Monday Meditation: His Final Days, Part 2: A meal to remember
In many ways, things were going as they always had for Jesus and his disciples. Crowds clamored after Jesus, as they had for years. He continued to clash with the religious hierarchy and kept astounding the sick and infirm with life-giving miracles.
Although some circumstances surrounding this Passover meal were beyond explanation (Mark 14:12-16), the disciples seemed to take it in stride.
They didn’t grasp what was really happening or everything Jesus was telling them. They couldn’t understand the mysteries he was revealing to them, maybe because they were more concerned with their standing in the group than the mission of their teacher. You might say they were full of themselves, bickering about who was the greatest among them and unable to believe one of them would actually betray Jesus. And Peter made the brash promise he would never deny this One who had become his Lord.
But soon, in the space of a few crisis-laden hours, everything changed. Judas betrayed. Soldiers arrested. Peter, afraid for his own skin, denied any connection with Jesus. The miracle worker they had followed everywhere was now a prisoner. And the unjust system demanding his crucifixion led to an execution no one in this circle of 12 ever imagined.
We observe the Lord’s Supper today remembering this meal. But if we’re not careful, we also can remain blasé and self-absorbed when we come to partake. “Just another communion service” is the atmosphere surrounding too many observances in too many circles these days.
We caregivers resonate with the disciples. For us, just like them, everything changed very quickly, perhaps in the space of only a few hours.
Life was going along for us pretty much as we expected until the day the doctor confirmed the fact of our loved one’s malady. We received a diagnosis whose impact has overshadowed every aspect of our lives since the day we received it. Those who have not faced such a conversation do well not to take their good health for granted.
And believers do well not to take for granted their celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Paul told the early Christians in Corinth, “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” There’s nothing matter-of-fact about that.
Read: Luke 22:14-22
Pray: Help us, Lord, never to take for granted what you did for us. Thank you, Lord, for never taking for granted our own suffering and how much we need your help in our lives.
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