Why We Feast

“Who knows not Love, let him assay,

And taste that juice which, on the cross, a pike,

Did set again abroach; then let him say,

If ever he did taste the like,

Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,

Which my God feels as blood, but I as wine.”

George Herbert, “The Agony”

“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”

Matthew 26:26-28

I was privileged last year to have the Lanzinos join me at my farm for a feast prepared to honor their Italian heritage. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine the things that Italians love most. What smells do you imagine drifting from nona’s kitchen? What flavors and textures do you think would have passed beyond the ivory gates of the mouth in a Roman cottage on a hillside on a summer afternoon? The crackle and crunch of a fresh loaf of bread, garnished with green herbs from the clay pot by the window. The tang and sizzle of a Chianti red wine, washing down the olive oil clinging to the roof of your mouth. Nothing sets a table quite like bread and wine. The Italians know this, but nobody knows this better than our Lord Jesus.

To perhaps simplify the language from the wonderful work “The Agony” by George Herbert, the poet is encouraging all who have not yet tasted the sweetness of Christ’s forgiveness-through-sacrifice to drink and drink freely. We are approaching Holy Week beginning with Palm Sunday this weekend, a week historically filled with reflections on all the events leading up to the paramount moment where the bread and wine from the order of Melchizidek would be feasted upon (Genesis 14, Psalm 110). It was no mere coincidence that Jesus chose to unite the sentiments of His body and blood through these symbols while in the upper room with His disciples. Bread, wheat that must be threshed and beaten and ground to dust before it can nourish, and wine, made from grapes which must be plucked and pressed and fermented, which is of course the process of death bringing about life, before it can make the heart of man glad (Psalm 104).

The man who this upcoming calendar Sunday, give or take two thousand years ago, rode into a city as a triumphant king, was driven out of it like a hated criminal five days later. And yet, how did the hated King want us to remember Him? How did the perfect man want His people to reflect upon His life, death, and life again? Through an act that historically has been associated with celebration: feasting. Through the crunch of crusted bread and the warmth of bitter-sweet wine, we remember all that Christ has done for us. This coming Holy Week, with every bite and every sip, remember Him.

- Brian, and the elders