This meal is a love feast. It teaches us what love actually is. Love is not a feeling you get. Love is not a ditch you fall into or cliff you fall off of. Love is not getting turned on. Love is not breaking the rules and grabbing what you want.
Greater love has no man than this, but that he lay his life down for his friends. Christian love means dying for others, giving up what you want for the good of others, risking your life and reputation for the blessing of others.
At this meal God is showing us His love, what His love looks like, what real love is actually like. Here, He gives His life as a ransom for us. He loses Himself for our rescue, for our blessing.
So whether you are single or married, whether you are young or old, do not be deluded by the folly of the world. Don’t buy the lies. Love is not a feeling you get. Love is not butterflies in your belly. Love is a commitment, a decision to die for another. Love is bloody, fierce, and hard. It doesn’t really matter what you feel like. It doesn’t really matter that it’s difficult. Jesus didn’t exactly feel like dying, but He was committed to submitting to His Father’s will for the salvation of the world.
God commands our love for Him and for one another. This means that first and foremost, love is obedience. Love is a decision to trust God and follow Him. But we do not obey like robots, like heartless stoics. We know love because God has loved us and sent His Son for us and forgiven us all our sins. This is real love, and it is fierce and bloody and wonderful. So come: this is the feast of real love.
Andrew says
Not disagreeing with all of your thoughts, however, a question comes to mind. When the Bible says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son,…..” esv. John 3:16 Can you explain how the love preceded the act? What I see is He loved therefore he did. We tend to use words like God give us the desire or renewed desire to be obedient. What are we asking for? How about confessions of sin, we have not loved you with our whole heart. Our love for God fades then we sin( we forget who our God is) If love produces something, an action, then love is not the action rather the action is a result of the love. We can test that “feeling ” to see if it is inline with the actions as defined in 1 Cor. 13 I think it is Love that produces the obedience….the feeling…like joy produces something, anger and sorrow also. Perhaps due to sin we have a very difficult time harnessing these “feelings” at times, however, this would not be the case for God. Wonderful way of putting the Lord’s supper “the feast of real love.”