Archive for May 3rd, 2007
Rewards of Faithfulness
“You [faithful] are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so 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)
As I thought on this verse, I consulted with the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective. This section of Luke 22 is part of the scriptural citation for the Lord’s Supper, and more precisely in that “the church looks forward in joy and hope to the feast of the redeemed with Christ in the age to come.” And that is all well and good, but this understanding does not take in the conferring of “a kingdom” nor sitting “on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Now, before conclusions are jumped to i.e. ruling and judging, consider what Jesus did for his kingdom, and that we are told not to judge another until the moot from eye has been removed. Perhaps all things considered, it is better to have these verses remain support for the Lord’s Supper rather than considering the other implications in the verses. However, I would welcome a dialogue on how this verse might also point to the servanthood that is referred to in the rest of the chapter.
