Communion Message
(Standing at the cross)
March 24-25, 2001
Pastor Donald Sheley

For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered unto you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

John reminds us, or Paul does, in this passage that when we partake of communion we're retelling in a very vivid way the story of the cross all over again. And so we frequently go back to the record of the evangelist as they tell us about Calvary, and John makes this very beautiful observation, he says, now there stood by the cross of Jesus Mary Magdalene. Who is Mary Magdalene? Luke says, Now it came to pass, afterword, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and a certain woman who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities--Mary called Magdalene, out of whom came seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.

John says standing there at the cross was Mary, and Mary was the lady who had seven demons cast out. Now of the three Marys who are outstanding in the gospel story, the least known and the least regarded is Mary Magdalene. The sense of a dark stain upon her life and of a shame never to be wholly taken away oppresses our minds. It has been thought that the silence of the Gospels is the veil of delicacy shrouding her evil career. But, when John lifts the veil at the cross in his gospel and he shows us Mary standing there by the cross, then watching in a mute despair beside the tomb, and in the morning in the garden of the resurrection turning to look with wondering eyes at the face of Jesus and then falling in adoration at His feet, we have our groundless judgment rebuked and we realize that Mary is a woman of surpassing modesty, self humbling, and irreproachable purity. Mary is the lily of the Gospels.

Almost all we know of Mary's early life is told us in a single sentence that we have read from the gospel of Luke. It was the custom of devout Jewish women to accompany the rabbi under whose teaching they had been blessed and to minister to their wants. And thus, Luke tells us as well as John, Mary Magdalene was there by the cross. She was from Magdala, which was a city on the coast of the Sea of Galilee, and she is called the Magdalene because the distinguishing of her name or her person from other Mary's of the Scripture. Her time seems to be free and her resources are available to the Master, and she makes sure that the bag that Judas carries is never empty. She wants her Master always to have sufficiency. She is the lady who had seven demons.

Now most of us have never been exposed to an experience where we meet people who would be considered demon possessed, but it's a tragic experience to tell you the least. Of recent months I met a person and this person hears all kinds of voices. She supposedly is chased around her house by demons. She is tormented. She lives in virtual hell. Misery, fear, and she's torn, and as she sat there and told me her story I can understand the pity that Jesus must have felt; but He took that case and changed it inside out. He took Mary and cast out those demons and now she becomes one who loves Him supremely. A mind that was wrenched and distorted and disturbed is now a mind that's at peace. A heart that was empty and desolate is now filled with His presence. She loved Jesus. He had set her free.

As I read that this week, I thought there stands by the cross of Jesus Mary Magdalene, but you and I could put our name right there too because we've got a past that Jesus has set us free from. Some of you who stand here with me today don't have to look back very far to realize that depths of which Jesus has saved you from. I look across this congregation service after service and I see people, and I know much of their background and they stand here today with hands raised in adoration and sing, I magnify His name - I glorify. They couldn't do that the few years ago, but Jesus has changed their lives. And all of us today stand here by the cross. Maybe not healed from demon possession, but saved from our sin. The past is forgotten, forgiven, and the future is a promise of heaven, and to walk with Him now is a total joy. And we, like Mary, join at the cross with the past all gone and Jesus Christ as our Savior. Let's worship Him, shall we?

Lord Jesus, maybe we've not had such a terrible past as Mary, but all of us have lived our lives in the past in sin, and our hearts were empty and the guilt was heavy on our back. Life didn't really have direction, and then You came to us dear Jesus. And on this beautiful morning of worship we kneel before the cross in adoration, in thanksgiving, and in love. You've made us a new creation in You dear Christ. The old is passed away. The new has come and we thank you for that. We love You dear Jesus. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. What a joy dear Jesus it is to know You, to know that You love us. Ah, what privileged mortals we be to claim You and know You as our Savior. Thank you Jesus, and everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet one another, shall we?