The doctrine of Christ’s incarnation is like the bolts holding the entire structure of our Christmas celebration together. Not only Christ’s birth, but this Supper of our Lord stand or fall by this great doctrine of God become flesh.
As we gather at His table, we have presented to us a physical word. This is real bread, made by human bakers, in an oven over at the grocery store. This is wine that came from real grapes, on real vines, which sprouted from real dirt. It don’t get more real than grain & grapes. Man often wants a miracle in the sky. But God gives the “mundane†miracle of bread grown from Palouse soil, and wine which sprang from California vines.
Some try to go around the physical, getting themselves lost in a labyrinth of transcendental sophistry. Others settle for fleeting joys. Both get it wrong, and Christ in the manger and Christ on this table set us on the right path once more.
While this is real bread & wine, it’s not just bread & wine. It is bread & wine assigned by their Lord with spiritual meaning. Those who want to graduate beyond these simple rustic elements think that after some priestly muttering and chirping the bread and wine is transformed into something else. No. This is still bread and wine. Conversely, those who live just to eat, drink, and be merry miss out on the resurrection glories foretold in the Lord’s Advent and Supper.
This meal keeps us from trying to skip a class on one hand, or loiter in Kindergarten on the other. This meal forces us to put aside silly gnosticisms. It puts a hunk of bread in our mouth and washes it down with sharp wine. It forces the hedonist to grapple with joy beyond the shadow-joys, by promising spiritual glories which surpass all description.
Instead, here’s God’s promise to redeem the whole of creation. Here’s God’s promise of union with Him through Christ. Here’s God’s assurance that all the joys are real, and will only get brighter.
So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…
My Christmas Advent Devotional
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