The Table of the Lord
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church
The 12 apostles shared an unforgettable, life-changing, Christ-follower-defining evening at the dinner table with our Lord. It would be His last meal before His body would be crushed beneath the weight of Calvary.
It would be the evening in which those 12 men would experience the unique kind of love that God has for His own.
This love was demonstrated when the King of Glory took off His outer robe, wrapped a slave’s apron about His waist, and washed the feet of all 12 disciples, including Judas.
Some time during the evening, the Lord took some bread, gave thanks to the Father, broke it, and gave it to the disciples.
He taught them saying, “This is My body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19, NASB).
The more we grow in our Christian faith, the more we adore the Son for His humble obedience to the glorious plan of the Father.
In eternity past, “Christ crucified” was the plan to redeem a world that was yet to be created.
A body would be prepared for sacrifice.
God the Son would humble Himself.
He would refuse to cling to equality with God for the sake of His own privilege.
Instead, He would empty Himself and take up the flesh of a man.
He would be born of a virgin and engage a world that had rejected God.
He would suffer, be crucified, die, and be buried as a man, in order that those who believe would escape the judgment of God.
Theologians refer to this as the doctrine of substitutionary atonement.
I refer to it as the most unthinkable, extraordinary event in human history, where both the justice of God and the love of God met at the Cross.
It is an eternal truth that we were meant to never forget.
In fact, Scripture commands us to remind ourselves of this most wonderful event by partaking of the Table of the Lord.
“Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19, NASB).
Most churches that I attended growing up rarely administered Communion or the Eucharist.
The reason given is often that “we don’t want Communion to become routine.”
Interestingly, that sort of logic is not applied to praying, singing, giving, preaching, or just attending church all together.
I really cannot understand why the Church does not participate often. I have yet to hear a good reason for it.
I enjoy coming to the Table every Lord’s day and being reminded of many things, the foremost being the reminder of the body that was given for me.
But, I also enjoy reflecting on God’s many attributes when I partake.
I am certainly reminded of the grace of God.
Everyone that is welcome to the Table is welcomed based solely on God’s grace. No one deserves to sit at the Table other than Christ Himself.
We were the enemies who were made friends through the Gospel.
We are also reminded at the Table that it is such a holy thing to be enjoyed by sinners.
We were formerly rebels, but God in His kindness and mercy has moved toward us in such a way as to restore us to a place of perfect communion with Him.
He is the One who has made things right with us.
And then there is the love of God.
How can we not rejoice deeply over how greatly we have been loved when we are reminded of the broken body and the shed blood that has saved us!
For some reason or other, the church at Corinth had defiled such a precious time.
Next week, we will look at their error and be warned not to follow in their steps.
