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Invitation to the Last Supper
Mark 14:22-25, John 13:3-8, 12-15 (Matthew 26:26-30, Luke 22:14-20, 1Corinthians 11:23-26)
Andy Nagahara
Today is Palm Sunday, the first day of Passion Week. Though I often talk about how I spend this week each year, today I am going to talk about what happened the day before Jesus was crucified. If you would like to read each event of the week in the Bible in order and daily, please visit the YourChurch’s website and check the 2021 Palm Sunday message. Today’s episode is the famous painting “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci.
In fact, everyone who was not alive at this time was also invited to this meal. Because the Last Supper was the first Communion. Jesus commanded his disciples to continue this meal as a Communion until the end of the world. And we are partaking of this Communion just this morning as well.
A. The Last Supper is the first Communion (Mark14:22-25)
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.” (Mark14:22-25)
Mark describes it so briefly, but Luke records that Jesus began this feast by saying, “It was my eager desire to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer.” We will now consider why Jesus was so eager to share the Last Supper and the First Communion with his disciples.
1. To prepare their hearts for the cross and resurrection
Let’s start with the fact that the crucifixion took place during the Jewish festival called Passover. Passover is one of the most important festivals for the Jewish people. It is a festival of thanksgiving to God for the deliverance of the entire nation from slavery in Egypt. The event is recorded in Exodus 12.
When God led His people out of Egypt, many disasters occurred in Egypt, which stubbornly refused to let the Jews go. Still refusing to let the Jews go, a terrible final plague befell Egypt. At that time, God commanded the Jewish people to slaughter a one-year-old male lamb without defect, eat its meat, and at the same time put its blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses. By the sign of the blood of the lamb put on the top and sides of the doorframe of the house of the Jews, the plague that befell Egypt passed over the house of the Jews where the sign was found. That is where the name of the Passover comes from.
God represented this event as a foretaste of the perfect sacrifice by the blood of Christ that would eventually take place. The event of the cross was presented as the final, complete form of the Passover for all. It was expressed not as an animal sacrifice, but as God’s own suffering. God Himself walked as a man and gave His life as a sacrifice for all. The Jews in Egypt escaped difficulty by putting the blood of a lamb on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses. We are the ones who are protected by the precious sacrifice of Jesus made on the cross.
Passover is the origin of Jewish faith, but the cross is the origin of faith in Jesus. We continue to observe the Communion in order to confirm the origin of our new life. In order to make this clear to his disciples, Jesus had this Last Supper/First Communion before the event of the cross.
2. What Jesus wanted to teach in Communion
a. Confidence in being forgiven and saved
One of Jesus’ desires in the Communion is to “convince us that we are forgiven and saved”. He wanted us to know the true meaning of the tragic event of the cross. That is, that we believe that Jesus’ shed blood and broken body were for the forgiveness of our sins. Here is the basis for the forgiveness of each person’s sins. This is the reason why we are kept alive as God’s family and children.
We are not forgiven by morally following the teachings of Jesus. We are not made children of God because we believe that he will heal us or bless us financially.It is not enough to simply believe that Jesus is God. What we should believe is that Jesus himself shed his blood, tore his flesh, and did not spare even his life for the forgiveness of our sins.
We take communion in remembrance of the blood that was shed for us, the body that was broken. So that we may keep the meaning of our origin, the cross, in our hearts for the rest of our lives, and pass it on to those who are not yet aware of it.
b. What it means to be a church
The second thing that Jesus wanted to teach was about His way of being after the cross, which is the Church. Even after the event of the cross, as the Church, Jesus is still with those who believe in Him. That is why the church is called “the body of Christ”.
When we partake of the Communion, we become aware that we are made alive as part of the Body of Christ, the Church, and that we are part of the visible body of Jesus Christ. It is the basis for being protected in the community (sacred communion) and for those who follow Jesus in this society to join forces and continue to do His work.
c. The starting point of a believer’s life
The third desire of Jesus in the Communion is to let us know how we are made alive now. It is a life determination to be willing to work hard in the course of this world where the Lord’s battles are still going on. Jesus wants us to renew that commitment each time we partake of the Communion. In that event, we are not only given new life, but we are also crucified with Christ and suffer with Him. Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”（Matthew 11:28‐30）
For us, the goal is not to unburden and rest. Instead, our goal is to be able to walk with the right load to carry. When we partake of the Communion, we know that the blood of the Lord shed on that cross is poured out and filled within us. And it convinces us of the presence of the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, who works within us, and transforms us into hard workers for God.
B. Maundy (John 13:3-8, 12-15)
Now, for some reason the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, called the Synoptic Gospels, are silent, but only the Gospel of John tells us that in this meal Jesus did something no one had ever done before. As Pastor Ikeda told us last week, John’s unique perspective does a great job of helping us to understand the gospel of Jesus more accurately. Now that we have considered the meaning of the sacrament for us, Jesus’ actions as recorded by John show that Jesus expected the meaning of the sacrament for us to be more than just knowledge or memory, but to become our practice.
Let’s read what it was all about.
1. The Lord washes the disciple’s feet (13:3-8)
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” (John 13:3-11)
Washing the feet is what slaves and servants should do to their masters, never the other way around. So when Jesus suddenly got up from the supper table, took off his jacket, wrapped a towel around his waist, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, just like a servant, they were left at his mercy, unable to understand what was going on. With a little time to spare before it was his turn, Peter was able to represent everyone’s questions and ask Jesus. Jesus admitted that this was too far-fetched for the disciples to understand, but still replied to Peter, “You will understand later,” but Peter was caught up in common sense and rejected the idea.
Peter represents our weaknesses. He had previously been rebuked for denying Jesus’ prediction of His Passion. Then Jesus rebuked his common sense. Last week we learned that Jesus was the one who hated and was saddened and angry that someone would continue to be oppressed by our adult common sense. Would Jesus say, for example, to put up with discrimination made by gender, by gender identity, by sexual orientation, or by status? Would he say that we should put up with the fact that people continue to die from guns and that wars will not end as the price of precious “freedom”? I believe Jesus is more radical than you think.
So, please pay attention to Jesus’ reply to Peter. “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”! It means that if you don’t allow Jesus, your Lord and Master, to take on the attitude of a servant, then you are not a disciple of Him.” Peter’s words, “You shall never wash my feet,” sound humble, but they are actually a denial that Jesus’ way of being is unacceptable. It is also a denial of living like Jesus, living as a servant of others. This is what we are being questioned about. The fact that we were invited to that Supper means that we are invited to live Jesus’ way of life.
2. Disciples wash each other’s feet (13:12-15)
Now Jesus wiped the disciples’ feet and returned to the table. And then he taught them in words.
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (12-15)
If it were a typical leadership seminar instructor, I am sure he would have shown them how to do it themselves, and then asked them to wash each other’s feet. But Jesus only taught with his mouth. If it had turned out that way, foot washing might have been considered a Sacrament like baptism or Communion. I am glad it did not happen. Jesus knew that religious symbols and religious rituals tended to be hollow and to hide the truth, and He was wary of getting caught up in such things.
What makes Maundy distinctly different from the Holy Communion is that it is a practice. The Communion, on the other hand, is worship. It is a symbolic ordinance as part of our worship to remember the thoughts of Jesus. However, Maundy is to live everyday life with the principle of action symbolized by washing feet. The essence of washing feet is not that the rich actually wash the feet of the poor as a pose, but that the rich actually share with the poor and become poor. And that is the very way of life required of those who partake of the Communion.
(Prayer) Dear God, on this Palm Sunday morning, we welcome you into our hearts as you entered Jerusalem. Prepare our hearts so that we may not make idols of You in our own selfishness and to our own liking, but may accept You yourself as our King. Allow us to spend this week pondering the events of your cross even more than usual. Fill our souls with your spirit so that we may walk worthy of you.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Summary
At the Last Supper before Jesus’ crucifixion, he commanded us to do this as a memorial to him, and thus began the Communion service we are now observing. In that Supper, Jesus also asked us to live as servants of others, regardless of our position or status. That is a way of life that is appropriate for followers of Jesus.
For Discussion
1. Why did Peter try to refuse Jesus’ offer?
2. What does it mean for us to wash each other’s feet?