Category: Communion Meditation

The meal before us is a sign that God has already provided for His people. In this meal, no covenant member fasts. This is a meal for those who worship and serve Him only. This meal is a reminder that when we are tempted to feast from the world’s bread and wine, God has already provided bread and wine from heaven and nothing more shall we need.

 

This language of Jesus as the “beloved of God” prepares us for the Lenten Season. It was at the mountain that the Father declared Jesus to be the perfect lamb. Jesus is the greater Isaac. He was laid at the altar of Calvary for our salvation. According to Psalm 2, this was so that Jesus might become the New Adam; the Servant of Yahweh who will bring justice to the nations. This same Jesus became our life in death so He might become our life as we partake of His body and blood.

Peace in the body has everything to do with discerning the body; those who failed to discern the body in the first century forgot that they were united to Christ and also to one another; they had forgotten that the one loaf represented the one people of God. This is a danger for us; if we eat with divisive spirits we eat condemnation to ourselves. We must come to this table with pure hearts; hearts that long for peace and unity; that long for righteousness. At this table, Jesus is given for us; given as bread and wine; given as our head and provider. Let us come and delight and talk and enjoy our fellowship and unity in the spirit.

 

As we come to the final weeks of the Epiphany season, we are reminded how far the message of the kingdom has come since the first century. But the kingdom is like a mustard seed that grows until it becomes a tree where all the nations of the earth can find food and refuge. At this table we find this abundance for us. In fact, we have been grafted into this great tree; young and old. And God has given us our daily bread and He will continue to do so if we abide in purity and mercy. This is a beatific table; a table for a beautified people; covered with the grace of the gospel. Come, and taste and rejoice.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness…to be hungry for righteousness is to longing after those things that produce righteousness. God calls us to eat and drink with Him, because He knows what we need. We hunger for bread because in bread there is life. We thirst for wine because in wine God gives us His peace. The pursuit of righteousness begins at this table when we dine with our Lord.

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are expecting the kingdom of heaven to become more and more manifest in our midst. We are praying that the things God loves will become the passion of all the earth. This is also what happens when we come and sit at this table. Everytime we celebrate this meal together we are shaped more and more into the likeness of the kingdom of heaven. We become more heaven-like in our image; we become reflections of the people God has called us to be. But the heavenification of earth doesn’t stop at this table. It is strengthened at this table, but it is only fulfilled when we make the whole world into a table of kings and queens; we do this by living out the gospel in the world; we need to live out these instructions given to us in the Beatitudes. When we live out these characteristics, then will the world know that they belong in the table of the righteous sitting with us drinking and eating and celebrating the joy of the kingdom.

The kingdom of heaven is always accompanied by symbols. Symbols should never be despised because in and through them they provide for us the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ gave us a meal to represent all that He wanted us to know. He gave us bread, which is a picture of His broken body, and wine, which is a picture of His blood. Bread is the body of this world. Those who eat bread participate in the new world Jesus Christ created. Wine is the covering of the world with the redeeming grace of Christ. Those who drink wine participate in this redemption. In this meal, we are actively involved in God’s program to renew the world through His beloved Son. This meal is given to those who have crossed the Red Sea in baptism, young and old, and who have found Christ to be their Promised Land. This meal is for you; for the kingdom is yours!

Jesus is the Lamb of God who was broken and who bled for us. In his body, He was torn in two. He was broken so we can be made new. In his blood, he washed away our transgressions. His blood became a river of life to those who believe.

Our great Lamb was crucified to take away our sins. But in His crucifixion He also conquered death and hell. He made the powers of evil tremble. When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we are celebrating His victory over evil. In death, there is life. It is by His stripes that we are healed.

 

This imagery of the Spirit is quite striking. The Spirit is the wind, the storm, the hurricane God uses to triumph over His enemies. The Third Person of the Trinity loves to make the First and Second Persons of the Trinity look good.

In our Gospel lesson (Mat. 3:13-17), the Spirit hovered over the waters like He did in the beginning of creation. He loves to equip His creation and His image-bearers for victory. One way he accomplishes such a task is by taking God’s people to feast in the heavenly places. He loves to usher God’s people to eat and drink with Christ Jesus. Just as the Spirit clothed Jesus, He clothes us. He empowers us to be like the Father’s beloved Son. The Spirit’s role is to make every member of the body of Christ filled with the maturity of the Son. The Spirit calls us today to taste and drink. Let us come together.

 

Our lesson this morning (Luke 2:39-52) says that our Lord was taken to the feast of Passover. The Feast of Passover is the Great feast of remembrance. But it is more than that: this was not just a feast to remember the deliverance of Israel, it was a feast that celebrated God’s victory over evil. This is what we have this morning: bread signifies that Christ truly came in human flesh for us; and wine signifies that his death was truly given to accomplish the Father’s plans. This table means that evil has been crushed and that we are feasting in victory. Bread and wine; bread, priestly; wine, kingly. You eat as priests, and you drink as kings. This is who you are because Christ has become priest and king for us. So, come and eat and drink: priests and kings of the most High God.