In Jeremiah 16 we read of a time when God is so angry with His people that He tells them He has taken away His peace, lovingkindness and mercies from them. In this day, the people who died would not be buried. They would not be mourned. The people would not comfort one another by breaking bread in mourning for them, nor would they give the cup of consolation to drink. They would not go into the house of feasting to sit together, to eat and drink. There would be no voice heard of mirth and gladness, of the bridegroom and bride.
I was struck by this reading because I have particularly wondered over the years why Jesus said we would be proclaiming His death until He comes by partaking in the Lord’s supper. Why not the resurrection? The resurrection seems to be the message of the Gospel being shared in the New Covenant! Why His death?
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.” If we are the body of Christ, we are to be as His body was – broken and poured out. Paul also said in his other letter to the Corinthians, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed – always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”
In all of this, we have so great a hope as to be raised as Jesus was, and to be glorified with Him, as we read what Paul wrote immediately following this, but in our daily walk we also have another comfort. We do not live in a time of no peace, lovingkindness, and mercy from God, and He has provided the church with a bread to break together, on multiple levels, and a cup of consolation to drink through our sufferings. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. His rod and staff comfort us. Though, as Paul stated, we “die daily,” we are comforted in knowing that we are not alone, but our sufferings are shared within the brotherhood throughout the world. Above all this, we can rejoice in being the bride of Christ, and looking forward to the marriage feast one day when Christ, our Bridegroom returns for us, to take us to the home which has been prepared for us!