Anticipating Another Meal

The Last Supper is a farewell, no doubt. But it is not the last word. It is a meal that points to another meal. The two meals are intentionally linked. Each time we celebrate this special meal in the context of our worship, we look ahead and identify with the heavenly banquet, a meal that will be celebrated on that day when all things are made right. We declare in our participation, in our eating and drinking, that evil, wrong, and pain do not have the last word and that we live now with an eager anticipation of the future. The celebration of the Lord’s Supper anticipates another meal and prepares us for it. We eat together, yearning together for another day; we eat knowing it is coming. We are eager for Christ Jesus to usher in his kingdom. —Gordon T. Smith, A Holy Meal: The Lord’s Supper in the Life of the Church, 94