God’s Hope for Your Heart from Luke 22

JESUS PAID THE PRICE FOR YOUR PLACE AT THE TABLE

“You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”  (Luke 22:28-30)

Jesus is surrounded by His close friends, those He called by name to follow Him, those who have walked with Him through the good times and bad, and He makes them an incredible promise.  He promises them a place “at my table in my kingdom.”

Here’s why this is special.  To the Jewish mind, the idea of heaven was not some floating existence on a cloud with a harp.  When they thought of paradise and eternity with God, they thought of the prophetic words of Isaiah 25:6-9, which tell of “a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.”

For them, heaven isn’t about floating.  It’s about feasting.

So here is Jesus, making a promise to those who are about to watch Him die.  He promises that while it may look like He is leaving them, abandoning them in the hour of darkness, He’s really doing something quite different.

He’s securing their place at the table.

The Bible is clear that paradise is a gift to those who are perfectly righteous, but that no one can be righteous on their own.  So, Jesus came, lived a perfect life on our behalf, died a substitutionary death in our place for our sins, and rose from death to secure the promise of redemption for all who would believe in Him.

Not only that, but just like He called people then, He’s calling you to follow Him now, and just like His promise to those disciples, He’s made a great promise to you as well: a seat in His Kingdom.

So, if you’re in Christ, may you walk in hope by resting in this simple truth: Jesus paid the price for your place at the table.

-Pastor Phillip

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