Our Daily Bread: Unity in JesusSample

Reconciliation We Hunger For

This is my blood, . . . . poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. -Matthew 26:28

The film Places in the Heart tells the story of Edna Spalding, a mother of two whose husband, Royce, is accidentally killed by a boy named Wiley. Set in Texas in the 1930s, the final scene takes place in a church Communion service.

In the front row sits Edna’s sister, who’s been in the process of divorcing her husband but who now lovingly holds his hand. Next we see Moses, an African American man who’s helped Edna with her farm.

In that segregated era in the United States, it’s a surprising sight. After Edna takes Communion, we see something else shocking—she passes the bread and wine to her husband, who’s alive again, and he then passes them to Wiley, his killer.

Some viewers have burst into tears at that final scene; I think because it portrays the reconciliation we all hunger for. As Jesus explained, the Communion bread represents His body and the wine His blood, broken and shed to reconcile us to God (Matthew 26:26–28).

And as that reconciliation is passed on to others, marriages are mended, racial divisions are erased, and victims and killers become friends. One day, Jesus will even reunite the living with the dead (v. 29; Colossians 1:20).

Each of us needs reconciliation with God and others. Every time we take Communion, we tell ourselves and the world that such reconciliation is available because of what Jesus has done.

Sheridan Voysey

With whom do you need to be reconciled? How can Jesus’ sacrificial acts guide you toward that?

Jesus, help me to reconcile with you and others.