Broken body of Christ - 20th day in Lent

The body of Christ was broken and God used His son’s broken body to save the world. In order for the body of Christ to reach touch everyone, to save everyone, it had to be broken.

• How was He broken?  When He took the death penalty, the physical body of Christ was broken. As seen in Matthew 27:26-31. He was flogged and whipped. He had a crown of thorns placed on his head. The guards hit him in the head, driving the thorns deep into his flesh and spat on Him. Finally, they crucified Him on a cross. He was certainly broken.
• Jesus knew that He would be broken: At the last supper He told His disciples that His body would be broken. He still yielded His will to the Father’s. Luke 22:19 “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."  He took bread, gave thanks and broke it.
• Benefits of brokenness:  Mark 6:41-44. Jesus took the little boy’s lunch, gave thanks, and broke it. By the process of breaking, He multiplied and fed 5000 men alone. There was a thousand-fold blessing. Today, as a result of one man’s brokenness we are all enjoying the blessings of the cross and millions are saved. 
• The brokenness, He expects from us. In John 12: 24, Jesus prophesies His death and says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” He was the seed that was ready to die and give rise to millions into the Kingdom of God.

The gateway to abundant blessing is not necessarily physical death, but a dying to self and to the world that this paves the way for God to work. Psalms 51:16, 17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”  IF WE REFUSE TO BURY THE SEED (SELF), WE WILL NEVER REAP A HARVEST. Our own ambitions and agendas, seeds of pride, anger, lust, greed and other sins need to die for a plentiful harvest. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).
Christ's body was "broken," not by the breaking of His bones, but by the breaking of His skin. His body had breaking of skin and open wounds, spilling His blood to the ground.

To ponder: Are you broken before Him? Are you humble and repentant? As Jesus paid the price and was willing to be broken, He wants us to offer our everything (time, treasure and talents) to Him. God uses those with a contrite and broken heart for the expansion of His kingdom.  Allow Jesus to break and use you today.

Memory Verse:
 Psalms 51:16, 17. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

Shared by Sis.Viji John

03-12-2015