Mean of to "sup with" in Revelations 3:20

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WatchfulPilgrim

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Hello,

Can anyone offer some insight into Rev 3:20 “I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me”

Thanks!
 
Dine with. Have a meal with. “Sup” as in supper or dinner.

Eating was a very private thing. Sharing a meal usualy meant that you had a relationship with that person. And if the king invited you to dinner, well, that was a great honor.

Covenants, which create family bonds, were sealed with an oath, a sacrifice, and a shared meal. And it’s no different today. Marriage is a covenant where we vow fidelity, we sacrifice our own desires for the sake of the marriage, and we have a huge feast.

Christ’s new covenant is the same - we renounce satan and swear allegiance to this Church at baptism and again at confirmation and yet again at every Mass, Christ himself is the sacrifice and in return we offer the sacrifice of love and obedience to him, and we share in the perfect meal - the Eucharist - which is a foretaste of that meal we will have with Jesus in heaven at the wedding feast of the lamb.

-Tim-
 
The very ancient people in this land, I mean going back 1,000 years or 1,500 years, regarded hospitality as of the chief importance. Anybody who walked into your home was given the best meal and the warmest bed. It did not matter who they were, a stranger was asked no questions, not even his name or business, destination. It was always assumed that any person arriving at your door was Christ and they were invited in and fed and sheltered with the best of everything. It was a point of honour.
Hospitality was so important that Chieftains would build a large hostel at the meeting of the roads for any traveling stranger. The hostel kept hundreds of cattle and other animals etc. and several cattle were always roasting on spits so that food and lodging were immediately ready for anyone who showed up. There was never any charge for anything and probably one of the greatest insults there was at the time was for someone not to have any food for travelers. Hence the origin of the phrase being ‘given the cold shoulder’ which was simply being given a side or joint of cold meat to eat as an insult instead of a huge hot roast & potluck stew and best of everything etc., etc.
 
TimothyH said:
Dine with. Have a meal with. “Sup” as in supper or dinner.

Eating was a very private thing. Sharing a meal usualy meant that you had a relationship with that person. And if the king invited you to dinner, well, that was a great honor.

Covenants, which create family bonds, were sealed with an oath, a sacrifice, and a shared meal. And it’s no different today. Marriage is a covenant where we vow fidelity, we sacrifice our own desires for the sake of the marriage, and we have a huge feast.

Christ’s new covenant is the same - we renounce satan and swear allegiance to this Church at baptism and again at confirmation and yet again at every Mass, Christ himself is the sacrifice and in return we offer the sacrifice of love and obedience to him, and we share in the perfect meal - the Eucharist - which is a foretaste of that meal we will have with Jesus in heaven at the wedding feast of the lamb.

-Tim-
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So, a communion between Jesus and the believer then? Would this communion consist of more than the Eucharist?
 
You said:
The very ancient people in this land, I mean going back 1,000 years or 1,500 years, regarded hospitality as of the chief importance. Anybody who walked into your home was given the best meal and the warmest bed. It did not matter who they were, a stranger was asked no questions, not even his name or business, destination. It was always assumed that any person arriving at your door was Christ and they were invited in and fed and sheltered with the best of everything. It was a point of honour.
Hospitality was so important that Chieftains would build a large hostel at the meeting of the roads for any traveling stranger. The hostel kept hundreds of cattle and other animals etc. and several cattle were always roasting on spits so that food and lodging were immediately ready for anyone who showed up. There was never any charge for anything and probably one of the greatest insults there was at the time was for someone not to have any food for travelers. Hence the origin of the phrase being ‘given the cold shoulder’ which was simply being given a side or joint of cold meat to eat as an insult instead of a huge hot roast & potluck stew and best of everything etc., etc.
Click to expand...
Ah, ok, so in this sense it is mutual hospitality? Or God’s hospitality?
 
WatchfulPilgrim said:
Ah, ok, so in this sense it is mutual hospitality? Or God’s hospitality?
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:hmmm: well you said he said I will sup with him and he with me. So it looks mutual. Sort of like we are not servants now but friends - the servant does not sup with the master, he serves him.
 
Watchful Pilgrim said:
Ah, ok, so in this sense it is mutual hospitality? Or God’s hospitality?
Click to expand...
I would have thought the verse connotations had a more profound spiritual meaning.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man shall hear my voice, and open to me the gate, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
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**Behold I stand at the door a knock. if any man shall hear my voice, and open to me the gate ** The door is our soul. The suggestion of Jesus knocking is that we empty the things of this world and our attraction to the flesh and make space )“a door”) in our soul so that He can come in and reside there.

I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me
By Jesus entering our soul He nourishes us by dining in our soul, that should be uncluttered by the things of this world and our mundane attractions to our flesh.
 
You said:
:hmmm: well you said he said I will sup with him and he with me. So it looks mutual. Sort of like we are not servants now but friends - the servant does not sup with the master, he serves him.
Click to expand...
Ah, ok - that’s interesting, thanks!
 
centurionguard said:
I would have thought the verse connotations had a more profound spiritual meaning.
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Well, I think you are right, and perhaps the answer is multi-faceted. So many things come to my own mind as I reflect on it - and so I thought it might be interesting to ask for others’ insights as well. There seems to be a lack of commentary on it on the internet as well - unless I simply haven’t found anything yet, which was the other reason I asked.
**Behold I stand at the door a knock. if any man shall hear my voice, and open to me the gate ** The door is our soul. The suggestion of Jesus knocking is that we empty the things of this world and our attraction to the flesh and make space )“a door”) in our soul so that He can come in and reside there.
Click to expand...
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me
By Jesus entering our soul He nourishes us by dining in our soul, that should be uncluttered by the things of this world and our mundane attractions to our flesh.
Click to expand...
I think this is another excellent way of interpreting it, thanks!
 
The most perplexing part of the passage is that “I will sup with him and he with me”. This is a sharing in the same experience, it seems. So, when we answer God’s call (His knocking), we partake in something that God also partakes of. Yes, that is deeply profound.

“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

It makes me think of John 14:23 " If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him."

I am still thinking of what it means to sup with though. It is a sharing in the life of Christ? Is it a participation in His death and Resurrection? Is it a participation in His suffering and death and redemption of mankind? Is it a union with Him? Is it a communion in prayer - like a contemplative thing… Maybe it is all of the above?
 
You can take the meaning as far as you want and probably not be too far from the truth. I’ll bet many saints and holy men have pondered it.

The Supper of the Lamb, which Jesus alludes to in the Gospels, is a powerful image, and we have a foretaste of it here on Earth in the Eucharist. It is called the Heavenly Banquet to show us how untion with the trinity, what theologians call the Beatific Vision, will fulfill our every need and desire.

Erotic imagery is also used, that of the bridgroom standing at the door to the bedchamber while his bride - the Church - is prepared inside and awaits his entry. The Song of Songs was brought up in another thread, and one cannot deny the erotic nature there. In fact, I believe our sexual nature is in part, designed to show us the desire Christ has for us and to give us a foretast of the bliss which awaits us in heaven.

Personally, I think it is more than the Eucharist. I think it is more than all the love and sexual satisfaction and more than all the feasts and banquets and parties we have ever had all put together.

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
Personally, I think it is more than the Eucharist. I think it is more than all the love and sexual satisfaction and more than all the feasts and banquets and parties we have ever had all put together.

-Tim-
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Yes, I think you are right! Until we find out, I won’t tire of contemplating it.
 
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