Yesterday,
as I was involved in a weekly meeting with my current interns, I was teaching a
segment on the topic of the Holy Communion, or Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper.
Of course,
when believers celebrate the last supper in which Jesus ever communed with His
disciples, it represents a ‘look back’ at the night prior to his judgment by
Pontius Pilate, His journey to the cross, His death on those rough-hewn wooden
beams, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension into heaven, and His promise
to come again.
During the
course of Jesus’ final supper with His disciples, He took bread and said, “This
is my body which is broken for you.” And afterwards, He passed around a chalice
of wine, and exclaimed, “This is my blood which is poured out for the
forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26)
Every
believer is familiar with the communion and communion table. Do you recall the
inscription on the frontal piece of this table?
“Do This in
Remembrance of Me.”
While it is
common for a believer to become emotional when reflecting upon the death of
Jesus, it is important to note that He didn’t stay dead, and when we
incorporate this notion into our thinking, our mourning will be turned into
rejoicing.
And speaking
of yesterday’s intern meeting, in which I shared the parameters which
surrounded Jesus’ Last Supper, and the celebration of Communion, I said
something which I’d never before considered; (which often happens in the
context of my counseling and intern sessions).
Pt. 2
I said
something which I had never heard from behind a pulpit,
“Kavan and
Eric, you know Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples, but one day
He will host a First Supper with us, and our fellow believers.”
You see,
when Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, He did something which He had never
done in all of eternity. The Son of God limited Himself, and put on a body. He,
who had always been a spirit, confined Himself to a physiological vessel. And
for the remainder of eternity, He will continue to look very much like one of
His human creations. And scripture has promised that we will see Him as He is,
the God-man, coming in the air to rapture His own into heaven.
But to
return to the earlier theme. As Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His
followers, He promised to supercede our recurring Communion celebration with
what I have chosen to refer to as the First Supper; for it will be the first
occasion in which we will cease to celebrate His death, but will celebrate the
Risen Lord, and the inestimable opportunity to spend eternity with Him.
The Marriage
Supper of the Lamb
And as
scripture implies, it is not referred to as a ‘Marriage Supper’ for nothing. One
spiritual metaphor, of which our Lord made use, was that of a husband and his
bride.
“Then
I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many
waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him
the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made
herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and
pure’ for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel
said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage
supper of the Lamb.’” (Rev. 19:6-9)
Can you
imagine the size of that table? The table in our president’s cabinet room pales
in comparison; (and that’s a pretty big table). I simply cannot imagine a table
large enough to seat millions of past, present and future believers.
Can you see
it? Heaped high with all sorts of rich delicacies. Gold and silver cups, plates
and utensils. And, of course, the King of kings, and Lord of lords will sit at
the very head of that table.
The Last
Supper
The First
Supper
As a
believer, I look forward to the day when we will no longer be looking back, but
we will be looking forward.
By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 82. Copyright pending
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