This is the time of the year when most, if not all, Christians turn their thoughts toward the last weeks, days and hours of Jesus upon Earth. Is it possible to be a Christian and forget Him? Yet whenever we say something which would hurt Him to hear, or do something which would hurt Him to see, we are showing that in some way we have forgotten Him. The disciples forgot Him so many times in those last days before He went to the cross. They hindered people from reaching Him, they pretended they would never let Him down, they even argued as to who was greatest among them and at 'His table'. Of course, we would never have done anything like that would we? Sadly how often we do.

There must have been many things on His mind. He was facing the most awful rejection that any person could endure, branded a criminal, physically abused, He faced the agony of torture on a cross. From that suffering He would be able to sympathise with all who suffer. He knew what was coming and had probably observed it happen to others. Some of them seem to have deserved it. He knew too that before He could drink the wine in the Kingdom, those who claimed to be His brethren would do such things to each other. From Paul's experience on the Damascus road we know that when one of His brothers or sisters are hurt, it is the Lord who is hurt. Even our thoughts about others may hurt our Saviour because He knows what we are thinking. Have we forgotten Him then? Worst of all, we may even deny that a brother or sister is 'in Christ'.

Let us ponder afresh just what He has done for us. The cost to come to Earth was in itself a heavy one. He was in a sinless environment and everything would have been quite comfortable. He was rich beyond our wildest imagination and He left it for us - so that we might become rich and be like Him. But more, much more, He endured the contradiction of sinners, the scorn of a King, the reviling of Priests, the betrayal of friends. And He did it for you and me. Why? It was the only way in which God's eternal purpose could be worked out. When our minds are finally totally cleared of the sinfulness of our human life, we shall begin to understand the cost to Him and to His Father who sent Him.

This is the great teaching of Scripture. This is the most wonderful story ever told. It started in a manger and ended on a cross. Yet it did not end there and we have the privilege of sharing in forwarding it, by telling others about it, not just in words but by everything we do.

It is a wonderful privilege to take the bread and wine at the Lord's supper and ponder that around the world there are many more doing the same in all sorts of conditions. Let us try to catch something of the love which motivated Jesus in what he thought and said and did. Let us rise from that table more than ever determined that we will do and say nothing that will grieve Him to see and hear. But we cannot do it alone for we are too frail in spirit. We need Him with us and we need to be conscious of that fact. No matter how good we are at writing and speaking about 'the Truth', no matter how good we are at serving His brethren, we need to know 'moment by moment' that He is with us and is only waiting to help us think, and speak and act like Him. We need to remember Him so that our service is pure and free from the hypocrisy which He so hated. We need to remember Him so that our attitudes are never aggressive or arrogant, which He so hated. We need to remember Him when others are saying and doing things that hurt us, for when He was reviled He did not retaliate. He loved the unloved; He loved the unlovely. Is there anyone that you are at the moment finding it hard to show the love of Christ. That is the very person that should be the target of your love in total submission to Christ. Let us turn our eyes upon Jesus so that in every possible situation we shall remember Him, how He responded, how He helped, how He healed broken hearts and melted hard hearts.

DN