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When Jesus first broke bread and presented the cup in the Upper Room, He was only hours from His crucifixion. For Jesus and His disciples it was a heavy, sad, somber affair.
Two-thousand years later, Communion continues to be a heavy, sad, somber affair every time believers participate in its remembrance. And rightfully so, for it is the time when we remember our Lord's great act of love and mercy by sacrificing Himself brutally on the cross on our behalf. Participating in Communion is like attending a funeral. Each of us feels personally responsible for killing our loving God with our own sins.
The contrast to Communion is the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. More than a paltry meal of a bit of bread and drink of juice, it is a great banquet of unimaginable splendor. Everybody around the table sparkles with that fresh feeling as if having had an invigorating bath after working long in the fields. Jesus Himself will be there, not weighted down by a crushing sorrow, but exuberant at a soon expected triumph. The Feast is not tainted by the guilt of sinners, but by the shared glorification of saints. There will be happiness, love, praise and energy. It will be communion as it was meant to be — personal and joyous!
I hope that we will not have to have many more Communion services before Jesus takes us up to be with Him in Heaven. Our Savior has better ceremonies of worship and remembrance planned ahead.
