FEASTING BY EATING CHRIST
Paul went on to say that Christ is our Passover (5:7). The Passover has two aspects: the aspect of the blood for redemption and the aspect of the meat for eating (Exo. 12:3-10). At the Passover, the people of Israel firstly sprinkled the blood on the doorposts of their houses. After sprinkling the doorposts with the blood, they did not fast and pray; rather, they began to eat. The sprinkling is for the eating, and the eating is for walking out (vv. 11, 31). How could the Israelites leave Egypt? It was not only by the sprinkling of the blood but by the eating of the lamb. By their eating they had the strength to leave Egypt. In the past I heard many messages in Christianity about the sprinkling of the blood, but I did not hear a message about the eating of the lamb. Paul said that Christ is our Passover, not only for redeeming but also for feeding. He shed His blood for redeeming; now He affords Himself for feeding. We all have to feed on Jesus. We have to eat the Lamb with the unleavened bread.
Paul said, “So then let us keep the feast” (1 Cor. 5:8). After the Passover we enter into the feast. Day by day we are feasting on the unleavened bread. Bible students agree that the unleavened bread in typology is Christ. Therefore, we are feasting by eating Christ as the unleavened bread. This is the spirit of the writer of this book. Do not bring your own concept into this book. You have to drop your concept and get into the spirit of the writer. The spirit of the writer was that the Corinthians were short of Christ. They were short of the enjoyment of Christ, short of the eating of Christ. They had to realize that they all had taken Christ as their Passover, not only for redeeming but also for feeding. Following this they kept the feast by taking Christ as the unleavened bread. Do not merely learn the teachings. This will kill you. Rather, keep the feast. We have a feast three hundred sixty-five days a year. Every day we Christians have the feast, and we keep this feast by eating Jesus as the unleavened bread.
EATING JESUS AND DRINKING THE FLOW THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF CHRIST
In 10:3-4 Paul said, “And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.” This again refers to the enjoyment of Christ. The people of Israel started their spiritual life, their heavenly journey, on the day they ate the Passover, and in the wilderness they ate manna day by day. This type indicates that day by day we have to eat Jesus and drink the flow that proceeds out of Christ. Do not merely learn teachings, and do not try to acquire many gifts. Simply learn to eat. The local churches have to be the eating, drinking churches. They are not churches of teachings or churches of charismatic gifts. We are the eating, drinking church. Day by day we eat Christ and we drink Jesus.
PARTAKING OF THE LORD’S TABLE
First Corinthians 10:21 speaks of partaking of the Lord’s table. We are the partakers of the Lord’s table. The partakers are the eaters; we all are the eaters of the Lord’s table. The table indicates a feast. We are eaters of the Lord’s feast. According to the context of chapter ten, the Lord’s table is the fulfillment of the ancient peace offering. Verse 18 says, “Look at Israel according to the flesh. Are not those who eat the sacrifices those who have fellowship with the altar?” The altar refers to the peace offering. In the peace offering there were five portions. There was a portion for God, a portion for the ministering priest, a portion for the offerer, a portion for all the priests, and a portion for all the people who were present. All the people who were there had the privilege to participate in the peace offering in the presence of God, and they took their portion with God. All, including God, were eaters. God was one of the eaters, the priest that ministered was one of the eaters, the offerer was one of the eaters, the priest’s family were the eaters, and all the people who were there were the eaters. They all ate the same thing for fellowship, and they had peace with God and peace with one another. Now at the Lord’s table when we eat the bread, there is a portion for God, and there is a portion for all of us. We all are enjoying Christ in the presence of God with peace. There is the real peace between us and God, and there is the real peace among ourselves, one with another. This is the participation, the enjoyment, of Christ. This enjoyment of Christ is for the growth.
(Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee)
