakings He endured for our sake.  Christ suffered not one single indignity of His Own account.  The breaking of the body of Christ was entirely substitutionary. As He said, it was, ‘for you.’  Today, we dwell upon the greatness of this breaking, and His grace Who endured it for us.

Our Gracious Master and Our God,
We rejoice that You have endured so much for us.
We praise You that by Your stripes we are healed.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning