Eucharistic meditation for Third Sunday of Advent:

Deuteronomy 12.

During Israel’s wilderness wanderings, the tabernacle, Yahweh’s royal tent, was set in the middle of the Israelite camp, and was the place of worship and feasting. In the wilderness, an Israelite could not eat meat unless the animal had been slaughtered at the tabernacle, and its internal organs and fat had been offered on the altar as food for God.

When Israel went into the land, this system ended. Israel could slaughter and butcher meat anywhere in the land. But the Lord also said that He would choose a single place where Israel would offer sacrifice, offerings, and where Israel would rejoice before Yahweh their God. At first, that central sanctuary was the tabernacle at Shiloh, but eventually it was the temple in Jerusalem, the place where the Lord chose for His name to dwell.

Jesus fulfills this as well as every other aspect of the tabernacle. Jesus is the place where God has chosen to set His name, for His name to dwell. And Jesus is the “place” of our feasting. This table is for the people of God, for those who are baptized and are living faithfully as Christians and as members of the Christian church. As we come to this table, as the body of Christ, to commune with Christ, to feed on Christ, we are coming to our central sanctuary, and the Lord calls us to eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice in all that you put your hands to.