Archive Poster : June 2014
Searching for the Holy Grail? The World Cup? Hoping to find it in the next month or so? Let's take a short look at World Cup history.
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Gathered at the round table were King Arthur and his knights. Amongst them, Lancelot and his son, Galahad. As they sat, an image of a grail began to appear, floating above and in the middle of the table. The vision launched King Arthur on a quest that continues to this very day - the quest to find the Holy Cup or Grail of Jesus the Christ of Nazareth.
Chretien de Troyes is the man responsible for the story. All made up of course. Sitting down one day in the 12th Century he wrote an imaginative poem so good that for the next few hundred years everyone piled in and added to the story. The result? Wonderful legends of King Arthur that we love so much.
The real story of the Bible's Holy Grail has no romance and no vision. And the famous cup is the one Jesus used at the last meal he ate with his disciples. While drinking wine, Jesus said:
".... this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
For nearly a thousand years people have been looking for this cup that Jesus drank from. But there was never meant to be any power in it. The power lies in what Jesus referred to. After eating, Jesus and his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane where, in anguish, He prayed to God about what was about to take place. Jesus prayed:
"Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done"
Jesus was speaking of the greatest, most significant drink in all history, the cup full of agony He would face on the cross - the cup of God's wrath. At the cross Jesus took the anger of God that should have been upon us. And Jesus drained this cup because He loved the world so much.
So, over the next month, as visions of winning a world cup float above the nations of the world, consider the greatest cup of all - the cup that won friendship between humanity and God.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for the blood your son shed to pay for my sin.
Verse: ".... this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Matthew 26:28
