When Jesus tells His disciples that many will come from east and west to sit down in the great Messianic banquet (Matt. 8:11-12), we heard echoes of the great promise found in Isaiah 25:6-8. “And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of …
Answering the Invitation
The Supper we partake of here is, among other things, a glorious foreshadowing of the great eschatological banquet. This is the time at the culmination of history, when all God’s people sit down together in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. In the course of history, before that time, there is a winnowing—which foreshadows those …
Hastening the Day
We noted at the beginning of the service that by receiving the bread rightly, you are loving your people. You are making a solemn pledge to love each other. You are renewing a most gracious oath, an oath that binds you together with everyone here, not to mention God’s people all over the world. You …
Seven Baskets Left
We are privileged to celebrate this Supper on Pentecost Sunday, the day when God in His mercy made it abundantly clear that He had given His Son, the bread from Heaven, as the life of the world. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus miraculously feeds the multitudes on two occasions. In the first instance, in …
What God Does Every Time
When we come to this Table, we do so as forgiven sinners. Grace has dealt with the past, and has done so in such a way as that the past no longer matters. Under the blood of Christ, God doesn’t care what you have done. As grace has washed away every stain, it follows that …
No Shortage of Bread
When Jesus fed the multitudes, He did so in desolate places—in the wilderness, in effect. The thousands that He fed were a motley group, a mixed multitude, just like Israel was when they came out of Egypt. And so when manna fell from heaven, it fed both the full-blooded Israelites and the mixed multitude with …
Acting Like There Will Be Leftovers
One of the characteristics of a Jesus meal is the astonishing level of leftovers. In the feeding of the five thousand, there were 12 baskets of leftovers (Mk. 8:19). In the miracle of the four thousand, there were 7 baskets of leftovers (Matt. 16:10). We see this foreshadowed in the miracle of Elijah’s as well. …
Not Where Your Mouth Is
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to “take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat” (Matt. 6:25). He is talking about physical life and physical food, and the obvious relationship between the two. He is telling us not to chase after our physical lives in the first instance, and that chasing …
Metamorphosis
Eating is a great mystery, a mystery of metamorphosis. Whenever we eat, something is turning into something else. Eating is all about transformation. Not only is it true that you become what you eat (in one sense), what you eat becomes you. More peanut butter sandwiches turn into little boys than little boys turn into …
Feeding the Disreputable
In the gospel of Mark, when Jesus calls Levi or Matthew to follow Him (Mark 2:14-17), He does so by calling him from his vocation as tax collector. The fact that Levi was no mere functionary or drudge is seen in the fact that afterwards, Levi is able to throw a banquet, which Jesus attends, …