Resurrection day3

 Think back to the very first meal in the Bible. Eve found a piece of fruit that looked good to her. She took a bite and gave it to her husband, Adam.

That’s how it all went wrong.

It was the wrong fruit from the wrong tree, and from then until now we’ve been regretting that very first meal.

One of the greatest things about Jesus was how He ate. The idea of sharing a meal with someone in Jesus’ time involved more than just ingesting nourishment, it implied acceptance of the other person. Jesus got in trouble with people because He was willing to eat with just about anyone, the poor, the unimpressive, the despised — the bottom of the social barrel.

It was during mealtime that Jesus revealed His true character and nature.

He shared that last meal with His friends before He was betrayed and crucified, giving them new insight into His identity and mission. After His resurrection, He shared meals with them again. After encountering a pair of them on the road to a village called Emmaus, He stopped to eat with them. They didn’t even realise it was Him until He took the bread, gave thanks for it and began to distribute it.

There’s something about Jesus and mealtimes. That’s when we come to know Him.

Since the very beginning, God’s great desire has been to share in a relationship with these humans He created. They would walk together and talk without fear or hesitation. There was no shame, there was just fellowship — communion.

You can think of that companionship being symbolised by a table.

But then sin entered the world, rupturing the relationship. And where sin is present, death is always close at hand. Because Adam and Eve sinned and realised their nakedness, animals died that day, giving their lives to cover the humans’ shame.

Sin and death, sin and death, century after century of sin and death. Death of relationship. Death of friendliness. Death of companionship.

You can think of that sin and death being symbolised by an altar.

Year after year, animals were sacrificed on the altar so people could live without the guilt and shame brought about by their sinfulness. All the animals, all the sacrifices, all the altars pointed forward to one central event, the crucifixion of Jesus. That was the ultimate altar upon which the ultimate sacrifice would ultimately be made.

But it can’t end there. We must not stop with the altar. We must move beyond it to the table that has been restored because of this altar.

This is why we gather together around the table, to remember and celebrate the fellowship that has been restored, the communion that is now ours to share. We gather to commemorate the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, not merely as a meditation on the sacrificial death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, but also as a celebration of the restored community we enjoy as a result of His victorious and vindicating resurrection.

 

Prayer

 

Dear Lord, from the beginning of history, You have desired to have communion with Your people and have delighted in those who passionately wanted to walk with You. I thank You for the imagery of table fellowship that runs from Genesis to Revelation and portrays Your acceptance and communion with Your people. I thank You for the God-Man who ate and drank with His followers during the years of His ministry, just before His death and after His resurrection. And I thank You for the great celebration to come, when we will share in the marriage supper of the Lamb. And as we celebrate through the communion elements of bread and wine our salvation and fellowship with You and with the restored community of faith, may we rejoice in all You have done and in all You will do in the ages to come.

In Jesus’s name, Amen