The Table Prepared for Us - Pt. II
The Eucharistic Banquet in the New Testament
We concluded the first half of our treatment on the theme of the banquet by noting how, by the close of the Old Testament, humanity has been given the means of entering into the banquet of the Lord, but still needs to be shown the proper way to attend, to enter into the Lord’s presence.
This is the central focus of the theme of the banquet in the New Testament.
As in the Old Testament, Banquets feature prominently in the Gospels – Jesus himself attends many and uses them as images in some of his parables. And in all of these serve as images for the kingdom of God, and the reversal and renewal that God is achieving in Jesus and inviting humanity back to the table through him.
Probably the most familiar and famous Banquet in the New Testament is the Last Supper itself – where the Lord instituted the eucharist itself:
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.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
(Matt 26:26-29)
In the Lord’s Supper, shared among his disciples before his betrayal and death, Jesus does many things, all of which point back to our Old Testament portraits. The scene here reminds us of Abraham at Mamre – the humble Christ serving his disciples as host. Jesus is like the priestly Melchizedek, sharing bread and wine. He describes it as ‘for the remission of sins’ – indicating his atoning work made present in the broken bread and wine. But his language also reminds us of the wedding feast – calling it “a sign of the new covenant between me and you” Moses has used this same language when consecrating the people before him and the elders ascended the mountain to dine with God. (Ex 24:3)
But before we get too carried away with the typology and the parallels in the Lord’s Supper to our Old Testament portraits, I also want to highlight an important detail here that help us understand the significance of the Lord’s Supper in the Gospels – and that is the description of Jesus actions.
We read that he ‘took’ ‘blessed’ ‘broke’ and ‘gave’.
While this is a common Jewish practice and might seem insignificant compared to other parts of Matthew’s account –it’s these actions, and specifically in this order, that set up an important framework for understanding the banquets and meals of the gospels in light of this special meal.
There are two meals in the gospels that I want to draw our attention:
The Feeding of the Multitude
The first is a well known story – Jesus feeding the great multitude. This is perhaps the greatest image of a banquet in the Gospels – the ultimate sign of God’s generosity and provision. It has many precursors in the Old Testament - We might be reminded here Israel huddled around the barren peaks of Sinai, and of God’s provision of manna in the wilderness (Ex 16), or of the miraculous multiplication of one hundred loaves of bread in the presence of the prophet Elisha (2 Kgs 4:42-44)… In particular, however, I want to draw our attention to the language that Mark uses in describing Jesus actions towards the crowd:
And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going…and they hurried there…from all the towns and arrived ahead of them…When Jesus saw them he had great compassion for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd…and he began to teach them.
The disciples came to him saying “Send them away so that they may…eat. But he said “You give them something to eat.”
Then he order them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass…taking the loaves and fish, he looked to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples.
[Mk 6:30-44]
Again, notice those important words, - Jesus ‘takes the loaves’ – he ‘blesses them’ he ‘broke them ‘and then he ‘gave them’. Identical to the description of the Eucharist.
But that’s not even the coolest bit. Pay close attention to these other fine details:
The feeding of the multitude clearly appropriates the language of Psalm 23. the Psalmist had portrayed God as the shepherd and the host of the table, feeding the people, and expressed hope and trust in God’s provision – here in the Gospels, Jesus fulfills this hope, answering the need for a shepherd, and feeding the hungry multitude with ‘bread from heaven’.
Like the generosity and hospitality of Abraham, Jesus, the incarnate Lord, becomes the host of the banquet, extending hospitality to every human being and offering food to all those who are hungry – restoring the bounty and rest of the Garden once more.
The Road to Emmaus
The second portrait is my favorite and tells the story of two of Jesus’ disciples as they travel towards a town named Emmaus. On the way, the risen Christ appears and travels with them…though his identity is mysteriously hidden from them. As they reach the end of their journey, we read that:
As they drew near to the village to which they were going. Jesus acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
[Lk 24:28-30]
Again, we have that same order of words, he ‘took’ the bread, ‘blessed’ it, ‘broke it’…but as he ‘gives it’ to them, something special happens – we read that as they took bread from him;
And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.
[Lk 24:31]
“…their eyes are opened” and they recognize him. On one level this is a beautiful affirmation of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist – it is in the breaking of the bread that we can encounter the risen Christ. But it also serves as an amazing connection to the first banquet in the Bible. Recall what had happened to Adam and Eve when they had taken the forbidden fruit and eaten it at the banquet in Eden:
“she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened…they knew they were naked and they hid themselves”
[Gen 3:7]
This is very similar to Luke’s account where we read:
“And he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.”
[Lk 24:30-31]
In the first banquet, Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit with the result being that ‘their eyes were opened’ – which led to guilt and alienation from God. The meal at Emmaus, however, reverses this. Giving the two disciples a glimpse at the redemption of the fallen world – the resurrected Lord himself. Its no surprise then that the two exclaim to each other “were out hearts not burning within us?” (Lk 24:32)
As N.T. Wright puts it:
“This…is the ultimate redemption; this is the meal that signifies that the long exile of the human race is over at last. This is the start of the new creation…”
[N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 652.]
The Wedding Supper of the Lamb
This new beginning that Professor Wright speaks of - the new kingdom and the new creation – the victory won by Christ on the cross – leads us to our final portrait of the banquet – The Wedding Supper of the Lamb
After instituting the Supper with his disciples, Jesus tells his disciples,
“I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it with you anew in my Father’s kingdom.”
[Matt 26:29]
St John, in his Revelation, shows the fulfilment of Christ’s words when he writes of the wedding supper of the Lamb, where the righteous are robed in white and seated at the table of the Lord;
“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”
Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet of the wedding celebration of the Lamb!”
[Rev 19:1-6-9]
At this feast, humanity is redeemed, and access to Eden, to the Lord’s table is restored. Exile is over, the Lamb is making all things new. The voice from the throne assures, “He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, he will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”. John’s imagery here seems to be drawn from Isaiah’s portrait the salvation of the Lord where:
“…he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.
[Isa 25:7-8]
But what’s super interesting about these words, is that if you read just a verse before them, we have none other than a banquet as the setting for this promise:
“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
[Isa 25:6]
Ezekiel says something similar, though interestingly, he uses the image of the shepherd, rather than the banquet.
“I will feed them on the mountains…I will give them good pasture. They shall lie down in good grazing, and they shall feed on rich pasture. I will be the shepherd of my sheep. I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them and be there Shepherd.”
[Ezek 34:13-16, 23]
Here it is again! The imagery of Psalm 23 – the victory banquet of the Lord, where he puts an end to the enemies of humanity who have ruled over them since their exile - sin and death - is one and the same with the green pastures of Eden, where God will feed his flock as the Good Shepherd.
In the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, humanity - tired and hungry like lost sheep - have finally been brought back into the fold of the good shepherd, to the table of the Lord. The slain Lamb has taken away the sins of the world and at the wedding banquet, feeds them and gives them pasture and rest…
The Eucharist
This is the reality we celebrate when we enter into the sacrament of the eucharist. All of these banquets - from priestly banquets in the wilderness to wedding banquets on holy mountains, the miraculous feeding of multitudes, and divine revelation in the breaking of bread, is the biblical framework for the beautiful reality that is the Lord’s table.
It is a priestly banquet, where we come together, to partake of God’s holiness and be nourished by him through the work of the Great High Priest , that our cups may overflow. It is a wedding feast, where we gather with the Bride groom, our garments purified and washed in his atoning blood, where goodness and mercy are our for evermore, and we dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And of course, it is a victory feast, where we gather with our Conquering King, who has slain the enemy and prepared a table for us in the presence of our enemies, and enthroning us with him in his victory.
It is the revelation of our Lord, the Lamb of God, the fullness of his sacrifice for us revealed in the broken bread and the poured our wine. It is our daily bread, our ‘bread from heaven’, the provision and pasture of the Good Shepherd when we are hungry and lacking. God invites us to the table…to lie down in green pastures. Christ invites us to the table in order that we may share in all that he has for us.
It is the Body and Blood of our God, given for us on a cross, made freely available for us in his grace. It is the bread of heaven, the life of God, given to us that we may have eternal life in him – It is the revelation of the glory of God to us once more, washing away our shame and nakedness, and dressing us for the wedding banquet of the Lamb.
With such a mystery before us, let us examine ourselves, so that we can approach accordingly. We have been given access to the King’s table – to sit at his right hand and dine with him in glory. To participate in something so wonderous now, on this side of eternity, is a privilege indeed. We cannot approach it carelessly, like Nadab and Abihu, who took for granted their access to God. Rather, we must examine ourselves, as Paul encourages us, and take the bread and wine with reverence – for it is a powerful thing, and a holy thing. We must approach with humility, like Abraham, and with yearning, like the disciples on the Road to Emmaus – our hearts burning for a full revelation of our Lord, so that we may return from the table with the victory of our King fresh on our lips and an encounter with him burning in our hearts.
“Let us taste and see that the Lord is good!”
[Ps 34:8]