Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
There are certain implications that one's eschatological view has on their interpretation practical application of certain passages of the Bible. This is one such passage. The "Bible" church I attended (essentially a baptist church" had quarterly communion (such rare observance is one practical implication) and the pastor always made sure to mention that the empty chair at the end of the table was for Jesus, who will return any moment to share this meal with his people for the first time in His Kingdom. Obviously, at the base of this view is the idea that Jesus has yet to establish His Kingdom, which is rooted in a lack of understanding of the nature of the Kingdom.
The truth is that Jesus dines with us every time we have communion (every week for the author of this blog). He meets with us in His sacrament and imparts relational grace thereby. A verse that we proclaim widely and yet misunderstand entirely is Revelation 3:20-21. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne." Jesus clearly says that He will eat with us. This is a clear reference to the Lord's Table. There is simply no reason to think otherwise. Jesus gives this promise to a local church in the first century. The promise is just as true with us. As we commune over the body of Christ with our fellow believers, we commune with the One whose body we eagerly (or depressingly, as is usually the case today--another side-effect of our misunderstanding of the Lord's Table) devour. The Lord's Supper is a meal of victory and we are to rejoice as we draw strength and encouragement from our Savior who gave His flesh and blood for us.
Jesus also promises us that we will sit with Him on the throne. Who sits on a throne? A king. As we speak, Jesus occupies the throne of the universe, and, amazingly, promises us that we can reign with Him. A failure to understand that the Kingdom has come leads us to let this promise hang unclaimed. Christ reigns through His Church. We are to take dominion in His name, claiming souls and societies for Christ. At the Lord's Supper, we partake in Kingly dining. We are royalty! As Revelation 5:10 says, "And have made us to our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." This is not something that has yet to occur. It is a present reality. We are reigning. Revelation 1:6 states this as something that Christ has already done, as does 1 Peter 2:9.
We need to stop messing around and start acting like ambassadors of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We need to get rid of this mindset that the Church is bound to fail and we just need to save some souls before we get raptured. We need to take dominion of this world for Christ.
There are certain implications that one's eschatological view has on their interpretation practical application of certain passages of the Bible. This is one such passage. The "Bible" church I attended (essentially a baptist church" had quarterly communion (such rare observance is one practical implication) and the pastor always made sure to mention that the empty chair at the end of the table was for Jesus, who will return any moment to share this meal with his people for the first time in His Kingdom. Obviously, at the base of this view is the idea that Jesus has yet to establish His Kingdom, which is rooted in a lack of understanding of the nature of the Kingdom.
The truth is that Jesus dines with us every time we have communion (every week for the author of this blog). He meets with us in His sacrament and imparts relational grace thereby. A verse that we proclaim widely and yet misunderstand entirely is Revelation 3:20-21. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne." Jesus clearly says that He will eat with us. This is a clear reference to the Lord's Table. There is simply no reason to think otherwise. Jesus gives this promise to a local church in the first century. The promise is just as true with us. As we commune over the body of Christ with our fellow believers, we commune with the One whose body we eagerly (or depressingly, as is usually the case today--another side-effect of our misunderstanding of the Lord's Table) devour. The Lord's Supper is a meal of victory and we are to rejoice as we draw strength and encouragement from our Savior who gave His flesh and blood for us.
Jesus also promises us that we will sit with Him on the throne. Who sits on a throne? A king. As we speak, Jesus occupies the throne of the universe, and, amazingly, promises us that we can reign with Him. A failure to understand that the Kingdom has come leads us to let this promise hang unclaimed. Christ reigns through His Church. We are to take dominion in His name, claiming souls and societies for Christ. At the Lord's Supper, we partake in Kingly dining. We are royalty! As Revelation 5:10 says, "And have made us to our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." This is not something that has yet to occur. It is a present reality. We are reigning. Revelation 1:6 states this as something that Christ has already done, as does 1 Peter 2:9.
We need to stop messing around and start acting like ambassadors of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We need to get rid of this mindset that the Church is bound to fail and we just need to save some souls before we get raptured. We need to take dominion of this world for Christ.
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