By Quentin Davis
As we come to this moment of Communion, let’s reflect on a truth that runs deep within us all—the tension between what we deserve and the grace we receive. I remember a time from my childhood when I broke our family’s coffee table. I tried to piece it back together, hiding my mistake, hoping no one would notice. Then my sibling came along, sat on the edge, and it collapsed completely. I ran to tell my mom, and somehow, I escaped the blame. Relief washed over me. I didn’t have to pay the price. But beneath that relief was something else: a gnawing discomfort, a quiet disgust. I knew what I’d done. I knew what I deserved. Yet, I didn’t have to face it.
Maybe you’ve felt something similar. Picture yourself driving down the road, going just a little too fast, when suddenly you spot a patrol car. Your heart sinks. Your palms sweat. You’re caught, and you know it. The weight of that moment presses in. What’s coming next? The ticket, the fine, the consequences you earned. But then, imagine the officer waves you on, letting you go. Relief floods in, but it’s mixed with that same uneasy feeling: you deserved something you didn’t receive.
This tension is part of our human story; knowing our failings, our missteps, our brokenness, and wrestling with the cost they carry. Yet, as Jack Cottrell said, “We do not receive what we deserve but in fact the very opposite of what we deserve.” And that’s exactly what we find at this table. In John 19:30, as Jesus hung on the cross, he spoke three powerful words: “It is finished.” With that declaration, the price we couldn’t pay was paid in full. The guilt we carried, the punishment we deserved—it was all taken up by him. Not because we fixed a table or slowed down in time, but because Jesus chose to step in and give us the opposite of what we earned: grace, forgiveness, and life.
As we take the bread and the cup today, let’s hold onto this: “It is finished.” The debt is settled. The slate is clean. We don’t have to hide our brokenness or dread the consequences. Instead, we can come to this table with gratitude, resting in the GRACE of a Savior who said, “I’ve done it—for you.”
Quentin Davis is a financial planner with WealthWise Financial Group and the associate minister at New Burlington Church of Christ in Cincinnati.
Author: Christian Standard
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