The following is based on reflections from Mark 14:22-25.
Many of us will celebrate Thanksgiving in a few weeks. We will gather around tables with family and loved ones, we'll give thanks, we'll brake bread, we'll slice and eat turkey, and we will celebrate the good life that God has so
bountifully provided for us all. There’s something deeply satisfying
about holidays and special occasions. Whether it’s Thanksgiving,
Christmas, anniversaries, or birthdays, nothing marks these occasions quite as
well as food, family, and fellowship. For thousands of years of
human history, feasts have been the way we recognize significant events in our
lives. We probably don’t do it as much as we should.
Sharing any meal
in the ancient world carried with it a great significance. To share
food with another meant that you were sharing life and sharing
relationship. It’s why Jesus’ willingness to eat with tax collectors
and sinners was so scandalous. By sitting down at the table with
these outcasts and outsiders, Jesus was proclaiming that though they were on
the margins of respectable society, they were to be offered a seat of honor
within the broader borders of God’s Kingdom.
So,
it makes sense that as Jesus approached the climax of his mission that he would
choose to mark the occasion with his disciples through a meal – and not just
any meal, the Passover meal.
The
Passover was the most significant of all Jewish festivals and more than any
other ritual or action, it defined and marked out those who were the people of
God. As important as the giving of the Law was, God’s deliverance
and rescue of his people from Egyptian slavery is what formed the nation of
Israel to begin with. The Law did not make Israel God’s people; the
Law was given to Israel as a gift because they had already been redeemed as his
people through the sacrifice of the Passover lamb and the miracle at the sea.
Each
year when the people would gather to celebrate this foundational meal, they
were reminded that YHWH, the God who had acted in the Exodus, who had provided
for them in the wilderness, who had given them the Promised Land, who had
established the Davidic Kingdom, who had chosen to dwell in the Temple in
Jerusalem, and who had brought his people back from exile would one day act
again in a dramatic way to free his people from their current bondage under
pagan rulers. The God who had acted in the past, would act again in
the future. When that great day occurred, then the glory of this one
true God, YHWH would extend from Jerusalem to the very ends of the
earth. Isaiah 66 looked forward to that time and described it in the
following way. “I will send survivors to the nations…to the coastlands far away
that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my
glory among the nations. They shall bring all your kindred from all
the nations as an offering to the Lord…to my holy mountain, Jerusalem…For as
the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me,
says the Lord; so shall your descendants and your name remain. From
new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to
worship before me, says the Lord.”
Many
Jews of the first century believed that God’s deliverance would come to them
through a descendant of David who would establish God’s Kingdom on earth in
ways that it had previously not been realized. The pagans would be
defeated and kicked out of the land. True worship would once again
be established in the temple. The heathen nations around the world
would either be destroyed or would submit to the one true God, YHWH, and his
representative on earth, the Messiah, the Davidic King. Those who
acknowledged God and his Messiah would stream to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice
and worship. Then the world itself would be transformed, and God’s
will would finally be done on earth as it was already being done in
heaven. For Jews of the first century, when they celebrated
Passover, they not only looked back at YHWH’s past deliverance, but they also
looked forward to such a time as this.
Of
course, the chief priests and many of the other religious and civil leaders in
Jerusalem were quite happy with the status quo. They had a sweet
deal in place with the Romans and any “kingdom of God” talk that threatened
Rome’s control inevitably threatened their own position and
status. So, they, like the Romans, were on high alert each year at
the time of Passover. This is why Jesus had to so stealthily make
arrangements to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. He was
already public enemy number one in the eyes of the Jerusalem establishment, so
if they became aware of his whereabouts during the Passover meal, his arrest
might have occured before the appointed
time.
So,
how ironic it was that as Jesus sat down to feast with his closest companions,
he was surrounded by a betrayer, a denier, and 10 deserters. But
despite the fact that these flawed and fallen followers were to soon abandon
him in his darkest hour, Jesus unreservedly extended grace and understanding to
these mostly well-meaning, though naïve and fearful friends.
It
is with this Passover that Jesus inaugurated the first celebration of what we
call communion, or the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper. The
recollection of God’s past deliverance bled into the imminent expectation of
God’s present and future redemption of his people. The hopes,
dreams, and expectations of a Messiah, a King, a deliverer would finally be
accomplished, but in ways that no one, not even his own disciples could
imagine. A new exodus and a new covenant would be established
through his death and resurrection. It would only be in hindsight
that his disciples could look back on this moment and understand its full
significance.
As
would be done just a few hours later with his own physical body, Jesus took a
loaf of bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take; this is
my body.” And knowing that his own blood would be violently spilled
the following day, Jesus took a cup and shared it with his friends, saying,
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for
many.” Actions speak louder than words and Jesus’ actions here would
have continued to speak loudly to his followers after the dark hours of this
moment cleared and the light of the resurrection shone brightly in their
hearts.
And
his actions were not just for the 12 in that upper room; his actions on that
night continue to resonate some 2,000 years later. Like his first
disciples, our participation in the Lord’s meal continues to be a rehearsal of
all God has done for us, in and through Jesus Christ. As we share
this feast each week, it’s an expression of our relationship with Jesus and
with each other. When we share communion, the Lord’s Supper, we are
sharing in the person of Jesus of Nazareth – his life and his mission. Jesus
is spiritually present with us in the meal and so we not only remember what he
accomplished in his death and resurrection, we also celebrate his continued
presence among us.
But
Mark’s account of the Last Supper serves as a warning for us
too. Like Judas, we can sit down to eat with Jesus and turn around
and betray him. Like Peter, we might find ourselves moving from
fellowship with the Master to outright denial. Or like the other 10,
rather than conquering our fears through faith, we may simply run
away. If we find ourselves failing Jesus in any of these or other
ways, we can be sure that the Savior is still willing to extend us grace and
understanding despite our many flaws – he’s faithful, even when we’re
not. But the meal ultimately anticipates victory, not
defeat. There’s a reason that the early Christians celebrated the
Supper in a special way on Sundays and not on the Sabbath. The tomb
is empty, and though, as disciples, we’re to live lives under the shadow of the
cross, we are always moving towards the light of the resurrection.
The
new creation has broken in on this present age through Jesus’ resurrection,
but the fullness of the age to come is still to come. God’s
will has not fully and completely been done on earth as it is done in
heaven. Christ’s already reigning as King at the right hand of the
Father, but the final consummation of God’s Kingdom is still in the
future. As we break the bread and sip from the cup as citizens in
Christ’s Kingdom, we look forward to that day when God will come and make his
home among us again. He will dwell with us, and we will be his
people. He’ll wipe every tear from our eyes, because death,
mourning, crying, and pain will be no more. He’ll make all things
new, and Jesus will drink new wine with us in the Kingdom of God. We
anticipate this Messianic banquet every time we commune with our brothers and
sisters in Christ. Jesus invites us to this meal and to eternal life
in the age to come with these simple words: “Take; this is my body…take; this
is my blood.” - Shay