Communion Meditation:
In the parable today, we heard of the rich man who feasted daily, but who was cast down into fiery torment; and of poor Lazarus who hoped for crumbs but ended up at the bosom of Abraham. // This language of being at Abraham’s “bosom” points towards “reclining” at a table. We remember that St. John was reclining at Christ’s bosom at the Last Supper [Jn 13:23] and that Jesus Christ had been at the bosom of the Father from all eternity past [Jn 1:18].
Prior to the event of the cross, those who died in covenant faith rested with Abraham, but because of the Cross of Christ and His resurrection and ascension, He made it possible for all who had died in Him to dwell with Him in expectation of their final resurrection.
When we eat the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim His death until He comes, St. Paul tells us [1 Cor 11:26]. We proclaim that we live in light of the world-shifting event of the cross, which brings with it the hope that we will not be separated from God by a chasm, but will dwell with Him as we await the redemption of our bodies in the likeness of Christ’s resurrection body.
We eat this supper by faith, and in this faith we see Christ who came back from Hades as a new Jonah and a new Lazarus, and we proclaim that we believe and are part of His family—the family of Abraham by faith.