Daily Blast - Easter: Day 5
Scripture
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Reflection
The Last Supper (John 13) was the meal Jesus ate with his disciples to celebrate Passover.
The Passover is celebrated every year by Jews to remember the night when the Israelites escaped from Egypt. Remember the story: the Israelites were in captivity, kept as slaves in Egypt. Moses went to Pharaoh and told him to let them go, but Pharaoh refused and God sent the plagues on Egypt. Finally, the Israelites were instructed by God to sacrifice an unblemished lamb, to paint its blood over the doorpost at the entrance to their house and get ready to leave. Later that night, when the Angel of Death came, every first-born Egyptian boy died, but the Israelites were spared because the angel “passed over” wherever the blood was painted. It happened just as God said, and Moses led the Israelites out of captivity. You have probably seen it in “Prince of Egypt”, right?!
But what do we know about this Passover meal as described by the gospel writers?
We know it took place in Jerusalem in an upper room rented for the occasion because Jesus told the disciples to go and prepare the room and make it ready for them to eat the meal together.
We know it was attended by Jesus and the 12 disciples, but possibly by others too, like the women who were disciples.
We know Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and demonstrated His love for them. By doing this, He showed them how we should treat one another, by serving each other.
We know Jesus revealed Judas as His betrayer, even at the last moment offering Judas friendship and acceptance. But instead of accepting, Judas left and went to the priests to tell them that they would find Jesus later that night in the garden of Gethsemane.
We know Jesus talked to them about His death: telling them that the bread was His body to be broken and that the wine was His blood to be shed for them. He told them (and us) to remember His sacrificial death whenever we share this meal.
The point of the Last Supper was for Jesus to share the intimacy of a meal with His closest followers and friends just before He was taken from them. But also, there is a bigger picture being painted here: Jesus was fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies and became the Passover lamb – “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
Challenge
Remember that Jesus offers us that intimacy that we can experience by taking time to spend with Him in prayer and reading the Gospel stories about Him. So let’s make a choice today to set some time aside to seek Him on our own.
Also, let’s remember that when we share communion, we are recalling the Last Supper and obeying Jesus’ instruction to all His disciples throughout the ages to “proclaim His death (and remember what He has done for you) until He comes again”