Read: Luke 5:27-39
Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? (v. 34)
Most of us didn’t know each other, but here we were gathered around the dinner table in Anita’s home. As we ate by candlelight, there was much laughter and even some tears. A couple hours later, a group of strangers left Anita’s home as friends.
There is something so powerful about sharing a meal together. It doesn’t just nourish us physically; it feeds our souls. Have you ever noticed how many stories in the Gospels involve Jesus at a table eating with others? Today’s passage in Luke is one of them. After complaining that Jesus was eating with the wrong kind of people (“tax collectors and sinners,” v. 30), the Pharisees charged his disciples with doing too much feasting and not enough prayer and fasting. Jesus’s response expresses a Sabbath heart: The bridegroom is among them (referring to himself), and soon he will be taken away. But while he is here, it’s time to feast and celebrate! Jesus’s table fellowship—with saints and sinners alike—anticipates the great marriage supper of the Lamb that is yet to come! (Rev. 19:6-9)
There is certainly a place for fasting in the Christian life. But the Sabbath is a time for feasting and celebration. When we gather around the table with others, we are in the presence of Jesus, the bridegroom, who is the true host. This next Sabbath, who might you invite to your dinner table?
As you pray, ask God who you might invite to share a meal as part of your Sabbath celebration.
About the Author
Brian Keepers has been an ordained pastor in the Reformed Church in America for 23 years. He is currently serving as the lead pastor of Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City, Iowa. Brian is married to Tammy, and they have two daughters and a granddaughter.
