Sunday Spurgeon

Observe, then, the generous method by which God honors Christ is set forth here under the form of a banquet. I noted Matthew Henry’s way of describing the objects of a feast, and with the alliteration of the Puritans, he says, “A feast is for love and for laughter, for fullness and for fellowship.” It is even so with the Gospel. It is for love. In the Gospel, Sinner, you are invited to be reconciled to God. You are assured that God forgives your sins, ceases to be angry, and would have you reconciled to Him through His Son. Thus love is established between God and the soul.

Then it is for laughter, for happiness, for joy. Those who come to God in Christ Jesus, and believe in Him, have their hearts filled with overflowing peace, which calm lake of peace often lifts up itself in waves of joy which clap their hands in exultation. It is not to sorrow but to joy that the great King invites His subjects, when He glorifies His Son Jesus. It is not that you may be distressed, but that you may be delighted that He bids you believe in the crucified Savior and live.

A feast, moreover, is for fullness. The hungry famished soul of man is satisfied with the blessings of Divine Grace. The Gospel fills the whole capacity of our manhood. There is not a faculty of our nature which is not made to feel its need supplied when the soul accepts the provisions of mercy. Our whole manhood is satisfied with good things and our youth is renewed like the eagles. “For I have satisfied the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

To crown all, the Gospel brings us into fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. In Christ Jesus we commune with the sacred Trinity. God becomes our Father and reveals His paternal heart. Jesus manifests Himself unto us as He does not unto the world, and the communion of the Holy Spirit abides with us. Our fellowship is like that of Jonathan with David, or Jesus with John. We feast on the bread of Heaven, and drink wines on the lees well refined. We are brought into the heavenly banqueting house where the secret of the Lord is revealed to us, and our heart pours itself out before the Lord.