The Meal with the Disciples

By Guest Writer (December 15, 2007)

by David Brassfield

It was an event filled with the emotions of one facing not only betrayal, but death. During the meal his friends of three years argued about who was greatest. The man who would betray him pretended surprise at the announcement that one of them would do the dark deed. He who pledged to go to death with him would later be intimidated by a young girl and deny even knowing him.

It marked a significant time in Israel's history. It was an even more significant moment in the world's future. There was a coming together of the love of God for man and the entry of Satan into the heart of a man. There was the selflessness of one who washed their feet before shedding his blood to wash away their sins.

It was a complicated matter of One dying for others, replacing their iniquity with his righteousness. The meal within a meal, by contrast, was simplicity itself, which would become a symbol of that night forever. The love, sacrifice, and forgiveness of God would be signified by bread and the fruit of the vine. It was an act that would take mere minutes. But the plan spanned thousands of years and involved hundreds of martyrs.

Its meaning would be twisted by the unbelieving. Its practice would be abandoned or eaten only sparingly by those who claimed to benefit from what it symbolized.

But that supper would become the center of his church. It would be a force that would unite, inspire, teach, and humble all who participated worthily with understanding.

Its genius has been despised, as was he who instituted it. For us, though, it is a beautiful portrait of love, hope, and power. A reflection of our Savior.