Slices
Prepare
List the memory devices you use in daily life. Do you have any that help remind you of God’s presence?
Bible passage
The Last Supper
12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’
13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, “The Teacher asks: where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’
16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me – one who is eating with me.’
19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, ‘Surely you don’t mean me?’
20 ‘It is one of the Twelve,’ he replied, ‘one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.’
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take it; this is my body.’
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,’ he said to them. 25 ‘Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’
26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Explore
An opinion piece by historian Daniel Bessner from 14 January 2023 in The New York Times declared the historical profession to be in ‘rapid – maybe even terminal – decline’, going on to highlight some of the most frightening implications of this trend.
The lamb feast Jesus directed his disciples to prepare was one that had been eaten at the same time of year for more than 1250 years. Abraham’s descendants in Egypt ate it on their last day as slaves, sparing them from God’s terrible slaughter of firstborn males by the smear of sacrificial blood on their door frames.
The timing of Jesus’ last meal before his execution was no accident. He was stepping into the place of all those sacrificial lambs. His blood, his life, would be ‘poured out for many’ (v 24). The ‘firstborn over all creation’ (Colossians 1:15) would not be passed over but would die in place of all others.
Eating flatbread and lamb on an annual basis kept the events of that night in Egypt fresh in the minds of the freed slaves for generation after generation. Sharing the wine and bread of Communion is an act of remembrance for us who have been spared by Jesus’ sacrifice. We must remember. Our lives depend on it.
Respond
Pray: ‘Thank you, Lord, for the symbols and rituals you have given us so we don’t forget your great gift of forgiveness. Amen.’
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Joshua 20–22; Psalm 39
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the children who will receive a copy of Jesus Died for Me? this Easter (and the Welsh edition: Bu Farw Iesu Drosof Fi?). Pray for those who give out the copies, that they will journey faithfully with the children as they continue to think about Jesus.
