Because He is Risen

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Gal 2:20

In the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the wine lies a mystery deep. A heavenly banquet set upon a table of the earth. In it, we, sinful creatures made of dust and divine breath, touch heaven. We see the bread, once grain, now body. We see the wine, once grape, now blood. We see the Lamb, once alive, now slain, and alive forever more. And we look around at a people, once lost, now found. Seated here below, yes, but already seated with Christ in heavenly places. (Eph. 2:6)

As I pondered this sacrament and Christ’s resurrection this week, my thoughts, like a restless swallow, fluttered and circled around this wondrous truth: ‘We may eat the Lord’s Supper because He is risen.’ What a thought! In the act of eating, we declare that death’s shadow, that cold, silent specter, has lost its sting in His resurrection. We confess that sin, though once mighty in dominion, has been broken over us by His resurrection. By partaking, we confess that we are risen with Christ.

But there is more. In this Supper, we become partakers in the divine nature. (2 Peter 1:4) Why? Not for anything native in us, but because in taking these elements by faith, we feast upon the very essence of life itself, Christ, the resurrection, and the life. (Jn.11:25) Each morsel of bread, each sip of wine is an incorporation, a defiant cry in the face of death proclaiming, "O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?"

Here at this table, heaven touches earth. Time and eternity fold in on each other, and we, marred by sin, dine with the Divine, partaking in Christ’s righteousness and resurrection.

In this meal is a great paradox: by acknowledging our dependance on the broken body and shed blood of Christ, we are raised up to the realm of immortality. It's a communion meal with the Risen Christ, who is the true Manna, the eternal unleavened Bread of Life, the Firstfruit of them that slept, where we partake of His mercy, His victory over sin and death, until we dine with Him at last at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in His glorious Kingdom. Where all tears are wiped away, and the feast is never-ending.