This meal is not a dour meal. This is not a sad meal. In 1 Cor. 10, Paul says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not communion in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”
For those who know Christ, this is a cup of blessing, this is a table of blessing, this is a sharing in the blessing of God. How is it blessing? It proclaims the forgiveness of our sins. Are you a sinner? Do you need cleansing? Then come, Jesus died for sinners, to make you completely clean.
But how do we know that our sins are completely paid for? We know they were completely paid for because Jesus rose from the dead. This is a law of nature, a law of the universe: completely innocent, righteous people cannot die. If Adam had jumped off a cliff right after he was made, he could not have died. I’m not sure what would have happened, but he could not have died because sin is what makes us susceptible to death. Even Jesus could not die until our sins were laid on Him. Jesus went down into death by the weight of our sins. But when each one was paid for, when complete justice was served, there was nothing left keeping Jesus dead. Jesus rose for the same reason most things fall down: gravity.
This is why the Bible says that if Jesus is not risen from the dead, we would still be in our sins. But Christ is risen from the dead, and therefore, our sins are no more. Our sins are buried in the deepest sea and can never be found. They are removed from us as far as the east is from the west.
So are you baptized? Then come. Come to the table of blessing. Come with joy. And make sure your kids know that this is not the table of being-good. This is not the table of you-better-not-screw-this-up. This is the table of Christ risen from the dead and we are forgiven. It’s a table of relief.
So come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash
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