Yesterday my family joined our extended Jesus family at Beloved Church in Lena for Christmas Eve Service. Dr. Steve Cassell at one point emphasized the importance of food at Christmas making an allusion to the gathering around food being a central theme of the word, yet eating too much, gluttony can be a sin. As with many things in the scripture and taught be Jesus, the table represents something that can be the source of sin (worldly pleasure) or the source of great joy (heavenly pleasure). I encourage you to shepherd people humbly to Joy this Christmas, bring heaven to earth. Let the Table lead you to Joy.

If you have ever experienced a seder meal, you likely realize a lot of the connections of Jesus and the meal. As this article will not be exhaustive as there are several great books on this subject, I would like to point out something you may not have considered that hinges around the image of the table and the invitation of Jesus.

Jesus offers himself, a ravenous feast. The Hebrew word ‘akal takes on the idea of complete consumption, licking the plate clean -the Levitical meal, the holy fire that consumes the sacrifice.  A word fit for a Christmas meal that reaches back through the ages to father Jacob as Isaiah 58:14 suggests.  So, what is it that Jesus offers at the table to his disciples or to us today? What was the central message of the table? What do we devour in this feast?

Jesus offers an inheritance through complete devotion. Unfortunately, this word (inheritance) means something different to us than it did in the times of Jesus. It is associated today with money and likely brings to mind family bickering (Jesus wanted little to do with the money of the world). Today it means what we get when someone dies. At the time of Christ the inheritance was celebrated and handed down during your life not as a result of death. Jesus didn’t have that in mind, although death was a part of the plan, the big picture was quite the opposite, Jesus offered himself as the nakhalah, the portion given you by legacy that can’t be bought or earned, passed down to you as a member of the family that you were adopted into, your greatest gift that would in turn be completely consumed in your life mission to offer the same legacy to others through devotion at the table through your life. Jesus offers himself primarily to us as life here and now. In theology we call this the primary message. Jesus offered himself that we may have life (as we die to ourselves in humility) and exceeding joy here and now, the bonus is heaven and the recreated earth to come. “Heaven” (pie in the sky thinking) was never meant to be the primary message, yet so many Christians today haven’t grasped the joy offered through Jesus here on this earth, they diminish this feast of Jesus to simply be something to come.

Yes, in this life we will have tribulation and trials, but the plan for you is to feast, to experience great joy, to be part of the great celebration that is unending, to claim the redeemed, sanctified life to its fullest in abundance through Him. You are a royal priest that is grafted into Eden. In Numbers 18:20 God is passing around the inheritance and the inheritance is Himself. Feast yourself on God.  We are finally home, back at the Garden when He gave the very first command, ‘akol tokel, literally, “in feasting you shall feast” (Genesis 2:15). 

Unfortunately for many life doesn’t feel like this and Christmas is difficult, (and don’t get me started on the pagan rituals etc…) If you aren’t living in the joy that Jesus offers, I would encourage you to make changes to move that way in the new year. Surround yourself with a tribe that is devoted to Jesus and living lives that are completely fulfilled and feast on Him. Dive into the Word that leads to Eden. Spend less time doing what the world says you should do and more time seeking the joy that Jesus intended for you here and now and yet to come. Cut off unhealthy relationships and actions and surround yourself with those that thrive in the kingdom of Jesus doing things that represent the Joy of the King. Don’t buy into the ways of the world, get out, run to Jesus and don’t look back.

Consider this year as you come to the Christmas table, to make this resolution for you and your family. Feast on the glory and wonder and love of God, feasting on His provision and plan, feasting on the day our return to the Kingdom was sealed.  This is the Redemption Feast, and it isn’t nearly as much about the birth as it is about the victorious plan that was won at the cross and ascension of our Lord.

Eat!  Rejoice!  And sing with the angels, “Peace on earth and good Will (food?) for men.”