Since when are solemnity and joy at odds? A marriage is a solemn occasion, yet it is also full of joy. Or, for that matter, how does sorrow for sin inherently destroy the joy of partaking in the Lord's Supper?
Let me try and make a case for the distinction. Here is the verse in question:
Acts 2:46-- 46. And continuing with one accord in the temple, and
breaking bread from house to house, they shared food
with gladness and simplicity of heart My thoughts, gleaned from Scripture are this:
The mood of the early church while "breaking bread" was not a time of solemn reflection, not that there is anything inherently wrong with considering one's state before God. Rather, they "took their meals together" with "gladness".
When we look at the Greek agalliasis (gladness) we find its use denotes the exultation that corresponds with Messianic expectations. Examples:
Luke 1:44 agalliasis (exceeding joy) of John the Baptist in his encounter with his yet unborn Messiah.
Jude 1:24 agalliasis (great or unspeakable joy) we will have upon Christ's return.
John 8:56 the agalliasis (rejoicing) of Abraham to see the day of Messiah
1 Peter 1:6, 8, 4:13 the agalliasis (great rejoicing) of Christians in anticipation of the parousia
Rev 19:7 the agalliasis (gladness) of the heavenly multitude at the Messianic wedding
Hence, the Greek agalliasis sheds light on the mood of the church when partaking the Lord's Supper in Acts 2:46. We can understand why the this type of exceeding joy is found associated with the Lord's Supper by examining what the Lord's Supper represents.
If we focus on Jesus' words in verse 16 below we can make the proper connection to the anti-type.
Luke 22:15-18-- 15. And He said to them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
-- 16. For I say to you, I will not any more eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
-- 17. And He took the cup and gave thanks and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves.
-- 18. For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come.
Jesus intends to partake of a meal again someday, but not "until" (heos hou) the "kingdom of God comes". The Supper Jesus has in mind that He will again eat is likely the Messianic feast at the end of the age (Luke 14:16-24). He mentions it again after the institution:
Luke 22:29-30-- 29. And I appoint a kingdom to you, as
My Father has appointed to Me,-- 30.
that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
The promise to "eat and drink" in the kingdom is while the disciples are still at the table. This eschatological meal (the Messianic Feast) that Jesus spoke of is the "fulfillment" of the meal Jesus is instituting as the Lord's Supper.
Hence, properly the Lord's Supper is an anticipation and foretaste of the Messianic Feast to come in the consummated kingdom at the end of the age.
Other references to the eschatological feast include Luke 12:35-38 where the parousia is parabolically a wedding banquet, in Matthew 25:1-14 it is found in the parable of the ten virgins, Luke 15:22-32 the story of how the Father will celebrate by holding a feast when his prodigal son returns.
The early church believed the Lord's Supper was a petition to Jesus to return and "fulfill" the meal they were observing as a prefigure to the Banquet over which He would preside in His kingdom.
This is why the early church's mood of the Supper was one of second-coming anticipation and exceeding "gladness" rather than solemnity.
john
