The in between time passes quickly. . .

How quickly the time passes from one celebration to the next. It seems like just yesterday that Susie and I were married. We were a couple of young kids in love. Now with five babies in their teens and growing into adults we are getting ready for our next big celebration: our 25th wedding anniversary.

Before Jesus was crucified He enjoyed the annual celebration of Passover with the disciples. When Jesus came to the bread He told the disciples that it represented His body. The cup of wine was His blood. It is from the Passover Seder that we take the bread and the cup for communion to remember what Jesus did for us on the cross. With the cup Jesus told His disciples one more thing; lets take a moment and ponder it.

• "I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."
  Mark 14:25 (NIV)

This is Jesus’ last statement in Mark’s gospel about the Kingdom of God. His first words announced that the Kingdom was near. Through out Mark’s gospel Jesus gave many convincing proofs that God’s Kingdom had in fact come through Him: the blind could see, the deaf hear, the lame could walk, lepers were cleansed, and even the dead were raised. God’s Kingdom had come, but Jesus said He would wait to celebrate the Kingdom when He comes again.

We live in days between the coming of the Kingdom and the return of the King. You might say we are living in a time when the Kingdom is already and not yet. We enjoy the benefits of God’s Kingdom now, but we also live in anticipation of our coming King when He will do away with everything that is a part of this evil age.

Susie and I have had a lot to celebrate over the last 25 years, and we have also had our share of trials and hardships. Yet when it is all said and done the good far out weighs the bad; I guess that’s why we look with anticipation to celebrating our anniversary while wondering how quickly the time has past us by.

I think that’s a lot like Jesus anticipation of His return. Yes, we live in the in between time—the Kingdom already and not yet—but how quickly the time has past since Jesus said He would not drink again of the fruit of the vine and the coming Day of His return when we will drink together with our Lord and celebrate His return. It won’t be long; the celebration is about to begin. The time between celebrations really isn’t that long. What do you think?