First published Thursday, December 16, 2010
Scripture Reference: Revelation 10
In our first wave of the Christian experience, all is wonderful, magical, and pure. We feed on spiritual milk of forgiveness and redemption. We are healed from our hurts and sins. We begin to look forward to the promise of eternal life.
The elements of communion remind us of Christ's death on the Cross. We are to reflect on the Cross as the one single thing that binds us together, that gives us community - communion and unity. The bread and wine taste good. In fact, I have always noticed myself thinking "that's good - I wish we could have more." But any more than the samples we get, becomes more like a meal. And it is only for remembrance, not for filling.
But when we reflect on the Cross, and ingest it, if you will; when we take Christ Himself, His Body and Blood, His Word, and consume it, it becomes part of us. We find communion with Him. We share in His sufferings. The Communion starts out sweet. But our reflection of it should cause us some trouble, some sorrow. It should sour our stomachs a little. It is good that we only take a small sample of it! A little is all it takes. Our reflections are bitter. The more we take the Cross into us - the more we take Christ and His Word into us - a very good thing! - the more we should understand the price He paid.
John is told to feed on the Word of God right here. He is taking a little communion during his prophecy session. The Word is Christ, and John is instructed to eat the Book that has been given him. This represents getting deep into the Word, by taking it into our stomachs, by digesting it so that it becomes part of our cellular structure. But the deeper we get into it, the deeper it gets into us. We can't handle all of it as newborn babes in Christ. When you have been through all John has, in his life and at this moment, you are able to take the hard stuff, and that is what he is given right now.
Take it and eat it up, and it will sour your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.
The word of God is sweet to us. It tastes good. In our stomachs it begins to work its wonderful and necessary process. But deep within us, as we mature, there are times when it does not digest so well (like some essential foods and nutrients!) John is about to get hammered with the hard stuff.
The elements of communion remind us of Christ's death on the Cross. We are to reflect on the Cross as the one single thing that binds us together, that gives us community - communion and unity. The bread and wine taste good. In fact, I have always noticed myself thinking "that's good - I wish we could have more." But any more than the samples we get, becomes more like a meal. And it is only for remembrance, not for filling.
But when we reflect on the Cross, and ingest it, if you will; when we take Christ Himself, His Body and Blood, His Word, and consume it, it becomes part of us. We find communion with Him. We share in His sufferings. The Communion starts out sweet. But our reflection of it should cause us some trouble, some sorrow. It should sour our stomachs a little. It is good that we only take a small sample of it! A little is all it takes. Our reflections are bitter. The more we take the Cross into us - the more we take Christ and His Word into us - a very good thing! - the more we should understand the price He paid.
John is told to feed on the Word of God right here. He is taking a little communion during his prophecy session. The Word is Christ, and John is instructed to eat the Book that has been given him. This represents getting deep into the Word, by taking it into our stomachs, by digesting it so that it becomes part of our cellular structure. But the deeper we get into it, the deeper it gets into us. We can't handle all of it as newborn babes in Christ. When you have been through all John has, in his life and at this moment, you are able to take the hard stuff, and that is what he is given right now.
Take it and eat it up, and it will sour your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.
The word of God is sweet to us. It tastes good. In our stomachs it begins to work its wonderful and necessary process. But deep within us, as we mature, there are times when it does not digest so well (like some essential foods and nutrients!) John is about to get hammered with the hard stuff.
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