Meals As Enacted Salvation (2)

John 6:53

53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 6:53). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Meal points to the Goal

"And the meal points to the goal: eating in the presence of God as a celebration of his generosity in creation and salvation." - Tim Chester

Fulfillment of Promised Feast

"When the disparate people of God come together and express community around the table, united as we are in Christ, then the promised feast finds fulfillment. When we celebrate the goodness of creation as we enjoy our food, then the promised feast finds fulfillment, and we anticipate the renewal of creation. When we eat together in the presence of God by his spirit, the promised feast finds fulfillment. These are powerful declarations to the world of the coming feast of God to which all humanity is invited and the current presence of God with his people." - Tim Chester

Purpose of suffering on the Cross

Chester says that the purpose of Jesus' suffering on the cross is for "sharing community around a meal table with his people"

Foretaste of Glory

The Lord's Supper is a foretaste of the Lamb's Supper -

It's not a picture. It's the real thing begun in a partial way. We eat with God's people, and we eat with the ascended Christ, present through the Holy Spirit. - Tim Chester

Communion or a meal?

Communion should be a feast of friends shared with laughter, tears, prayers and stories. We celebrate the community life that God gives us through the cross and in the Spirit. When we recapture the Lord's supper as a feast of friends, celebrated as a meal in the presence of the Spirit, then it will become something we earnestly desire. - Tim Chester