It is not only essential for this life—it is also essential for eternal life. We see this all the way back in the beginning. God planted two trees in the middle of the Garden of Eden. From the first, He commanded Adam not to eat, lest he die. To those who ate of the second tree, He promised eternal life in blessed communion with Him. Unfortunately, Adam, deceived by the Tempter, ate from the first tree and was therefore denied access to the second. As a result, he would die.

Still, God desires that man live in blessed and eternal communion with Him. So, He has provided us with another meal, one that also gives life—but in a much different form and from a much different tree. Listen to what Jesus preached to many of those Galileans, whose stomachs He had previously and miraculously filled with only five barley loaves and two small fish: “Do not labor for food which perishes, but for food which endures to everlasting life… I AM the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give him is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world… For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.”

It’s true—Jesus presents Himself in these words as bread, not fruit. But just as that life-giving fruit hung in the Garden of Eden, so too did He hang on a tree—the tree of the cross. There, on that cursed tree, He shed His holy, precious blood, which—because it is the blood of God’s only begotten Son—paid in full the price that God in His holy Law required to redeem all men from sin, death, and the power of the devil.

But it is not enough just to have food prepared for you. The only way it can nourish you is if you eat it, and you cannot eat it unless it is served. So it is with the Bread of Life.

And that leads us directly to Jesus’ parable: “A certain man,” He says, “gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’” That “certain man” is our Heavenly Father, who invites all men to eat the Food which was prepared at such great cost, that they might live in blessed communion with Him forever. The Food that He offers in His great supper is, as I said, Christ Jesus Himself, who was roasted—if you will—on the spit of the cross. The servant (or slave, in the Greek) whom He has sent out to invite guests to His feast and whom He has appointed to serve this feast to those who have come, is His called and ordained minister.

And he serves this great supper not just in one but in two courses: first, in the reading, preaching, and singing of God’s holy Word; then, in the Sacrament, where we not only spiritually by faith, but also physically with our mouths, eat Christ’s body under blessed bread and drink His blood under blessed wine. He promises that all who partake of His great supper in the faith that by this they are receiving the merits of His Son’s redemptive work will be nourished for eternal life.

In contrast, those who refuse to feast on Christ in His Service will not be allowed to feast with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven. But what if they still believe in Christ? Just believing that food can nourish you will not actually do so unless you eat it. And he who believes that Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life will not reject the invitation to come to the feast where this Bread is served for life.

So in light of that, I ask you: where do you see yourself in this parable? Is it among those men who with one accord began to make excuses—who foolishly regard the things of this world as more important than the feast of which sinners may eat and live forever?

The things of this world are gifts from our Father in heaven for us to use and enjoy so long as we have them here on earth. Not to do so, or to complain that we do not have enough of them, is an act of pure ingratitude. But when those things become more important to us than the Bread of Life—when we pursue them to the point where we willingly, even happily, deny ourselves the heavenly feast that is God’s Service—they become idols, which rather than enhance our earthly life, put us in danger of losing the gift of eternal life.

Of course, if we are being honest with ourselves, we would admit that we have at times allowed the things of this world to deprive us of feasting on Christ in the great supper—every one of us. And yet, by the grace of God, here we are in His house today. That means it’s not only in those who made excuses that we see ourselves in Jesus’ parable; it’s also in the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind who came when invited.

For the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Law, has shown us that we are by nature poor—having nothing to offer God for our salvation—maimed and outwardly disfigured by our innumerable sins, lame and powerless to bring ourselves to Christ, and blind to the degree that we can’t even see Christ as our salvation and life. Then, having convinced us by this that we can neither think nor say nor feel nor do anything that can contribute in any way towards our salvation, the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Gospel, opens our sin-blinded eyes to see and strengthens our weakened legs to come to Christ in the faith that He covers the ugliness of our sinful flesh in the beauty of His righteousness and endows us with the riches of heaven.

And that faith is what brings you to the great supper. You believe that the Food you receive through preaching and the Sacrament is Christ, and that by feasting on Him, you are nourished with the forgiveness that brings everlasting life.

Therefore, rejoice, dear Christian—even though it may be hot and uncomfortable in here right now! For you who feast on Christ today will feast with Christ in the life to come.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.