The Eucharist, Christianity’s best kept secret to combat Covid-19
Almost every other evening we visited her home. I dreaded the visit.
She lay lifeless on the bed but she was alive. A vegetable, so to speak.
She didn’t even know we were there.
Her husband and family stood around the bed, the sadness in their eyes made my heart heavy. I was five. I sensed something eerie, I couldn’t reconcile this sight with the great day I had at school. Life was awesome with my bestie. We laughed so much the teacher didn’t know what to do with us. She couldn’t do much because we finished our assignments on time. The only problem was we laughed way too much, anyway she let us get away with it.
And now, I’m stuck in this depressing room with my grand-aunt. The last place I wanted to be. My parents dragged me along since we didn’t have a nanny. I tried to get away from the room she lay in and played in the beautiful garden in their home, till my parents finished visiting.
I was smelling the honeysuckle but my mind was in that room where my grand-aunt lay. I couldn’t understand how this cheerful lady who gave me goodies every time we visited ended up like this.
Will she get up again?
Why couldn’t her rich husband who loved her so dearly and cried every time we visited, do anything about it?
Maybe there was a way out. Maybe we didn’t know.
Why doesn’t God help? So many questions!
I heard in Sunday school that Jesus was a healer. I was perplexed as to why none of the adults could get him to heal her. I had no personal relationship with God and I wasn’t sure if I could talk to him about it.
My grand-aunt was dying of fourth stage cancer. Since the first time I heard that word, I hated it with perfect hatred. Especially when my mom told me that once you get it, you die and there’s no way out. I don’t remember if chemotherapy was available back then.
Her little grandson who was around 3 was so fond of her. He wanted her to carry him. His mom kept chasing him out of the room him since grandma was too weak. When he touched her, he caused her excruciating pain. He cried time and again when he was not allowed to around her.
I overheard some of the adults whispering. Some said, “We have to accept God’s will in this situation.”, Others said, “God does everything for good.” Another preacher read from the book of Job, “God gives and God takes away, blessed be God.” He also said, “God heals sometimes and sometimes he does not, for reasons we will know in heaven.”
A God who can apparently heal but won’t heal all the time due to some mysterious reason didn’t compute. Deep down, I knew God wasn’t like that.
I didn’t see any good in this cancer and I was sick and tired of the adults who had lost all sensible reason according to me. I couldn’t believe they acted as though everything was normal. Their grim faces didn’t quite line up with their beliefs. I thought they were crazy. I thought to myself, “Sickness is horrible and separates grandparents from grandchildren, how can it ever be good?” I felt sorry for the little boy in particular, who will never have his grandma around when he goes to school.
I wanted a predictable God. This “healing some and leaving the rest to die”, behavior made God so unpredictable. I hated God. But I didn’t dare tell my parents who were religious.
All my childhood, my Christian faith was just a crutch which worked at times and which gave way at times. I didn’t know when it would work and when it would not. I wasn’t able to get it to work all the time. I wasn’t sure if my expectation of getting good things to happen all the time was even realistic. My faith did not make much of a difference in my life. I thought I loved God, but deep inside I had a tinge of hidden bitterness because of my inaccurate understanding of God. I tried to do all the right things on the outside. I really believed God was blessing me because I was good. Little did I know, God was good to me because he was good, not because I was good.
After that incident, I prayed everyday for couple of years for people that were close to me by name. I prayed that my parents, grandparents and aunties, uncles and cousins won’t end up with a terminal disease. I was not aware of any other way to live life, except to beg God to keep them safe, with tears sometimes! I hoped we didn’t end up in the list of cases he didn’t bless, heal or protect for whatever mysterious reason. When people had unfortunate things happen to them, I concluded they were bad. Later on as a teenager, I realized everyone suffered, the ones who were good or bad.
I subscribed to the belief that all humans are in this journey together — anyone can get a terminal disease anytime, anything can happen to anyone anytime. I felt extremely vulnerable and exposed.
An accurate opinion of God
Fast forward 20 years, I was in a different city and a different church which painted a too-good-to-be-true picture of a predictable God. The preacher told us that God wanted everyone healed, all the time. God wanted everyone on earth blessed, happy and rich, all the time. This was unlike anything I heard all my life, but what he said resonated deep in my heart so I decided to believe it.
He taught us that Jesus, God was beaten and suffered for us, so that we can be healed. His body was broken so that our life might be held together. And Jesus’ blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. He was punished already for our lifetime of sins so we will never be punished for the bad things we do. And Jesus made us righteous because he is our burnt offering and we get all the good things he deserves, because he loves us.
For the first time in my life, the cross made sense to me. I finally knew that Jesus had something practical to offer me on earth in my daily life, and he was not just a pass to heaven.
The Eucharist
The Lord’s supper also called as the Eucharist or the Holy Communion is a defining moment in the life of Jesus in the upper room. Jesus took bread, broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, This is my body, broken for you. The same way, he took wine and told them that this was his blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins of the world. The Eucharist represents everything Jesus did for us. Jesus asked his disciples to eat this meal as a memorial to him.
Partaking of the bread and the juice, is how we enjoy perfect health in our lives. For the first time in my life, I felt special, protected and inside the warm bubble of God’s love where no harm can come. I was bold and peaceful.
The Eucharist is both a preventive measure to keep us healthy and a healing measure, if we are sick.
Every time we eat and drink the bread and the juice, we are enforcing the benefits of what Jesus did for us on the cross in our lives.
I’ve been partaking of the Eucharist in church and at home ever since I heard this. I didn’t fall sick as much and whenever I fell sick, I recovered pretty soon. Staying healthy has been pretty much the norm in my life.
The best part was the emotional security, knowing that God wanted me well. That really built my confidence and helped me believe for my healing.
You can’t try the Lord’s supper, trying to see if it works or doesn’t work. The death of Jesus is too precious to just try and ignore. You need to convince yourself that God loves you and keep partaking of it until you see the physical manifestation of healing. Sometimes the healing is instantaneous but sometimes its gradual. But it works. Millions of Christians all over the world partake of the Eucharist at home daily and stay healed though they are exposed to Covid-19, just like everyone else. Most of us have been partaking of the Eucharist all long, way before Covid-19 struck.
I’ve believed that the church you attend and what you believe can mean the difference between life and death. It has been never been more evident, especially after Covid-19.
How do you partake of the Eucharist?
- Meditate on God’s love for you. 2. Tell God you believe he loves you 3. Eat
Meditate on God’s love for you.
Jesus wasn’t murdered. He laid down his life. He has power to lay down his life and he has the power to take it up again. When the soldiers came to arrest him in the garden, They all fell down when he said his name “I am”, the name of God. He waited for them to get up and arrest him. That’s something! God made an informed decision to be our substitutionary sacrifice before we were born.
Jesus submitted himself to die, because he loves you. He wasn’t forced to. He was the only baby born to die so that all of us might live an abundant life.
When Jesus was accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. Pilate said, “Don’t you hear how many things they witness against you?” Jesus answered him not a word. Even Pilate, the governor marveled greatly. Isaiah 53:7 says as a lamb to the slaughter he was oppressed he was afflicted, he opened not his mouth. And in Matthew 27:14, He answered them not a word. He was like a lamb led to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers is quiet. So, that we can speak up today and claim our healing!
And then they asked for Barabbas (Son of the Father), a murderer to be released instead of Jesus. That’s a picture of you and I.
Jesus, God’s Son decided to let himself be turned in to be punished so that we, the sons of God from Adam’s family can be truly free from guilt.
Both healing and prosperity has been paid for by Jesus. The Bible tells us, in Matthew 27, “Then Pilate released Barabbas to them”.
When Pilate had scourged Jesus, that’s when “By his stripes, we are healed”. In other words, it was paid for by Jesus wounded back on that scourging post.
And they whipped him..and they whipped him again…and they whipped him again. His bones were exposed because of the kind of whips they use in those days. The Roman soldiers had strips of leather.. About 20 to 30 strips of leather on one whip…and on each piece of leather, they put metal balls which had holes for the leather strip to pass through. They secured the metal balls with knots on either ends of the leather strap.. You had hundreds of balls on each leather strip…Each metal ball had like nails sticking out of them. When Jesus was whipped, the metal balls would embed themselves in his flesh and when pulled, the metal balls slid down in the leather strips making a deep cut..the whip had to be jerked to get it off the body since the metal balls are entangled in the flesh…and this would pull the flesh right off the body. That’s how Jesus was whipped for you and for me. So when it comes to healing the sick, he paid a very heavy price. Extremely heavy price! That’s how much he values healing. When they whipped that body, they tore the flesh and the cuts went right to his bones. That’s why he referred to his body as “My body broken for you”. By that time, he did not even look like a human being because he was so torn up.
And he still got up after every blow. It wasn’t because he had no choice. He willingly took the scourging. Anytime, he could have stopped it and walked straight into heaven. But He stayed and took the stripes because of his love for you.
He could have skipped the scourging and gone straight to the cross. In that case, we will be saved and go to heaven. But, we would still have to be sick and broke on earth on the way to heaven.
God hates sickness and diseases. He wants you well. That’s how much he loves you.
Some people say he was whipped forty minus one, thirty nine times. But 39 stripes is the Jewish law. Now, these are Romans scourging him who don’t care about the Jewish law.
We do not know how many times they hit him, until his back was shred to ribbons..every stroke that fell on him, your cancer died, another stroke, your heart disease died. He carried every disease and curse mentioned in Deuteronomy 28:15–64. It was just blood everywhere. He could hardly walk. He was dragged out, skin hanging from his battered body.
Finally, there was not a sliver of flesh left on his back. It was all one big gaping wound. And by his stripe, we were healed.
And you know what they did after that? They took his clothes while he was still bleeding and they put it on him, so that they can tear it out later when it dries up. He was reeling in pain…They’re not finished yet..and you know where they brought him?
And the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium, that huge assembly hall and gathered what? How many people? The whole garrison of the roman soldiers! They were all there. You know why they gathered all of them there? The next verse says it.
They stripped him in front of the entire garrison… The blood has now dried up on the clothes. And they stripped him of his clothes, mercilessly tearing the drying skin and blood.
They stripped him — naked! There is your right to prosperity, paid. Not only that..that’s where your shame ended.
Adam and Eve, when they sinned against God, they were naked. Who would have thought that God would come personally to bear the total humiliation of our sins? And that’s why today, we don’t have to be ashamed anymore. You don’t have to be ashamed anymore. Don’t let anyone make you feel ashamed. Even with health and prosperity, don’t be ashamed.
And when he was totally naked, that’s when God clothed you and I with the robe of righteousness.
And all the while he’s looking around…the only sane person there.. The altogether lovely one, who’s eyes always look around for needs to meet. Who’s eyes looked at Peter, when Peter denied Jesus with cursing and swearing that he never knew him. The look says, “I forgive you, Peter!” and Peter broke down. Only grace can break a heart, the way Peter’s heart was broken.
Jesus’ eyes always looked at the crowd as multitude of people as sheep without a shepherd. Those eyes battered, he can hardly look out of his eyes. And now he’s naked, and they’re all laughing.
And you know what, All heaven I believe, all the angels, their swords were out. Just one word, and the whole garrison would drop dead. Yet, no word came from the Lamb of God, he was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter willingly. Not a word of retaliation for the angels to step in.
And they put the scarlet robe on him to mock him, when they had twisted a crown of thorns they put it on his head and a reed in his hand. They struck him on the head pushing the crown of thorns deeper into his precious head. And the whole time he said nothing. And they bowed the knee…600 soldiers bowing before him and jesting.
They mocked him saying Hail king of Jews. They spat on him.
Can you imagine spitting on the face of the God? You know why, because our face has shame on it because of our sins. In and of ourselves our face deserves to be spit on. But you know who took the spit? Jesus!
The altogether lovely face, the fairest of ten thousand. No one is as beautiful as him…Everything about him is altogether lovely. His battered face bore the spittle. Don’t forget, the bible says “They spat”. Not one person spat, the whole garrison of 600 soldiers walked over to him and spat. The whole face was covered with spittle and He redeemed you from shame.
All this so that today we can live a blessed life by believing that we are the righteousness of God. When you stand in front of God, don’t apologize for it.
Don’t say, I think by his stripes I am healed, but I dare not take the healing. With God, you must not be like that, that’s pride. You just have to humbly receive, because he paid for it. God will not force his blessings into your life, but it was paid for and he really hopes you will enjoy what he purchased for.
They took the robe off from him and put his own raiment on him. And they came to a place called Golgotha. Even when they nailed him to the cross, he only said Father forgive them for they know not what they do. He suffered silently, so that today, we can command the angels when we need to and claim all of God’s promises which in Jesus are Yes and Amen!
By being nailed on the cross, he delivered us from all curses mentioned in Deuteronomy 28. They give him vinegar to drink. He tasted the sour wine which must have sharply stung his wounded gums and teeth. That’s to redeem you from generational curses where parents eat sour grapes and their children’s teeth are set on edge. As in from the consequences of our parent’s and ancestor’s mistakes. He put an end to ancestral curses at the cross.
He wanted to leave no stone unturned in terms of drinking the whole cup of your righteous punishment, down to the very last drop. Today, you only have the cup of blessing as your portion!
They crucified him and decided who would get his garments by casting lots. And sitting there they watched him. And after all this, he was still being mocked by the Pharisees. The story doesn’t end there. He rose from the dead and he’s alive.
When the Holy Spirit raised him from the dead, he healed that broken body. That’s why Mary Magdalene did not recognize him cos the last time she saw him, he didn’t look like a human being. Now she thought he was the gardener. The only thing Jesus didn’t want healed are the wounds in his hands, the wounds in his feet and wounds in his side. That’s why he could say to Thomas, “Come and check out my wounds”. So forever, you and I are going to walk around in glory with perfect bodies, not even a scratch on our bodies, a beautiful brand new body.
But when we look at Jesus, for all eternity, for all eternity, those scars will still be there. The hole in his hands, The hole in his side…His feet still scarred…Now that’s a long time to carry a scar….Eternity is a long time to carry scars. But he did it, so you might never doubt his love for you.
The front of the cross represents forgiveness of sins. But never forget the back of the cross. The back of the cross represents Jesus’ back scourged for your healing. The blood of Jesus was shed for your forgiveness. The body of the Lord is for all our earthly blessings including prosperity and healing.
The inscription on the cross contained the letters that formed Jesus’ name Yahweh (Yud — Hei — Vaw — Hei) which stands for the pictures of (Hand — Grace — Nail — Grace). That’s the hands that brought us grace personally, the hands which flung the stars into space were nailed to the cross to pay for the entire world to enjoy a blessed, disease-free life on earth. All because of love!
It was not an angel who took away our sickness. God himself bore our sicknesses and carried our pains and truly, by his wounds, we are healed. That’s how much he loves us and prioritizes health.
Jesus on the cross didn’t have any lover and all friends had just forsook him and his acquaintances who he healed were nowhere near the cross (Psalm 88:18). So that you, his child will never lack a lover, friends and acquaintances. Jesus was visibly forsaken by his father on the cross so that God will never have to leave you or forsake you.
Healing and prosperity have been purchased for you, free for the taking. If you like to please God, reach out and take it. It makes sense for us to enjoy what he bought for us — health and prosperity because it cost him a ton of suffering, shame and pain. Let’s say you wake up real early, work a long while to make a big banquet for your children. You tell them to help themselves and leave for work. When you come home, if your kids are hungry and eating junk from the street garbage can, wouldn’t it upset you? Especially, if they tell you, we weren’t sure if the food was for us. They sure have a very lousy opinion of you. Similarly, Jesus sure doesn’t want to see his suffering be in vain. When you take what he purchased for you, that makes him very very happy.
Talk to God
Thank You Jesus you love me so much, you died for me. I receive your body broken for me. I receive your health and your life in me. By your stripe, I am well.
Thank You Jesus, you love me so much you shed your own blood for me. I receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I receive everything you died to give me.
Eat
The Eucharist is not a solemn moment. It is a celebration of the love of God for us. A celebration of his love and a memorial to a love that loved us enough to die so that we, His beloved can enjoy life. How loved you are!
Picture Jesus giving you the bread and the juice and eat it with joy. You are so loved! It doesn’t have to be bread and wine, just biscuits and water will do. You can use any food you have to represent the body and the blood of Jesus. Generally, once a day is recommended. If you’re sick, it’s better that you do this three times a day or whenever you take your medicines.
