The Last Supper Jesus Shared

THE Last Supper JESUS SHARED ELIANA LEVEL

TODAY’S READING: LUKE 22:7–20

My wife babysits for our young granddaughter Eliana during the school year while her mum teaches. We do many things to make her feel at home. For example, we put pictures of her and her parents on our refrigerator at “Eliana level.” That way she can see them or carry them around with her during the day. We want her to think of her mum and dad often throughout the day.

Why do we do this? Is there a chance she would forget them? Of course not. But it is comforting for her to have an ongoing remembrance of them.

Now think about this. Before Jesus was crucified, He created a remembrance of Himself. He told His disciples—and us by extension—to “do this [eat the bread and drink from the cup] in remembrance of me” (LUKE 22:19). Is this because we might forget Jesus? Of course not! How could we forget the One who died for our sins? Yet He started this way of remembrance—the Lord’s Supper—as a comforting reminder of His great sacrifice, His presence, His power and His promises.

Just as Eliana’s photos remind her of her parents’ love, so the celebration of communion provides a valuable reminder of the One who will come again to take us home. Partake. And remember.

DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME.

LUKE 22:19

o

DAVE BRANON

Do you ever find yourself just going through the motions when taking communion? What are some ways to keep your focus on the cross?

Father, when I take communion, help me to remember why my forgiveness was so costly, and help me to celebrate Your awesome self-sacrificial love.

STAY ON THE WAY

TODAY’S READING: JOHN 14:1–7

Dusk fell as I followed Li Bao along the tops of terraced walls cut into the mountains of central China. I had never been this way before, and I couldn’t see more than one step ahead or how steeply the ground dropped off to our left. I gulped and stuck close to Li. I didn’t know where we were going or how long it would take, but I trusted my friend.

I was in the same position as Thomas, the disciple who always seemed to need reassurance, during the Last Supper. Jesus told His disciples that He must leave to prepare a place for them and that they knew “the way to the place where [He was] going” (JOHN 14:4). Thomas asked a logical follow-up question: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (V. 5).

Jesus didn’t quench Thomas’s doubt by explaining where He was taking them, what the road would look like, or even by talking through the traumatic night that lay ahead of them. He simply assured His disciple that He is the way. And that was enough.

We too have questions about our future. None of us know the details of what lies ahead. Life is full of twists we don’t see coming. That’s okay. It’s enough to know Jesus, who is “the way and the truth and the life” (V. 6).

Jesus knows what’s next. He only asks that we walk close to Him. o

LORD, WE DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, SO HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?

JOHN 14:5

MIKE WITTMER

What’s your biggest fear about your future? Why is it enough to follow Jesus into that future?

Father, help me to see that, no matter what’s around the corner in my life, Jesus is always the way.

SINGING TO THE FIRING SQUAD

TODAY’S READING: MARK 14:16–26

Two men convicted of drug trafficking had been on death row for a decade. While in prison, they learned of God’s love for them in Jesus, and their lives were transformed. When it came time for them to face the firing squad, they faced their executioners reciting the Lord’s Prayer and singing “Amazing Grace”. Because of their faith in God, through the power of the Spirit they were able to face death with incredible courage.

They followed the example of faith set by their Saviour, Jesus. When Jesus knew that His death was imminent, He spent part of the evening singing with friends. It’s remarkable that He could sing under such circumstances, but what’s even more remarkable is what He sang. On that night, Jesus and his friends had a Passover meal, which always ends with a series of Psalms known as the Hallel: Psalms 113–118. Facing death, that night Jesus sang about the “cords of death” entangling Him (PSALM 116:3). Yet He praised God’s faithful love (117:2) and thanked Him for salvation (118:14). Surely these Psalms comforted Jesus on the night before His crucifixion.

Jesus’ trust in God was so great that even as He approached His own death—a death He had done nothing to deserve—He chose to sing of God’s love. Because of Jesus, we too can have confidence that whatever we face, God is with us. o AMY PETERSON

I TRUSTED IN THE Lord WHEN I SAID, “I AM GREATLY AFFLICTED.”

PSALM 116:10

What song might you sing to God in your trials to help you pour your heart out to Him and set your hope back on His unfailing Word?

God, strengthen my faith in You so that when I face trials, or even approach death, I can sing with confidence about Your love.