The title of this entry, "Eucharisteo", refers to a Greek word translated as meaning "thanks".
One of the scripture passages where this word can be found is in 1 Cor. 11:23-24:
"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to 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."
Many churches call the table of the Lord "the eucharist", from this Greek word meaning "thanks".The Apostle Paul, who was not present at what we call "The Last Supper", received a revelation from the Lord, that showed Paul what had occurred the evening that Jesus was betrayed, arrested, tried, and executed.
Paul makes sure to tell us that this was the night of Jesus' betrayal, not only by Judas, but by all men, Jew, Gentile, and even His own disciples. Even so, Jesus, knowing what awaited Him, took the Passover Seder matso, and broke it apart. As He saw the broken pieces that represented His soon to be broken body, He gave thanks-euchristeo. Eucharisteo means "to be grateful, to feel thankful, to give thanks". The root word it comes from "eucharistos" means to find something agreeable, or pleasing because of graciousness, kindness, and benevolence shown to one's self.
It is very powerful that Jesus looked at the broken pieces and felt thankful for the kindness and benevolence that He felt in that moment. It takes a spiritually perfect and mature being to thank God, and feel His graciousness for the broken pieces of one's self. To look with thanks at those broken pieces as being precious, the vessels of the glory of God, is a powerful spiritual principle. This attitude is again shown in Heb. 12:2"
"...looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy (joy, gladness, rejoice exceedingly) that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
In the broken pieces, the betrayal, the torture, the false accusations, the suffering of death on the cross, which were to soon be upon Him, Jesus felt joy and thanks, because He could see the joy and victory to be brought by His Father beyond it.
How many of us, looking at the broken pieces of ourselves, broken bodies, broken health, broken families, broken finances, broken hearts and broken hope, feel and express thanks, seeing the promise of the glory of God in the midst of those broken pieces. Most of us are looking for whom to blame, human or devil.
It is true in scripture that not only did humans reject and crucify Jesus by act, but powers of spiritual wickedness actually spurred the crucifixion (1 Cor. 2:8). So Jesus could certainly lay blame on Satan, as well as the humans involved. And yet, He felt thankful. He felt the graciousness of His Father.
One might argue and say, "Well, that's Jesus, because He knew He would experience the victory of the resurrection." But Jesus is OUR resurrection as well. Are we not also to look at the broken pieces, and see the glory and graciousness of our Father, and give Him thanks, to FEEL thanks? Isn't this one of our greatest spiritual weapons? Wouldn't it be true to say from this, that the seed of resurrection in the midst of the broken things in our lives is the knowledge that our Father is ever gracious to us, and to give Him the thanks for it?
We see much the same thing in the Book of Job. Job's life had been broken into pieces. He sat amongst the broken shards of pottery, which he used to scrape his painful boils. He had been cast out from his previous life of honor and respect. He had nothing left, except his life. He looked at these broken pieces of his life and mourned, trying to understand the reason. He mourned to the point of regretting that he was ever born to experience this sorrow. God delivered Job by revealing His glory to him. Line after line of scripture is the Father giving examples to Job of His power and glory. Did God do this just to scold Job, or to make him feel stupid on top of everything else? No! God was ministering to Job. Job had to see these things in his soul. He had to see this in his spirit. His life depended upon him seeing what His Creator was revealing to him. Finally, Job was able to look past those broken pieces of his life, and see the great glory of God. This knowledge and experience frees him, delivers him, restores him.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons Jesus gave the special revelation of the Last Supper to Paul. Paul went through so many trials and challenges in his ministry of the Gospel. He recounts betrayals and physical tortures and rejections, as well as the frustration of the churches not understanding the depths of the love and power of Christ. Perhaps Paul might have felt that so much for which he had labored was broken. But Jesus held up His own example to Paul to show him a great truth, and principle that would strengthen and sustain Paul.
Later in the 1 Cor. 11 scriptures, Paul is talking about the Church, the Body of Christ in context of this Last Supper of Christ, and says "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup." Most of us prefer to examine others. It is much easier, and we see so much more clearly when we are examining someone else. But failing to examine and see what the Lord is revealing to us about ourselves, about His Body, causes some of us to be sick, and even to "sleep".
Let's examine our own hearts, and let just one of the things we might examine be how we look at those broken pieces, and let us be convinced that the glory of God can be found in the pieces, as well as the promise, power and hope of resurrection. Let us feel thankful to our Father for all that He is.
Our Father is our "Eucharisteo".
"To God Be the Glory"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RZTYDPavEY
