Read: Mark 14:17-25
Take; this is my body. (v. 22)
Growing up I always wanted to be like one of the disciples—until I started to read the Gospels more. The disciples were a mess most of the time. They squabbled and missed the point. But Jesus didn’t give up on them. They were weak misfits, and they struggled with doubts. But Jesus called them anyway.
At the heart of this passage is what is known as the Last Supper, the Passover meal that Jesus ate with his disciples (vv. 22-24). Jesus took bread, broke it, and gave it to the same disciples who would betray, run away, and deny him a few hours later. Jesus took a cup and drank it with the disciples—Judas and Levi, Peter and Thomas, and the rest.
When Jesus gave them the bread and the cup, he told them that he was giving them himself. Jesus knew them better than they knew themselves, and still he gave himself to them, gave himself for them. He broke bread with the weak and foolish, with the runners and deniers, even with the betrayer himself. He shared a cup with them, not because of anything good or righteous or laudable in them, but because of his great love for them. They were welcomed because of his grace and love and compassion.
What a stunning enactment of the gospel. Jesus the beautiful, the worthy, the holy, the righteous, the perfect Son of God, eating with them, with us. Today, I know that I am like the disciples—an ordinary person, accepted and loved by God.
As you pray, thank Jesus for giving himself to you and for you.
About the Author
Stephen Shaffer is the pastor at Bethel Reformed Church in Brantford, Ontario.
