Gathered around the Passover table, Jesus reclined with his disciples for one final meal, one last teaching moment, one last time to show them the depths to which God was willing to go in order to save his people. There is no way the twelve could know the events that lay ahead. Jesus did.
Jesus knew exactly what the coming hours would bring; pain, agony, death. Jesus also knew the fear and anxiety his disciples would feel. They would feel intense sorrow at the loss of their master. Fear would grasp each one and grief would pierce their hearts. And so, as he did so many times before, Jesus gave of himself once more, this time in the breaking of the bread and pouring of the cup.
Burdened by the weight of our sin, we, like the twelve, also take our place at the table. We stretch out our empty sinful hands filled only with the shortcomings of human life. In his compassion and mercy, God lifts the burden of sin from our hands, replacing it with life, love and grace. Eating this bread, which is the body of Christ and drinking this wine, which is the new covenant in his blood, we receive the tender mercies of our Lord.
Jesus continues to offer his body and blood because he knows we need it. He feeds us the bread of life because without him we have no life in us. This is the power of God’s love made manifest through Christ Jesus, that he would send his only begotten Son to die for the sake of his people.
Prayer: Most holy God, we give you thanks, for you continue to feed and nourish your people with the true body and blood of Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the Beginning 