Banquet
Originally scheduled for
January 16
The frequent reader of the Scriptures will notice that Christ
himself was a man who attended a lot of banquets and feasts. Indeed,
his first miracle was performed at a wedding. Such banquets were
often used as a platform for delivering the various parables that
Christ told. Christ went to joyous occasions. But he also prophesied
the greatest, most joyous occasion of all: the wedding supper of the
Lamb.
Christ gave parable on this subject in Luke, chapter 14. You'll
remember it: it concerns the man who gave a large banquet — and his
guests gave him one excuse after another for not coming. So this
banquet master commanded his servants to go out and get some
additional guests. Specifically, he mentions four types of
individuals: the poor, the blind, the crippled and the lame. When he
finds that even these are not enough to fill his banquet hall, he
sends his servants out to bring in those who are on the highway or
by the hedges. Many scholars hold that these last two are criminals:
highwaymen and hedge robbers.
Perhaps you've never connected this, but the Lord's Supper is a
picture of the banquet to be given at the wedding of the Lamb. So we
are to go out and invite to this supper those who are the poor – who
have never seen the riches of Christ. We are to invite the crippled
and the lame — those whose lives have seen horror and a broken
spirit. Even the blind — the hypocrites — we must call. For this
supper brings the Good News to one and all. When you take of this
supper, you proclaim the Lord's death. In so doing you proclaim his
resurrection, the salvation we have, and the resurrection to come.
So as you partake, remember the joy of the blessing you have — and
your duty to share it with others, no matter how unlikely.
