Last Supper

Hope at the Table

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And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Luke 22:19

This week millions of us will be remembering the Last Supper as one part of Holy Week. As Christians, some of us share communion once a month, some every week and others each time we meet. But whenever it is that we share in the bread and the cup, we are remembering again the hour on the cross when Jesus freely gave His life to pay for our sins.  Often I reflect on my own sins and ask Him to forgive me before I receive. When it is my privilege to serve communion, I sometimes look at each person as they come and think of how in a deep and holy way we are also remembering how we all belong to Christ. Nothing has been preserved of the songs the first believers sang. We have no pictures of what they looked like. There isn’t even a single plate from which they ate. But the common thread that our Lord Jesus has kept alive throughout more than 20 centuries is the Hope we have every time we come to His table.

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We have hope that our sins are forgiven. We have hope that we can learn to love one another. We are given a living demonstration of His love as the bread is broken and the cup is shared. We have new hope at the table that one day He will return for you and for me!

He is Knocking – Part Two

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There is a New Year ahead with all kinds of new opportunities, challenge and trials looming on our horizons. In the last post we looked at the amazing hope that Jesus still comes to our doors, no matter how cold our hearts have grown.

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Greeting Him at the door must be our choice and He waits for our kiss of greeting, our washing of His feet with repentance and our praise to anoint His head with oil.

The first half of the promise is that Jesus will come in, but let’s not forget that second half is His invitation to sit with Him at the table. Just like at the Last Supper He has prepared our plate. He has given us His body as our bread and His blood as our drink. His life  offers us food that will never leave us hungry and drink that will quench the deepest thirst. But what have we to offer Him? Remember that this is not dinner for one!

KIMG0853On the table before Him will we offer Him our will? When we put the needs and hurts of others ahead of ours we are preparing a banquet for our Lord. When our lips genuinely praise Him in the middle of our problems and weaknesses we are trusting our spirit into His hands as He trusted His into the Father’s on the cross. No we could never set before Jesus anything so fine and perfect as He has given us. But that is not what He requires. He knew what kind of house we lived in and what was in our cupboards even before He knocked. Jesus chose to come to us to share in what we had to give Him and He still eagerly chooses to eat with sinners. What a hope we have. What a meek and mighty Savior we serve!

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Hope Restored

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Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. Luke 22:20 NKJV

As Jesus offered the bread and wine He served Thomas the doubter and Peter the denier. He gave his gift to disciples who slept when he asked them to pray. He gave a hope for a restored relationship with the Father who loved them so much that He was willing to give them His only Son. Even though they all ran away He was lighting the fire with His passion of a hope that has burned for 2000 years. That is the Hope restored for everyone who believes and asks Jesus Christ for that new chance at life that He gave at His Last Supper!