December 30
December 30
The biblical story begins and ends with a meal.
I have to confess that I love food. I love the beauty of a well-dressed plate. I love the smells of something slowly roasting in the oven. I love the sizzle of something frying on the stove. I love the chemistry of food, how heat changes it and how spices enhance flavor. I do the cooking in our family. I love designing and preparing the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. We have a large market nearby, with about a hundred vendors. Every kind of food you could want is there, along with butchers, fishmongers, and fresh produce. I walk through the market almost every day. I call it my food museum. I also love how much the biblical writers incorporate food into their narratives, and often use it as a metaphor of the work of God.
It is striking that the grand biblical story is bracketed by two meals. The first meal is the most tragic meal that has ever been eaten. High drama precedes this meal, as Satan tempts Eve and Adam to eat something God has forbidden. As you listen to the serpent’s seductive lies, you think, “Don’t listen!” And, as they take the forbidden fruit into their hands, you want to scream, “Don’t eat; don’t eat!” But they do. This first recorded meal is an act of outrageous rebellion against God’s authority, warning, and loving provision. When the first bite is taken, the history of the world goes dark. Not only does sin enter the hearts of Adam and Eve, but it spreads its destructive power around the cosmos. This meal is a tragedy, and humanity still suffers its effects today.
But, thankfully, the redemptive story marches toward another meal. This one is not a tragedy, but a victory. It is a meal not of rebellion but of divine love. The beauty and glory of this meal is captured in Revelation 19:
I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. (Rev. 19:6–8)
Open your heart and expand your imagination to take in this scene. This is your guaranteed destiny as a child of God. It is a royal marriage processional. The reigning Lamb takes us as his bride, now pure before him and with him forever. The angel says to John, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9). This is Scripture’s final meal. Sin has been defeated. There will be no more rebellious meals. The eternal celebration has begun. The children of God have been forever united to the Lamb. Redemption has been accomplished. God has won!