Eucharistic exhortation, Sunday After Ascension

Isaiah 60: Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising . . . . A multitude of camels will cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth will minister to you; they will go up with acceptance on My altar, and I shall glorify My glorious house.

We sometimes mistake what is meant when we say that the sacraments, and specifically this Supper, are “signs.” For us, signs are distinct from and even separated from the reality of the thing. A sign points away from itself to some reality that is elsewhere. Words are signs that point to the things they name, but are not those things. The things don’t have to be present for us to use the signs. Portraits are signs of the persons they represent, but are not those persons. The sign is one thing, the reality another.

This definition doesn’t work when we apply the word “sign” to this table. This table is not a sign in this sense.

It’s not a meal that points to some other meal, or some other reality. This table is the reality, the realization of the promise of the gospel, of the mystery of the kingdom.

The coming of the magi fulfills the hope of Israel. From the time of Abraham, the Lord planned to bring the Gentiles into His kingdom, and this expectation is expressed in many prophetic passages that describe the pilgrimage of the nations to Israel and to Jerusalem.

Isaiah 60 specifically prophesies the visit of the magi. Isaiah speaks of gold and frankincense, two of the gifts of the wise men. Gentiles come to worship Yahweh and to build His house. That is what the magi are doing. They are coming with tribute gifts, offering worship to Jesus the newborn king and offering gifts to be used for the building of Yahweh’s house.

The hope of Israel is that Gentiles would come to the Lord’s house, fall down in worship before Him, and offer themselves and their wealth to the Lord for the building of His house. That is precisely what happens at this table. Gentiles are here in the house of God, at the Lord’s table, receiving His blessing and His food, offering ourselves in praise to Him.

From long ages past, prophets spoke of what happens every week at this table. This is not a sign of the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham. This is the fulfillment.