Category: Communion Meditation

Orphans eat at the table of strangers, but those adopted in Christ, indwelt by the Spirit eat at the Table of our Father in heaven. This table is for those who are by virtue of their baptisms united to the Trinitarian God. This table is for those who grow and mature in their love and obedience for Jesus Christ. So, come and obey the command of the Lord to eat and drink at His table

This table belongs to Jesus, King Jesus. This table is the table of the Good Shepherd, the incarnate Shepherd of Israel. He invites the lame and the weak, the outcast and the leper, the publican and the sinner, and promises to feed us all abundantly. He is the true David, who invites lame Mephibosheth to His table (Leithart).

In repentance, a table is prepared. The table of the Shepherd is for those who hear His voice and follow Him. The table is for those who have not fallen prey to thieves and robbers (John 10). It is for those who have found discernment in the True Shepherd, and who are continually learning to discern His truth.

The Word of God has been preached to give you the spoken Gospel; in this meal, you see and taste the Gospel in bread and wine. The disciples on the road to Emmaus were confused because they had not tasted of the resurrected Christ; they had not broken bread with Him at His Table. This morning, if you are confused, uncertain about what is ahead in your life, this table is also for you. May your eyes be open to see Jesus as He provides for His beloved ones.

The Psalm is exhaustive. This indicates that Yahweh does not like to leave people out in the duty of worship. If God is so deeply interested in having creation exalt Him, why is it so common for men to limit what God has pronounced limitless? At this table, everyone who has tasted of His goodness and received a new status and new name in baptism–old men and young children– are welcome at this table. The table of Jesus Christ is as exhaustive as the love of Christ for His people. Come and taste and praise Yahweh!

Throughout Church History there have been many Christian groups that have turned the Lord’s Table into a tomb. Necessarily, this way of looking at the Eucharist makes the Lord’s Table a place of self-examination. This is reflected when instead of enjoying the community in this one loaf, we individualize the table. However, the real problem is not that of turning the table into a tomb, but that of misunderstanding the tomb; treating the tomb as if it were a sign of defeat, and not victory. What the tomb represents for us is a sign of victory. No one remains in it!

Our duty as we approach the table is to memorialize the Lord’s death in light of the empty tomb. His death for us is a death for our joy. We embrace the joy of sins forgiven and life everlasting.

This table is for us and our children; those united to the Risen Savior and tasting of His eternal victory. So, come and see the empty tomb as we eat and drink together.

At this table Jesus is the Host who welcomes us.  But Jesus is also coming to us; He comes to His own house, but we are His household servants who should be found busy in His business when He arrives.  Jesus comes to us in one another, and we are called to accept one another at this table and elsewhere if we are going to be His disciples.

Those who come to this Table come with the shouts of crowds, but also with the faithfulness of servanthood. Those who come are those who are growing up into the fullness of discipleship. Come and receive Your Lord!

The Table of our Lord Jesus Christ is a memorial a table. But not a memorial in the sense that we only remember the cross; we do that also. But by memorializing this table we are reminding God what He did for us in Jesus Christ. We are reminding Him that in Jesus we have crossed the Red Sea and entered into a land flowing with milk and honey. We are reminded Him that Lazarus’ tomb was not shut forever and that every time we eat at the table resurrection and life is shown to us. Though this food is ordinary, those who eat it are far from ordinary; those who eat of it are resurrected. So, come and taste of the joys of resurrected life.

We are reminded in our lesson that we are formed and re-formed by the works of Jesus. We are by nature sinful and unclean, and apart from the washing of water by the word we remain in a permanent state of uncleanness. But God has cleansed us; He has transformed us to reflect His Son.

Just as the healed man confessed Jesus and reflected Jesus in his own life, we too have that same duty; the duty to live christianly without the fear of the consequences; to live by faith knowing that if Christ can heal using mud and water, so too, can He feed us through ordinary means. For us, the grace of the gospel is visualized in bread and wine and eaten by the mouths of men and women and children. Let us come and taste of the healing grace of our Lord.

 

In this supper, Jesus gives us Himself. He allows us to feed on Him and by feeding on Him by faith we become life to the world.  We become symbols to the world of what it means to die and be raised.

Coming to this table weekly restores us and nourishes us with the same Christ that spoke to the woman in John 4. She was thirsty and discovered Christ to be the One who would satisfy her thirst. Again, as we do each week as a body, we taste in bread and wine that Christ is our only true satisfaction. We experience the same truth experienced on that very day at Jacob’s well; the truth that whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

Come and eat and drink of the eternal fountain of life, Jesus Christ.

 

For those redeemed by the Word of Yahweh and brought into covenant with Him through their baptisms, this table offers no gloom; in Christ you have light, which means full joy and participation in the activities of the light. The wicked have their meals in darkness, but the godly eat in the presence of the True Light who communes with us in this meal.

Even during the Lenten Season, we are at this table. The table is always here for us because we know that the story does not end on a tree, but in an empty tomb. We do not eat in sadness, but in joy, for we have been rescued from the dark exile of sin into the glorious and bright kingdom of our beloved Savior.