With solemnity and quiet Christians “celebrate” communion every Sunday. In some churches it’s called the Lord’s Supper, in others the Eucharist, from a Greek word meaning thanksgiving, and in others the Mass, from the Latin missa. Usually the “bread” is a tasteless wafer or dry brick of flour and water, and the “wine” is Welch’s or a cheap Burgundy.
None of that bears much resemblance to the original supper or to the dinners in homes that brought the church together in a spirit of community for the first several hundred years of its life. What we see in churches today is a Lord’s Supper that is an individual act, taken in quiet meditation, meant to strengthen an individual’s walk with God. The Lord’s Supper of the early church was an expression of the community. A group took it together in recognition of their shared faith in a Christ who died to take away the consequence of their sin. Faith today is an individual affair. Biblical faith is an expression of the community.
The original supper came on the heels of the triumphal entry and several subsequent days in which Jesus captured the attention of Jerusalem and filled the temple with his presence. He was God’s mighty warrior and the city was aflame with his presence and promise. The news that he was the Messiah ripped rampant through greater Jerusalem.
The apostles were not immune to the attention Jesus received. As his chief lieutenants, acclaim spilled over on them. They began to argue again about which of them would be greatest in the kingdom. The spirit of competition and pride was high. So when they entered the upper room for the Passover meal they were anything but solemn and reverent. They KNEW that Jesus the revolutionary was about to launch his revolution and take over the entire known world, and they KNEW that they were about to share the glory of it.
Without a word Jesus rose from the table, took off his robe, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He poured water in a basin and began to wash their feet, the lowliest of acts. Can you imagine the silence that fell into the room? Can you hear them wondering why he was doing such a lowly thing to them? I imagine silence and thinking, until he came to Peter, who said, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus replied, ‘You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.’ “No,’ Peter protested, ‘you will never ever wash my feet!’ Jesus replied, ‘Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.’ Simon Peter exclaimed, ‘Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet.’” Peter got it.
After washing their feet he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that is what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow….I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master, nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message.”
Only then, after dealing with their pride and competitive spirit, did the dinner proceed with Jesus as host. I find it touching that Judas was still there. He, as much as the others, received the washing from Jesus and not a word was said. But he left soon thereafter to carry out his betrayal as the dinner progressed, during which Jesus uttered the words of institution…”This is my body” with respect to the bread. “This is my blood” with respect to the wine. Only Dr. Luke adds the words “Do this in remembrance of me.”
With the conclusion of the Passover meal events raced forward. They sang a hymn and headed out the door in the direction of the Mount of Olives. Along the way Jesus continued to teach and to give them final words. He predicted Peter’s betrayal, soon to come, and, in fact, predicted that all of them would desert him. Some of his final words are very familiar to us:
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
“All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.”
“Yes, I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
After saying these things and much more, Jesus and his disciples (11 of them now) crossed the Kidron Valley and entered the Garden of Gethsemane. He went there to pray. His prayer in that garden, while his disciples slept, was his last free act.
Prayer: “Gracious Jesus, we read the words and can only wonder how difficult that last night was for you, how full of angst and dread. Yet your concern was for your disciples. True shepherd, you cared for them and left them with a greater wisdom. Help me not to think of myself more highly than I ought to think, but to serve with gladness. Wage war against my pride and lead me to humility. Refine my character by your example. Amen.”