Mother’s Day means different things to different people. For many of us taking our mothers out to eat after church, it will mean a very long wait — followed by a great meal with great people. And that got me to thinking about a couple of verses.
(Rev 3:20-21) Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
(Rev 19:9) Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
At the End of time, we’re going to all join Jesus for a wedding banquet. It will be a very long wait — followed by a great meal with great people.
This meal we’re about to share prefigures the wedding banquet of Jesus and his bride. You see, “two or three are gathered” and so Jesus is among us. This is also a meal with Jesus, anticipating the bigger, better meal that’s yet to come.
It’s rather like a rehearsal dinner, you know. It’s a celebration in advance of what we know is sure to follow.
We take this meal to remember the past — what Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago — and to look to the future — to End of it all — when we will eat with Jesus. That will be a better meal than a crust of cracker and sip of juice.
But as we learn from Mother’s Day and weddings, these meals aren’t really about the food. They’re about the people. And at the End of time, we’ll be eating a meal with the very same people that we are eating with today. You see, this meal not only symbolizes the Wedding Banquet of Christ and his bride, it shows us who will be there: us. These are the people with whom we’ll spend eternity — in a better place, with better bodies, eating better food — but not with better people. It’ll be the same people — except more.
And so as we eat and drink, discern “the body,” the body of Christ, the bride of Christ — the people in this room with whom we’ll live forever.
If you’ve ever wondered why Jesus says it’s so important to love each other, now you know: it’s because we’re going to be living and eating together with Jesus for a very long time. And the best meals are with people we love.
