What the Savior Endured

His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.

Isaiah 52:14

Our Lord Jesus chose the bread and wine as the elements of the holy Communion because they are practical, visual reminders of what happened to Him as He went to the cross. Both grain and grapes have to go through a process of being pulverized before you can get bread or wine.

You don’t get wine from just eating grapes. The grapes have to first be trampled upon and completely crushed. They are then left in the dark to ferment. That’s what happened to our Lord Jesus.

It is important we discern the Lord’s body for our health. Each time you partake of His broken body by eating the bread, don’t rush through it. Partake with a revelation of what He did for you, and meditate on the process the bread had to go through.

To get bread in Jesus’ time, the wheat stalks first had to be threshed, either through beating (Judg. 6:11 NASB) or with the use of a threshing sledge (Isa. 41:15). It was a violent process that involved beating, crushing, and cutting the wheat to separate the grain from the stalks. Then the grain had to be ground in a millstone or beaten in a mortar to get flour. After that, water had to be added, and the flour was then kneaded and punched into dough before it was baked over fire.

All this is a picture of what happened to our Lord Jesus. To become the Bread of Life for you and me, He was brutally beaten and pounded over and over again during His trial and crucifixion. When He was condemned by the high priest and Sanhedrin, they mocked Him, spat on Him, and beat Him. They blindfolded Him and struck Him on His face (Luke 22:63–64; Mark 14:65). He was then sent to Pontius Pilate, who had Him savagely scourged by Roman soldiers (Matt. 27:26). Then they put a scarlet robe on His battered body, twisted a crown of thorns, and rammed it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand, bowed before Him, and mocked Him. They spat on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head again and again, driving the thorns deeper and deeper into His flesh with each blow. When “they were finally tired of mocking him,” they led Him away to be crucified (Matt. 27:27–31 NLT).

All of that was before His body was nailed to the cross. We can never fully imagine or understand the horrifying torture, degrading humiliation, and excruciating pain our Savior endured for our sakes. He suffered so that you and I would not have to suffer the scourge of sickness in our bodies. By the scourging He bore, we are healed! Hallelujah!

This devotional is taken from the book The Healing Power of the Holy Communion—A 90-Day Devotional.