10/16/2019
There is something very special about having a meal with someone. When we sit down together and eat it joins us in a very basic way, and this understanding doesn’t escape us... we have business dinners, festival dinners, banquets to honor each other, and so many other celebratory meals that bring us together, but beyond that... we dine at the Lord’s table. When was the last time you dined with Jesus?
“Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord.”
John 21:12 ESV
Jesus had been crucified, and Peter was fishing with Thomas and some of the others when He miraculously appeared on the shore and asked them what everyone asks fishermen... “have you caught anything?” , and Peter had to give Him the bad news.. “No”. What comes next is the advice I have heard so many times when fishing, and although it is usually preceded by the pronouncement that I should have been there yesterday, I was inevitably told where the fish were biting. In like manner, Jesus then told them where to cast their net, and unlike those times in my remembrance, it was good advice.
“He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.”
John 21:6 ESV
Jesus provides for us, and He does so in abundance. Then, after He has provided He does something even more wonderful... He gives us the opportunity to not only share what He has given us with Him, but He prepares a way in which it can be made better... in this case by cooking, and eating it with bread... and in this way His provision is shared more perfectly.
“When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught."
Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.”
John 21:9-10, 12-13 ESV
In this case He invites Peter and the others to come dine with Him. So I ask the question again... when was the last time you dined with Jesus? How many times has He provided for us, and then invited us to share in that provision with Him? Did we do so? Did He prepare a meal for us from what He had made possible, and then invited us to eat together? what was our response? Did we think that the fish were ours, and that we owed Him nothing? Did we think Him presumptuous to ask us to dine with Him on OUR FISH, and then to have the audacity to serve them to us as well? We need to take a lesson from Peter...
“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.".... ”
John 21:15 ESV
I am not talking about tithes, but about our everyday provision. Do you remember to thank God each day for all He has given you? Do you share it with the less fortunate? When you sit down to eat do you just thank Him for the food He has provided, or do you realize that this is not your meal, but His, and thank Him, as the host, for inviting you to dine there with Him?
Each time we sit down to eat, we are dining at the Lord’s table... every bite of bread, and sip of wine... every piece of fish and glass of water... came to be there by His having blessed us. In our Bible story, Jesus sat with on the shore with His disciples, and cooked over a charcoal fire He had prepared. To whom did that shore belong? Whose table were they dining at as they sat there around the fire eating?
“"The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.”
Leviticus 25:23 ESV
The shore... the table, like the fish, belonged to God. I can’t help but think of all the times I have said these words... “My Land”, “My House”, “My Table”, and “My food.” Yet, the land belongs to God, and I am just a sojourner there. Are you beginning to understand my point today? Let me make the point a bit more emphatically; when I die the land is still God’s, when I die the house is no longer mine, when I did the table will become a blessing to someone else, and once I have eaten to fish... God returns them to the earth... just as He will one day return our bodies. So whose land, house, table, food, and even body is this? Didn’t we hear the words; “the land is mine.”?
So at whose table do we eat, and of whose food do we partake? With this further understanding we come to realize that we dine every day, and every meal with Jesus, and thinking any other way is pure vanity, because we Are fooling ourselves. As we pray before each meal we should not only thank God for our food, but for joining us there, and sharing His table, and this food, with us. There is nothing we have, and indeed, nothing of this world, that will not return to it... and we have already established by God’s own word that the land is His.
“The earth is the Lord 's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.”
Psalms 24:1-2 ESV
So there is absolutely something very special about having a meal with someone; we are sitting together at the table of the Lord, and partaking of His provision... in His presence. In this way we can now answer the question I originally posed... “When was the last time you dined with Jesus?”
Today! Everyday! Right now!
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your many blessings, and allowing us to share in your creation. Thank you Holy Father for all you have allowed us, and for joining us in its use. Thank you for walking with us, talking with us, and inviting us to join you at your table to dine. As I take the flesh and blood of Jesus into my mouth during communion, help me to remember Him in that moment, He is your ultimate provision... our Redeemer, and He who frees us from sin and death. Your grace has become through Him your greatest gift, and our eternal possession. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God, who provides all things, and then calls us to Himself to dine forevermore. Great is your mercy, forgiveness, and provision, but greater yet your grace. You ask no payment; your table is open and free to all who believe, and would come and dine with you. All glory is yours, and in your house we will live forever.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Psalms 23:5-6 ESV
Rich Forbes