The Supper before us is a dramatic meal, at least if we understand it correctly. Jesus eats with us here, and He sits in the mercy seat. He offers His body, broken for us. He offers His cup, the cup of the new covenant in His blood.
In the Old Covenant, the Holy of Holies was entered by only one man, and he only did it once a year. To transgress at this point would have been to make himself susceptible to the penalty of death. As you know, when Jesus died, the curtain that marked the Holy of Holies was torn in two, from top to bottom (Mark 15:38).
This means that God has opened the way for us, and we are invited to come in, all of us. All of us, that is, that believe in Him. The trembling boldness that walks up to this Table is the boldness of faith. In faith, all may come. On account of faith in the crucified one, all must come.
Â
Apart from faith, the grace of God is as dangerous as it ever was. Just as Uzzah died for touching the ark—the ark that was covered with the mercy seat—so also a number of Corinthians had become sick and had died because of their abuse of the cup of blessing. God doesn’t change the names of His gifts to accommodate our sinfulness. Rather, He invites us to repent of our sinfulness so that we might enjoy the blessings of His grace.
So here it is—forgiveness, justification, reconciliation, mercy, goodness, kindness, and more. So in true evangelical faith, come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.