We are in the midst of three Sunday sharings on the Lord's Table, and it is quite rich! One brother shared last week; another brother yesterday, and a third brother will share on this topic next Sunday.
I'm not even sure how to begin, but I saw something yesterday about how important this is to the Lord (and us). He said in Luke 22:15,
"I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." (From the Greek it is better rendered, "With great desire I have desired to eat . . .") When I heard that, it struck me that it was most worthy of my full attention!
At that last Passover, Christ was bringing to an end the Old Covenant and ushering in the new - the covenant purchased by His blood. How was this conveyed to His chosen ones? By eating bread and drinking wine! He said to TAKE and eat. This is a direct contrast to what happened in Genesis 3, where we took the wrong thing and ate it, and then God had to
drive us out (to protect us). Now, in the New Covenant, we are greatly encouraged to COME & TAKE, EAT & DRINK!
This is why the Lord was so eager -
"with intensely great desire" - to take this table with them! He was saying in essense: "The old, outward, heavy, laborious, ineffective way has now passed. All things I've made new for you. Come & Freely Take! Eat of me! I'm giving it all back to you!"
It was also shared in the first message, how much this wonderful practice - one of remembrance of His gift of love, grace & enjoyment - has degraded into mainly an outward religious ceremony of ritual. Yes, it is symbolic for us to remember, but the real significance of it is the new and living way of total acceptance and love - a CELEBRATION! ENJOYMENT - TAKE, EAT AND DRINK of ME! Not a religious obligation ritual at all!
Praise the Lord for what He has done and for what He's showing us of His wondrous intention!
If anyone's interested, here are links to the sharing so far:
1st Sharing (video):
Here
2nd Sharing (audio only):
Here
There's also an awesome one page handout on this, that simply illustrates the importance of the Lord's Table (and the parallels between Genesis 3 and Luke 22). If anyone wants it, I'll send via PM.