Lord of the Strong Drink

Our God is the Lord of the Strong Drink, and this Table is a Table of a potent and dangerous meal.  In Isaiah 19:14, the prophet says that God has mixed a dizzying drink for Egypt that has caused Egypt to stumble and then stagger in its own vomit.

This is not a pleasant picture but it is relevant to this Table.  According to Paul, this table can be a place of dizzying judgment as well.  In Corinth, some were sick and some even died because they came to this table full of envy and divisions.  If you are bitter towards your husband, if you are estranged from your brother or sister because they have sinned and refused to seek reconciliation or because you have sinned and refused to seek reconciliation – beware – this meal will make you sick.

Some, Paul warned, are sick and die because they come to communion when they are out of communion.  But this Table provides the solution as well.  Here, the Lord provides a Spiritual drink that is a spiritual emetic.  This becomes a Table of joy because, through the fiery Spirit of Pentecost, the Father purges our inner parts.  This wine is a mix of the wine of the Spirit and the blood of the Son and it is given to purge us of our remaining filth within to make us so that we might be saved.