If it was your last night on earth, what would you do? Jesus chose to spend the time with His closest companions, the twelve disciples, celebrating the Passover feast. This “Last Supper” was more than a meal, it was about relationship. Jesus established the sacrament of communion, demonstrating that the bread and wine were symbolic of His body and blood.
Right now, we may not be able to physically gather in groups, but that doesn’t diminish our need to connect with others. Although we can’t sit together around a table, we can stay connected through a screen. We can see each other’s faces, share our experiences, and be united in faith.
Jesus knew that His relationship with His followers wasn’t dependent on physical proximity, it was based on spiritual intimacy. The relationship didn’t end when Jesus went away, it actually continued to flourish and we are all called to an intimate and growing relationship with Jesus Christ!
In the Last Supper, we see the importance of:
Gathering together.
Giving thanks for what we have.
Remembering Jesus through communion.
We can still be spiritually close during this time. When we celebrate communion, we remember Jesus’ sacrifice and death, and the new life of the resurrection.
Mark 14:12-25
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs,furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”
19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”
20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
