The invitation of this table is to see Christ and in Him, see all things rightly. But this means that the eyes of faith are being trained by peering through several lenses. The two central lenses are the Word and this Sacrament. Faith doesn’t look at the Word and at the bread and wine, but instead, faith looks through the Word and through the bread and wine. Faith sees Christ in the Word and Christ in the sharing of the broken bread and poured wine. Faith sees Jesus in the whole Bible, and then sees Him here at this table in this gratitude and fellowship.
But remember what Jesus told the Jews: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (Jn. 5:39). There’s a way of looking at the Word, looking at this Table, looking at baptism, or looking at this fellowship, and thinking that you have eternal life in these things. But these things: this book, this word, this bread and wine, this water, this communion all by itself is not eternal life. These things proclaim Christ who is Your Life. All of these things announce that Jesus died for your sins, that your sins are forgiven, that they have been nailed to His cross and buried in His grave, and that He is risen from the dead and alive forevermore.
And by teaching you to see Christ through the Word, through the Table, through the water of baptism, through the fellowship of the saints, Jesus is teaching you to see all things rightly. There is a Creator God over all. There is a Redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son. There is a Spirit that comforts hearts and gives peace that passes all understanding. Death has been dealt a death blow, and Satan has been wounded in the head. All authority in heaven and one earth has been given to Jesus, and He must reign until all of His enemies are put beneath His feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed will be death itself. And every tear will be wiped away from every eye, sorrow and pain will be no more, and the Festival of Eternity will never end. You will be raised so that your bodies will be conformed to His glorious body. And we will work and worship and rejoice forever.
See those glorious promises; see Christ at the center of it all. And seeing Christ making all things new: see your life, your family, your world rightly. And so come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Samuele Errico Piccarini on Unsplash
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