The Wine of God's Wrath

~Revelation 14:10

Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath.

~Revelation 14:19

So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath.

~Revelation 16:19

So God remembered all of Babylon’s sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath.

~Revelation 19:15

He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress

Wine is a powerful image. The Bible uses it to give us a picture of the love of Christ in communion, a symbol of the blood he shed for our salvation. The Bible also uses it, as seen here, as a symbol of the wrath of God against evil and injustice.

Sharing a Meal with Jesus

~Revelation 3.20

Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

Sharing a meal with Jesus! There's an analogy to ponder. I bet the menu would be out of this world, so to speak. But even so, it would be of little importance by comparison to the company.

Taste the Goodness

~Hebrews 6.4-7

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.

Spiritually, the meaning of this verse can be debated, but foodwise the analogy is clear: we are meant enjoy good taste. God's word is something we are to enjoy the taste of. (In fact, we'll see it compared to honey in the OT. Psalm 119.103 "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!")

Fruit of Salvation

~Philippians 1.11

May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

Another analogy: as the fruit of trees is a benefit, so should the fruit of our lives be.

Taste What You Want

~Colossians 2.16-18a

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial . . . .

~Colossians 2.20-23

You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.

With affection I say that Paul is such a liberal! Look at that. So, while I should maybe be more attentive to what my own heart (and body) tells me about what to eat and what not to eat, I needn't worry about restrictions from others in this area.

Sleeping in "Church" Leads to Meaningful Meeting

~Acts 20.7-12

On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking, . . .and he prolonged his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.” When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.

Wouldn't we love to have more details of this story. The group gathers to "break bread." That could mean they gathered to have a meal together, but since the talk came first and went on until midnight, it seems more likely they gathered to take the sacrament of communion, honoring the death of Christ. Warm light flickers from the lamps; Paul's voice intones on and on. The teenager Eutychus, whose name means fortunate one, slowly slips into daze phase and then his body relaxes into sleep. One moment he is there; the next there's a soft shuffling sound, and whoosh, he's gone!

Who saw it? Maybe his friends who had been watching and snickering as he drifted off? What excitement for them! Maybe Paul who would have been facing his audience was the one to sound the alarm. Certainly it wasn't his mother, for we know that no self-respecting mom would have let her kid fall asleep in such a spot. Did the audience hear the scrape of his sandals against the wall as he fell from the window sill or the thud as the body hit the ground below? Maybe no one really saw him go, but hearing a sound, a curious person standing nearby went to the window and looked down.

Either way, the alarm was sounded and doubtless there was a sudden speedy exit from the room as everyone rushed down the stairs, Eutychus' family with some fear I would guess. Young's Literal Translation says the youth was "lifted up dead." What does Paul do? The translations have different views, from J.B. Phillips' "bent over him and holding him gently in his arms" to the statement of The Message that Paul "stretched himself on him, and hugged him hard."

Gently or vigorously, the boy was revived, much to everyone's relief. After returning to the room, the thankful believers having just looked death in the face and experienced an amazing resuscitation, shared the Lord's supper. Perhaps they were more attentive after that, as the text says Paul continued talking with them until dawn. What a service that would have been to attend.

Communion

~I Corinthians 11.17-34

This passage is familiar to anyone who was raised in a traditional church. Christ giving his life, his physical body and blood, for the salvation of mankind is the foundation of Christianity. This giving is symbolically remembered to this day. How? By the sacrament of Communion: we are privileged to take in the bread of his body and the wine of his blood. This is how he shows his profound love and sacrifice. The symbolic eating and drinking is how we receive it.

Ron Sider in his 1977 Christian Century article "Sharing the Wealth: The Church as Biblical Model for Public Policy" further expounds these verses:

"In Christ there is one new person, one new body of believers. When the brothers and sisters share the one bread and the common cup in the Lord’s Supper, they symbolize and actualize their participation in the one body of Christ. That is why the class divisions at Corinth so horrified Paul. Wealthy Christians, apparently, were feasting at the eucharistic celebrations while poor believers went hungry. Paul angrily denied that they were eating the Lord’s body and blood because they did not discern his body (vv. 27-29). By this Paul meant that they failed to realize that their membership in the one body of Christ was infinitely more important than the class or ethnic differences which divided them. One brings judgment on oneself if one does not perceive that eucharistic fellowship with Christ is totally incompatible with living a practical denial of that unity of all believers in his body. As long as one Christian anywhere in the world is hungry, the eucharistic celebration of all Christians everywhere is incomplete."

(As I side note, I do wonder why Paul refers to eating the bread and drinking the cup. Why not eating the dish and drinking the cup, or even better, eating the bread and drinking the wine?)

Eat for God's Glory

~I Corinthians 10:3-5, 6-7, 15-22, 25-31

~25-26 So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising questions of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

~31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

In this chapter Paul covers several food-related topics (see labels), but there is nothing specific about a particular food. I print only the key verses 25-26 and 31.

Another interesting point here is the connection between idols and demons. Surely it's possible to make an idol of food. Be careful, Ruthie!

Jesus, the Passover Lamb

~I Corinthians 5.7b-8 For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

John 2.29 and 36 also refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God, that is the lamb sacrificed for the Passover meal. Why lamb? I expect to look at this more when I get to Exodus.

Change in Worldview

~Acts 10.41 . . . unto witnesses chosen before God, even to us, who did eat and drink with [Jesus] after he rose from the dead.

Eating and drinking with someone is an indication of relationship.

~Acts 11.2-3 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

This comment shows the reverse of the first. According to Old Testament law, God's people were not to eat with Gentiles, people who had a different belief. Peter's vision and experience with Cornelius equipped him to answer this criticism in a way that was life-changing to his hearers, leaders of the new Christian faith.

Kill and eat.

~Acts 10.9-16 About noon the following day . . . Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

~Acts 11.1-18 This story is repeated as Peter tells it to the leaders.

Kill and eat. It's a heavenly mandate. From the story we clearly see that the message to Peter is not just about food; however, again a food analogy is used. I conclude that, at least since the fall of mankind into sin, God is ok with killing animals and using them for food. The Bible in no way recommends a vegetarian diet.

Furthermore, I think we can deduce here that since it says "all kinds of four-footed animals" this would include even pork. Peter is not comfortable with the idea. In fact, it's so radical, so contrary to all that the law of Moses has taught, that God shows him the same vision three times to be sure he gets it.

Perhaps Peter remembered Jesus saying it's not what goes into the mouth that makes someone unclean, but what comes out (Mark 7).

Poison Protection?

~Mark 16.15, 17-18 Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. . . . . And these signs will accompany those who believe: . . . when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all. . . .”

A footnote says that earliest manuscripts do not include this verse, and I wouldn't presume on God's mercy by testing it anyway. Still--Wow!--what a remarkable indicator of God's favor.

The Fisherman and the Master, part 2

~John 21.1-19

"Don't think about it. You can't change the past. You can't change what happened. You're a big-mouth boasting idiot with no more guts than the fish you clean, a pathetic excuse of a friend who bails out when the things get tough. You're a worse traitor than Judas. At least Judas had the balls to face Jesus and betray him outright." The more Peter's thoughts accused him the harder he worked. Even though the air was sweet and cool as dawn approached, sweat poured down his bare back.

It had been his idea to come to the lake. After all, they were just sitting around wondering when and how the Lord would appear to them again, wondering if he would appear again. While words could barely express the amazement and joy they had felt at seeing Jesus alive, still, when left to themselves, they had no idea what to do next. Often it had been Peter who had the ideas. But since that night of the arrest, he was so immersed in his own failure he could barely function. And unlike the others, his relief and joy at seeing Jesus was tempered with shame.

Abruptly he had ceased pacing the room and announced, "I'm going fishing."

Although it was late in the night, most of them jumped to their feet too. Work was better than just waiting to see what came next. But it had been pointless work, as it turned out. All night they'd caught nothing.

None of his companions dared say anything to Peter as he worked furiously, rowing to re-position the boat, sharpening their fishing knives, anything to stay busy. Peter's restless activity stood in sharp contrast to the quiet of the water and the other men. The sails hung as empty as the nets and as their hopes for a catch.

Then, just before dawn broke, someone hailed them from beside a fire on the shore. "Young men! Have you caught anything?"

"Nothing," Thomas yelled.

The man on the beach called back, "Throw out your net on the right side of the boat and see what happens."

Peter paused, wiped an arm across his forhead and reached for a drink of water. The rest of them, happy for distraction, humored the odd request and threw the net over. Within minutes there were fish, not just a few fish, but as many as the net could hold. Suddenly, Peter's full attention was riveted on the man on the shore.

"It's the Lord," said John, voicing the thought of all.

Without hesitation, without deliberation, Peter grabbed his tunic, threw it over his head and plunged into the sea, swimming for land with all his might. Only as his feet touched bottom and he walked up dripping from the cold, shallow water did he realize that he had nothing to say to his one-time Master and friend. It was the third time he'd seen Jesus since the resurrection. The other times had been in a room with everyone there, James, John, Andrew, all of them. Jesus had paid Peter no special attention. Why should he? Peter felt his own failure deeply, but he did not know how to express the anguish of his regret. He had betrayed the Lord. That was an irrefutable fact of history. Still, he was drawn to Jesus.

Wet and cold Peter went to the fire and stooped without a word to warm himself. As he did, he was hit with a horrible deja vu: dawn breaking, Peter shivering, warm fire, Jesus nearby. Unbidden, the scene replayed in his mind. The servant girl stares and accuses him, "He's one of them!" Peter denies it. "I don't know him!" Three times someone had suggested he was a follower of Jesus, and three times he had denied it—once with an oath. How could he have lost his nerve, his commitment, so completely? And then Jesus had turned to him just as the rooster crowed. It had happened exactly as the Lord, who knew him so well, had predicted, and just as Peter, who apparently knew himself so little, had poo-foo'd as impossible. Well, he knew better now. And what he saw of himself was weak and ugly.

Peter miserably rubbed his hands and stared into the fire as he remembered these words of the Lord: “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven." Denied before Yahweh. And deservedly so. There was no more reason to live or to die. Peter shuddered, not entirely from the cold.

The boat had not been far from land, so the others approached within minutes, towing the laden net of fish. Jesus was tending some bread on the fire, getting ready for breakfast. "Bring some of your fish," he said. Mechanically, Peter rose and dragged the net in as the others gathered eagerly around the Master. Yes, they too had been afraid. They had even run. But they had not so blatantly denied him. They could interact with him now without shame.

Soon fish crackled on the coals and everyone but Peter enjoyed the catch and the bread that Jesus had prepared.

Afterwards, as the sun climbed, Peter walked away from the circle of fellowship where he felt an outsider. But Jesus followed. For the first time since the terrible event, the Lord spoke to Peter directly, using his formal name. "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others?"

There had been a time, it seemed long ago, when Peter was sure he loved the Lord more than any of the others. "Yes, Lord," he answered without conviction. "You know I love you."

"Then feed my lambs."

What did that mean? Before Peter could decide, Jesus asked again, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"

"Yes, Lord. You know I love you."

"Take care of my sheep."

Peter's misery increased. Obviously the Lord saw right through him and the profound limits of the meager, piddling love which was all he had to give.

Jesus stopped walking, stepped in front and put his hands on Peter's shoulders to look into his face, but Peter could only study his sandy feet. "Simon son of John, do you love me?"

Finally, Peter looks up and meets Jesus’ eyes. Tears gather. "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you."

"Feed . . . my . . . sheep."

Feed my sheep. At last Peter is able to hear. It’s a commission. Even he, with all of his weakness and self-loathing, is not rejected. He is restored! The Lord will still use him. Can it be?

Jesus answers the question in Peter's eyes. "I tell you the truth, when you were young you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” These sobering words prophesied death. Peter understood. He was reinstated into the Kingdom he thought had been lost to him forever; this time he would be faithful until death. Jesus knew. Jesus could see it. Peter would still get an opportunity to bring glory to God. Relief and joy washed over him.

"Follow me," said Jesus. And Peter did.

In the days following, Peter and all the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, so that they no longer sat wondering what to do. They had a broken world to reach with the message of Jesus' good news. On that Pentecost it is Peter who tells the people, "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” And when the people hear this and are cut to the heart and ask what they should do, it is Peter who answers with confidence from his own rejection and restoration, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

The Risen Lord Eats

~Luke 24.30-31 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

I love the Emmaus Road story. Love it. We learn nothing new about food here, but it's a beautiful picture of the risen Lord taking bread, giving thanks for it, breaking the loaf and sharing it. I do wonder why it was the guest who did this and not the host.

~Luke 24.39-43 "Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.

~Mark 16.14 says he appeared to the disciples as they were eating.

Remember the little girl Jesus raised from the dead? The first thing he said to her parents was to get her something to eat. Here in his first recorded post-resurrection appearance to his disciples, Jesus also asks for food. Was he really hungry or was he just reassuring them again with the reality of his physical presence?

Narcotic Refused

~Matthew 27.33-34 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.

~Mark 15,22-23 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

One tradition holds that "respected women of Jerusalem provided a narcotic drink to those condemned to death in order to decrease their sensitivity to the excruciating pain" (http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-wine-jesus-drank). This seems reasonable. But Christ refused this wine. According to Tyndale's Bible dictionary he was determined "to die with an unclouded mind."

After hours on the cross however, he's offered the more vinegar-like wine, what the dictionary calls "the ordinary drink of laborers in the field and of the lower class of soldiers." We read these verses as Jesus, near death, cries out to God.

~Mark 15.35-36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. NIV

"a sponge full of vinegar . . . on a reed" NASB, also KJV

"a sponge with vinegar (a mixture of sour wine and water)" Amplified Bible

"a sponge, soaked . . . in cheap wine" Good News Translation, or "sour wine" The Message

~John 19.28-30 Later, knowing that his mission had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

~also Matthew 27.48

Thank you Jesus.

It seems cold to come to this focal moment in history and consider the vinegar, not the sacrifice. But sticking to my purpose I note that apparently the line between wine and vinegar can be thin. I don't claim to know much about either.

the cup of suffering

~Mark 14.36 “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

~Matthew 26.39, 42 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.”

~Luke 22.41-46 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.

I've been surprised to note how many times Jesus uses food or eating to make pictures of the kingdom. Often, as in references to feasting, these show blessing. This time it depicts suffering. Was he thinking of the Passover wine he'd just shared with the disciples? Or maybe bitter water like at Marah in Exodus 15?

Olive Grove

~John 18.1 After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.

~Mark 14.32a They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane....

~Matthew 26.36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.”

~Luke 22.39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus liked to hang out in the olive grove. In his time of great distress, this is where he comes.

Grapes

~John 15:1-8 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

God must value grapes to use them for his fruitfulness analogy.

Bread: vehicle for blessing or a curse

~John 13.21, 26-27 Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!” . . . .
Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.”

Hmmm. All at the table ate the same bread. The disciples ate it as the symbolic "body of Christ," accepting Jesus' explanation though they did not yet understand it's meaning. Judas completely missed the point but ate it anyway, and Satan had access to him.

Bread, representing food, can be a way for God to bless or for Satan to curse.

The Lord's Supper

~Matthew 26.16-30, Mark 14.12-26, Luke 22.7-38, John 13

Bread. Wine. Such important symbols of the Jewish and Christian faiths.

The Passover Meal is full of meaning, which I think will be better considered from the Old Testament explanations when I get to that point.

Now, I only note again that meals are an important part of life, sometimes setting for significant conversations and symbolism.