Some things we never forget.
Some are memorialized in national battle cries like “Remember the Alamo,” “Remember Pearl Harbor,” and “Remember 9-11.”
Others are quite personal and individual: the days our children were born, the day your mother or father died, the day you had a miscarriage.
We set aside times for remembering every year: Memorial Day, 4th of July, birthdays, anniversaries… you know the rest.
Communion is a time to remember as well. No one says “remember the bread and wine” but Jesus said “Do this in remembrance of me” and we repeat that almost every time we serve communion So I’m glad that you chose the last supper as one of your elite 8 Bible stories.
One could spend a lifetime preaching on the last supper, but let’s get the story firmly in our heads and hearts. In order to understand this story, we have to start 1450 years before Jesus was born. The Israelites were slaves. Moses came to Egypt with God’s plagues. The last plague before Pharaoh said, “Go and good riddance,” was the death of the firstborn. In order to save the Hebrew families from this tragedy, God told them to kill a lamb, put its blood on the doorpost of their homes and when the angel of death passed over they would not be harmed. Thus “Passover.”
Passover was established as an annual ritual to be celebrated 15 days into the Hebrew new year. Like Easter, the date of Passover is determined by the Spring equinox and the phases of the moon. It is a fabulous dinner, the biggest of the year, at which Jewish families serve traditional foods, many of which are given special significance, like the bitter herb to remember the bitterness of slavery.
In the year 30 AD, Passover was on or about March 25th. That is the day of the Last Supper, which became the Lord’s Supper or communion, or Eucharist as Christians celebrated it in years to come.
The disciples came to dinner with great excitement, I am sure. The city was busy, longtime friends were in town. The food promised to be great, so they reclined at the table as usual. Festival meals were always eaten sitting on pillows, leaning back on the left elbow so the right hand was free to eat.
John tells us about Jesus washing the disciple’s feet, but Luke does not mention it. He goes right to dinner, reporting that Jesus was anxious to eat this Passover with them before he suffered.
There are 4 cups of wine in the Passover ritual. Luke tells us about 2. We believe they are the 3rd and 4th cups. Jesus takes the cup of wine and gives it to the disciples saying, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink the fruit of the vine until I drink it in the kingdom of heaven”. (22:17-18)
Wait, that isn’t what he is supposed to say is it? Luke is the only gospel that mentions this cup before the bread. Kind of interesting, because it sets the establishment of communion in a little more context. Share this among yourselves puts a little meat on the theological bone.
At Passover the Jews ate only unleavened bread to remember the urgency that the Hebrews felt as they fled Egypt. It did not have yeast because they couldn’t wait for it to rise. Jesus, “took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus adds a whole new layer to the urgency by saying that the bread is his body which must be “broken” for them and us.
Then Jesus takes what we believe to be the 4th cup of wine. Each cup in the Passover has a different meaning From Exodus 6:6-7. They are "I will bring you out," "I will deliver you," "I will redeem you," Which was the cup Jesus asked them to share. And this one is the cup meaning "I will take you." In exodus it reads “I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians.” Substitute the word sin in place of Egypt and you get a sense of what Jesus is doing at the dinner.
Jesus says, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” But behind that he is saying. “I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of your sin.” That is all pretty cool… but I want you to notice.
There is a but…But… oh oh, this can’t be good. But… “The one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table.” The one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. “Matthew puts it this way, “"The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.” To dip the hand in the bowl was to share the matza and charoset which was a sign of deep friendship. And this friend is the one who will betray the Lord.
The disciples start the “is it I?” conversation. “Surely, not I, Lord”
My question is why did Jesus even let Judas in the room? Shouldn’t that seat have reserved for the faithful disciples, the strong disciples, the disciples who were not, Oh I don’t know… an accessory to his murder? Shouldn’t this have been just people who deserved to be there?
That is not a bad question, but that would mean that
We would obviously have to take Judas out of the picture
Peter would have to go. He was impulsive and would deny Jesus 3 times.
James
and John would have to be excluded because they were hot headed and liked to boast. For instance, in arguing which one would get to sit beside Jesus in heaven. That’s why he called them the sons of thunder.
Nathanael, also known as Bartholomew, was prejudiced he said ““Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (John 1:47) in other words, aren’t all Israelites the same, lazy no good cheats and liars?
Matthew was a stinking tax collector
Of course, Thomas was a doubter
Simon the Zealot may have been a murderer, at least by association. The zealots were political radicals and some of them were responsible for dozens of political assassinations.
Judas, son of James and Phillip never seemed to get it. In John 14 they were still very confused about what Jesus was doing.
That leaves 2 Andrew and James the less…the truth, however is we know almost nothing abbot them except their names. They are included with those who abandoned him at the arrest (Mt 26:56); they let others burry their friend and they were all slow at first to accept the testimony of the women who first saw Jesus after his resurrection. (Lu 24:10, 11) Because they were hiding in fear behind locked doors. (Joh 20:19, 26)
Do you notice what I did? Yes, I was hard on the disciples. I convicted each of them without so much as a jury of any kind. My point, however, is that none of them deserved to be at the last supper with Jesus. None of them understood what he was doing. None had the strength to stick with him. Not one.
And neither do we. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say, “I don’t’ take communion because I feel unworthy. I don’t take communion because I don’t feel close to God. I don’t take communion (or I don’t think children should) because I don’t understand it.
Are you really that much worse than the assassin, or the tax collector, or the doubter? Even if you are…Jesus says come to the table and do this in remembrance of me. Jesus says come to my banquet and do this in remembrance of me. I sacrifice my body and my blood for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
Get my point? None of us deserves communion. None of us deserves God’s love. None of us deserves forgiveness. That is the very definition of grace …communion for the undeserving, love for the undeserving, forgiveness for the undeserving.
I can’t explain how it works because communion is a mystery. It is a miracle.
Whether you take communion or not is of course a personal choice, but please do not wait until you deserve it, or understand it… you will have a long wait.
Jesus doesn’t say do this when you s=deserve me. He said do this and remember that I came to save the least and the lost.
Jesus doesn’t say do this if you understand. He says do this and remember that I came to reach out to the poor, imprisoned, and outcast… people just like us.
Jesus doesn’t say do this when you get your life all together. He doesn’t say do this when you can explain how it works. He doesn’t say do this when you overcome your sins. He says do this and remember that I specialized in people who didn’t have their lives together. Just like us.
Remember this banquet in one that is spread for you because you are loved more than you can imagine.
This banquet is one that was prepared for you by a God who more than anything wants to be loved in return.
This banquet is one that promises to fill you with all good things and bring you closer to God.
Come and do this in remembrance of him.
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