Matthew 8:1 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

The three preceding chapters are the Sermon on the Mount. There is so much in those three chapters that it is almost impossible to cover everything in one devotional. Hidden within all those words is one rather important issue that can be easily overlooked given the enormity of that sermon.

He declared who will be saved without telling them how. I do not know if the importance of that was lost on the multitudes that day. Maybe they did get it, because when He came down of the mount they followed him. Then what?

He healed a leper. Knowing something of the attitudes of the day, it is safe to assume this leper was not one who came down off the mount with the multitudes. He had not heard all that had been said of the blessings, the law, attitudes and worship. He just wanted to be healed. This Jesus did because He had compassion and because He could.

There is our lesson for today. When we come down off the mount, do we have compassion and do what we can? The exhilaration of coming down from that lofty place of being in the presence of our Lord can be overwhelming. It can often cause us to forget our calling and the reason we get to ascend that Holy Hill.

Compassion and doing the work of the ministry once we have come back down, is the point of the Sermon on the Mount. What is the point of any sermon by anyone if these two things are left undone? You do realize that following Jesus is more than plodding along behind, right?

Luke 22:18-20 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

I would like to tie together three things here that were addressed in yesterday’s devotional. If you have not read it, perhaps it would be best to visit that one first before you read on.

First the issue of the wine. According to Jewish betrothal rituals, when the bridegroom goes to prepare a home for his bride, he will not drink any wine until the wedding feast. In this case symbolic of Christ gathering His bride to Himself at the end of the church age.

Secondly there is a remembrance associated with the partaking of the bread which is missing in the partaking of the blood. As we partake of our piece of the whole loaf, we should remember we are but one part of the whole, a member of the universal church, His bride. This is the communion of saints where we are asked to remember why we have fellowship with one another.

Two issues surround the blood upon which a remembrance is not required. The first is that the sacrifice was once and for all. We do not sacrifice Christ afresh. Refer to Hebrews 6:6 for context. Secondly the symbolic gesture of drinking is in context to the New Testament. You do not remember the New Testament as a thing you once consumed and need to remember to do it again. You live this covenant of blood and is not merely an exercise of a sacred moment but rather the exercise of a sacred life.