One of the more striking aspects of Christ’s ministry was His willingness to eat with sinners. In fact, that is what He doing here, now, in this meal. He is eating with sinners. But we have to be careful to understand this properly. Some have taken His willingness to associate with the lowly as an …
Sitting or Reclining
You have heard many times that there is no neutrality, not anywhere, and not in anything. This is not the same thing as saying there is only one way to do something, but it does mean that we should think about everything that we do. For example, we are seated as we partake of this …
Lent Without Easter
In Leviticus 23, the weekly sabbath is listed along with the rest of Israel’s festivals as a feast, as a festival. The weekly sabbath was a day of rejoicing, not a day of gloom. The Jews had only one penitential day out of the year — their Good Friday, Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. …
Christ Is Not Food to the Faithless
Fathers feed their children. One of the ways we know that we are children of God is that He provides food for us here. We come in faith rejoicing at what He has provided for us here. Now some might wonder if this is really true. Do not hypocrites join churches? Don’t they participate in …
That Our Eyes Might Be Opened
A biblical scholar and exegete has recently pointed to the striking parallel between the fall of our first parents and one of the resurrection accounts. In Gen. 3:7, it says “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew . . .” In Luke 24:31, it says, “And their eyes were opened, and …
Receiving and Grabbing
The Bible teaches that there are only two tables in the world—the Table of the Lord and the table of demons. Corresponding to this, there are only two kinds of table manners. One kind of person receives what is passed to him, and another kind grabs what he wants. The former is suitable for the …
Turning Into Grace
You have all heard the truism that you are what you eat. This is true on a number of levels, and of course it is also false in other ways. No matter how carelessly you eat, you are not going to turn into high fructose corn syrup. And no matter how finicky you are when …
Christ is Your Christ
This is, of course, a covenant meal. This is the cup of the new covenant. Christ is the covenant, and this is His body, and this is His blood. But the word covenant is not just an all-purpose religious word, signifying something vaguely spiritual. A covenant is form by an oath, a bond, between persons. …
What the Discipline is For
We have gathered here at a meal, the Lord’s Meal, and so we should want to be aware of anything that might get between us and the food. Table manners can present that kind of barrier. This happens when you don’t have any manners, and you have table anarchy, or if you have a complex …
Eating Grace By Grace
One of the glories of the new covenant is that we get to eat and drink our salvation. In the Garden of Eden, our first parents were privileged to eat their communion with God in the tree of life. And after our fall into sin, it is significant that the gospel is presented to us …