Dear Friends,
I heard of an older lady who, as she receives bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper, says quietly to herself, “Until he comes” – from Paul’s words that “whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26, NIV). Indeed, the Lord’s Supper encourages us to look back to Jesus dying for us, to look up to him now reigning, to look around at those he has redeemed, and also to look ahead to him returning in glory.
It’s how the Bible ends: with a promise from the Lord Jesus that, “Yes, I am coming soon”, followed by a prayer: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). The words “Until he comes” tell us not so much that the Lord’s Supper is a temporary provision, but that it’s a promise of the great wedding supper of the Lamb and our final redemption into a world without sin or death.
In Repeat the Sounding Joy, Christopher Ash reminds us that the one who came is the one who is coming: “Jesus will come back – publicly, unmistakably, in glory and great power. Indeed, he must come back … As we reflect on the Jesus who came as a baby all those centuries ago, let us never forget that we are waiting, longing, yearning, praying for that great day when he will return … The more deeply we understand him in his first Advent, the more passionately we shall long for his return, when we shall see him face to face.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)