I love a good novel. I especially enjoy a story that is well thought out and well written. A story that shows the author has thought through the plot from beginning to end. The chronicles of Narnia are like this, as are the stories by JRR Tolkien.
The author fits together all the parts to create the effects desired. Reading it you can tell that the creator of the story intertwined all the aspects and characters to fit the storyline. So then, it should not surprise us that the Author of the scriptures knows the story through and through.
I want to look at three suppers highlighted in the bible, The Last Supper, the Lord’s Supper and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Since I am writing this in the season of Lent, many are probably more aware of the intensity of Jesus’ life at this time, the meaning of what He was doing and what He had to say.
To begin, look at what is known as the Last Supper. It was the Passover meal, celebrated yearly to remember how God had rescued His people, Israel, out of Egypt. The Last supper followed the pattern of the meal as laid out in Exodus; lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, wine. Jesus and his disciples gathered in an upper room in the city and ate the meal, prepared by the disciples. It was a meal of remembrance , of recalling the great work of deliverance by God in taking a people and making them His own possession. God made an agreement, a covenant, with the Jews to be their God and they His people and He rescued them from their oppressors. .
Jesus interrupted this traditional meal when the hour had come, as Luke says, to let His disciples know that was His last Passover meal. He says, in Luke 22 that He will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. Strange words. Then Jesus took bread, unleavened bread, and broke it into pieces and passed it around. He said to His disciples : "This is my body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of Me.” Strange words.
Once the meal was done, Jesus then took the cup, a cup of wine, and said, “ this Cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Strange words.
This second supper, this new ritual, a new covenant had what the Last Supper, the last Passover had: blood and bread, a covenant, a remembrance. But it was new, and Jesus was putting His blood and His body in the place of the Passover Lamb. He soon went out and showed His followers what He meant when He said His body would be broken and His Blood poured out. Strange words taking a horrible shape on Calvary.
Paul in the book of 1 Corinthians 11 reminds us that this new covenant meal is to be done in remembrance of Jesus. The Lord’s Supper, to Remember.
The third supper is called the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. There is very little written about it, but the book of Revelation tells us that it is a marriage of the Lamb and His bride. As we saw in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus is the Lamb. We know marriage is a joyful occasion. We are also told that it is a blessing to be invited to this supper. In addition, know that a marriage supper, a wedding reception, takes place after the wedding, it is also a celebration and a time of anticipating what is to come.
The bride and groom have left their past,their single lives and embarked on a new lift together. The marriage is also a covenant, an agreement to love and honor each other. The wedding supper celebrates this accomplished fact.
So we have 3 meals, 2 covenants, what to make of it? How do these honor God and encourage us?
I would suggest 3 things.
First the Last Passover supper and the Lord’s supper both are looking back to an event and remembering it and calling to mind the purposes of God in the lives of His people.THese two suppers are milestones along the way, the destination is as yet unreached. By contrast, the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place after everything has been accomplished and the work is done,the destination has been reached. The time to celebrate has arrived. Rejoicing is the mood, good cheer is the order of the day. For us this means we need to believe God, to trust that His plan will come to a joyous crescendo.
Second, the intricate weaving of the Exodus, the passover, the incarnation and the sacrifice of Jesus, the rescue of sinners by the spilled blood of Jesus are all leading to the restoration of God's world, God’s creation. Certainly, this complex story has an author that not only knows the end from the beginning but indeed makes certain that it comes out the way He intends. This all speaks to the fact that God is ruler, and is sovereign over all.
Third and finally, all the remembering of God’s work in the past would have no purpose unless there was a future, a goal, a New way of being human. A way where sin and evil have no power, where death is no more. A place where truth and beauty are really truthful and beautiful. And is this not the hope of each one of us? Do we not long for the time when time will not steal our lives away, when death is not even a bad memory? Have we even considered how grand it will be to not fight within ourselves against the evil that is in our hearts, the sin in our minds, the foolishness of our desires? But we do have that Hope, we have been invited to the MarriageFeast of the Lamb if we are united to Christ. . This is a feast that celebrates the eternal present, the glorious life bought by the blood of the Savior, and the presence of the bridegroom in the midst of New Heaven and the New Earth.
Trust in the Sovereign God and hope, believing in the promise that our King is indeed coming for us.