Time to be Thankful

"...the 'memorial' of the Last Supper has several dimensions: through it, in the present, the past becomes a new reality, but the future becomes a reality that is already...a foretaste of the kingdom to come..." Zizioulas

When I went to Israel last summer, my first significant memory after the daze of over-seas travel began to subside, was riding in the bus from the airport in Tel Aviv toward or upward rather to the old city of Jerusalem. This bus ride is like a dream in my memory as it was in my experience of it. Bishop Lebhar explained to us the Jewish understanding of time in terms of the Passover meal: when Jews participate in the Passover now they are participating in the same meal the original Jews did in Moses' time. In the same way, when we eat and drink the Lord's Supper we are participating in the same meal that the twelve shared in the upper room that dark night. I think the future element may have been mentioned on the bus but it hit me this morning as I read John Z. In the Lord's Supper, we are also participating, in some sense, in the marraige supper of the lamb. Or are we not? There is a sense where there is a sure not-yet-ness to the marraige supper. Jesus says he will not drink wine again until the supper in the future. But still, there seems to be the already/not-yet tension to keep in mind. The idea that we are already participating in the supper is a great joy, breaking down the sad separation of this and the next life.