I swear, I'm really trying to cut back on starting new books while I'm still working through (multiple) others. But, Wright's The Meal Jesus Gave Us was too tempting to resist. In my defense, it clocks in at a mere 82 pages. Plus, Allison read it and said it was really good.

She was right.

I think I've got this straight: "N.T. Wright" publishes scholarly works on various subjects, whereas "Tom Wright" addresses writings to more of a layman audience (i.e., "for everyone"). I think this is great, because the guy is obviously a brilliant thinker and scholar, but he is very capable of communicating on a more general and, more importantly, pastoral level. His book on "the Jesus-meal" (as he refers to it) is no different. It is a great little survey on the origins, meaning and implications of Holy Communion.

Some interesting notes: Wright seems to identify with the Calvinistic view of the Sacrament over those of Rome, Luther or Zwingli. But, instead of viewing the Supper as a matter of the Spirit transporting the believer into Christ's presence to be nourished by Him, Wright views it in terms of "time," where the past (where the climactic work of Christ on the cross occurred), present (where we now sojourn), and future (the final outworking of Christ's work to restore the fallen creation) converge in the meal. The meal provides the believer with a foretaste of the fully-restored creation.

I also found in interesting that he advocates paedocommunion, largely due to the connection to the Passover feast.