2007-06-01 - The Largeness of God's Mercy

Isaiah 25:6, "On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine - the best of meats and the finest of wines."

The fulfillment of this verse is seen in New Testament when the Gospel is given - a feast for all. It is a feast for every nation, every creature. Who has called this feast? Who is the feast master? Why, it is the Lord Almighty. He is not only the master of the feast, but He prepares it for us. He gives; we receive. There is enough for all who will come to the feast, and all may come and partake of the feast freely. We might also note that this feast is the best of the best, as far as what it offers. The feast consists of the best of meats, aged wine: this is not a pauper's feast. It is fine food. Like the Gospel - it is nourishing, it is satisfying, and it is continual. It makes glad the heart. "The kingdom of Heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son," Matthew 22:2. We can see the Gospel aspects of this feast, but let us also glance at another feast in Scripture.

In Mark 6:30-44, we have the feast of 5000. It is an amazing story of a few fish and some bread feeding 5000. However, we do an injustice to the miracle, if we think only 5000 were fed. There were 5000 men, and thus with the women and children (and families were large back then), it surely was a much greater number. Now, this was not a feast with old wine and the best of meats, but it was nevertheless a feast. When we know that the bread that was given was miracle bread, bread from Heaven, and the fish was meat from the providence of God (like the quails in Exodus 16:13). It was a feast that people surely talked about for a long time. There were 12 baskets full left over, and let us reflect that in Christ, we shall always have, and be provided for, with more than we want. He satisfies us with good things.

Christ gave bread and meat to all who came to this feast in the book of Mark, but let us not lose the advantage to us today. We may still eat at Christ's feast. Jesus Christ ever gives spiritual meat to all who seek it at His table. He gives to all who come to Him. Just as He gave the people what they needed in the feeding of the 5000, so also He gives to us exactly what we need, when we come to Him in faith. We are all hungry spiritually, and Christ - in His Word and by His Spirit - feeds us graciously. Such is the largeness of Christ's mercy. Everyone who comes to Him in faith finds that there is all that is needed in His provision. There is no one who walks away from Jesus saying, "There was nothing there for me." All who seek, find, and to the one who knocks, the door is ever open.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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