Servant, Forgiver, And Friend

SERVANT, FORGIVER, AND FRIEND

a prayer to open

Open my eyes and help me to see you.

Open my heart and help me to know you.

Jesus, my Lord and my God.

Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”

He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

“But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me. For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him.” The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.

Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. Jesus told them, . . . “Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.

“You have stayed with me in my time of trial. And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. . . .

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”

Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.”

But Jesus said, “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

Few of us get to plan our last meal. And who knows whether we’d really want to! But Jesus knew what awaited him and exactly how he wanted his last meal to go. He had important instructions to give his friends that would continue to be followed thousands of years later. He knew he would suffer, die, rise from the dead, and ascend again into heaven to be with the Father. And he knew that his followers throughout time would need something to practice to remember him, his love for them, and what he’d done for them. So “he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me’” (verse 19, NIV). Then “he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’” (verse 20, NIV). A few breaths later, he reminded his disciples of their duty to serve as he did. In his last hours, Jesus wanted his body, his blood, the new covenant, and his servanthood to be remembered.

• Look again at Jesus’ words. Identify the promises and instructions he gave his disciples.
• Who do you have authority over? How does the way you exercise that authority compare to Jesus’ instructions about how his followers are to wield it? What changes might you make to model Jesus’ way?
• What does today’s passage reveal to you about Jesus?

Father, this passage makes my heart heavy as I think about what it must have been like for Jesus this last night before his gruesome death. How must it have been to have his betrayer sitting at the table, sharing the bread and the wine? What must he have been feeling as he looked into the faces of his friends and watched the sun set and darkness grow? Give me a heart to receive Jesus’ last promises and instructions to his disciples. Show me how to be a servant, a forgiver, and a friend. Amen.