The Messianic Feast
December 18, 2022
“On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.” (Isa. 25.6)
“For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.” (1Cor. 11.29)
We can imagine a scene like Isaiah 25, where God sets a banquet for all nations to enjoy upon Mount Zion. It’s an enticing feast, with God himself hosting. Who wouldn’t want to join?
And who gets invited? The Gospels make it clear—everyone. But everyone has a story behind them, don’t they? In the Gospels, the “everyone” is radically inclusive—a prostitute here, a tax collector there, a beggar in that seat, a rich woman in this one. It’s a tawdry crowd.
The truth is, while everyone might be invited, not everyone wants a seat. After all, it’s nice to be at the feast hosted by Jesus, but do you really want to sit between the prostitute and the slave (notice the hesitation of the Pharisees, Mk. 2.16)? Or, if we take some creative license, between the social-justice warrior and the police officer, or the wall street broker and the hillbilly?
This is one reason why attending to our hearts is so important. God’s future will be a feast, and if you can’t love God’s people now, you won’t want a seat at the table. And if you won’t take a seat at the table, I’m not sure you’ll want a part of God, either. You can’t love God if you don’t love the people God loves (1Jn. 4.20).
Paul writes that there is no Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female (Gal. 3.28). In the first place, this is about access to salvation—God does not discriminate, but gives salvation generously to all. But this also throws down a challenge to us. Will we love as generously as God does? Or will our hearts remain closed by prejudice?
This love is not simply a sentimental openness to others, a long distance appreciation. Love is tangible. It’s sitting at the table together. The banquet in Isaiah 25 is foreshadowed in the banquet we share each week, eating the “rich food filled with marrow” that is the body of Jesus, and the “well-aged wines strained clear” that is his blood. About this meal, Paul has clear instructions—take it in a “worthy manner.” This worthy manner entails “discerning the body,” which leads to the practical instructions “wait for one another.” In short, the Lord’s Supper is where we practice for the Isaiah 25 feast, sitting next to anyone and everyone purified by the love of God and thereby brought into the body of Christ.
—John Coffey
