Fall 2006
Come to the Marriage Supper
Gloria Cail

“Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Revelation 19:9

Preceding His earthly ministry, Jesus and the disciples were called to a wedding feast. It was here that the first manifestation of our Savior’s glory was displayed as He turned water into wine. The words spoken by the ruler of the feast were prophetic for our day.

“Every man at the beginning does set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse; but you have kept the good wine until now.” John 2:10

His words speak to us of the end of the age - that the best has been kept for the final celebration, the marriage of the Lamb and His Bride. The invitation has gone forth, and the coming of the Bridegroom draws near. Jesus began His ministry at a wedding, and is about to complete the work of Calvary at the great wedding feast prepared for those who have responded to the invitation. Those with listening ears are hearing the bells that have begun to ring and signal its advent.

A shadow of this feast is found in Luke 22. Jesus said to His disciples, “With great desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” He then proceeded to perform a greater miracle than that in Cana of Galilee, in which He turned water into wine. This time He turned the bread into His body and the wine into His blood, and offered these to His disciples, establishing the new covenant and encouraging that this be done in “remembrance of Me.”

How much greater is His desire to sup with us now, for the “joy that is set before him” (Hebrews 12:2) in the rescuing of countless souls from the terrors of hell. At the Communion table we gather with Jesus as our head and receive Him bodily, as we partake, with joyful expectation of the coming marriage in a pre-nuptial feast.

The early church seemed to understand this as reported in I Corinthians 11:20-21 and Jude 12. Their gatherings were called love feasts where the church came together to celebrate His body and His blood in the finished work of the cross. They came together to share a meal and remember what Jesus had done for them. Further, in Acts 2:46, we find the church “breaking bread from house to house…with gladness and singleness of heart.”

There is something about our taking the Lord’s Supper around a table that surpasses other communion services in which we often take part. Somehow the joy of the Lord enters when there is freedom, food, and loving friendship. It was at the Passover table that Jesus called His disciples “friends” and discussed with them the many things that were about to happen. This setting is precious and holy and is pictured in Song of Solomon 2:4. “He brought me to the banqueting house (or in Hebrew the house of wine) and His banner over me was love.” Also, Song of Solomon 5:16 says, “This is my Beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.”

At the table of the Lord, we gather together as His family, as His brethren, as His friends, in expectation of the coming ceremony. This assembly will be as no other for it is reserved for disciples – those who have followed the Lamb in His trials and tribulations – those who have come to know Jesus intimately as Bridegroom and lover. He alone calls and provides this table for us in the presence of our enemies (Psalm 23).

This is not to be a “service” planned by man, but a family gathering of His called-out ones, where a glimpse of the wondrous marriage supper may be experienced in the love and fellowship of brethren dwelling together in unity. Many have been hearing the call to come to this table privately. Some take communion daily, which we should do.

Along with this, we are hearing the word “to come corporately” more often at this present time – to gather around our tables - to meet with Jesus as our dearest friend and Bridegroom, and to rejoice in the approaching Marriage Supper of the Lamb.