Surreal Supper
| When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, He said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray Me -- one who is eating with Me." They were saddened, and one by one they said to Him, "Surely not I?" "It is one of the Twelve," He replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with Me. 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." While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Take it; this is My body." Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," He said to them. "I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God." When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Mark14:18-26) |
The events of this night are really hard to digest. It truly is a deeply disorienting moment. Part of me wishes that one of the disciples would have protested and said something like: "Stop! What are we doing here? He's been talking about dying and now He's talking about one of us betraying Him and yet we're simply going through the motions on this ancient ritual meal!"
But we need to recognise the gravity of what is happening here. There is great sadness and great evil at play and yet there is also great solemnity. The Passover meal, celebrated for over a thousand years, encapsulated great darkness and sadness, but also hope.
Jesus, still fragrant from the anointing He received the night before, acts as the host of the meal. He walks them through the ritual, recognising the reality of pain and evil in the world, and offering Himself as the Passover Lamb.
There are some powerful statements He makes:
- Woe to the one who betrays Me: In the midst of this sadness and pain, there is also the inevitability of justice. This is important, Jesus is not a helpless victim of injustice, He offers Himself and those who choose to be agents of evil will face justice. I also think Jesus is grieving over Judas while warning him. Judas, however, still makes this horrible choice.
- This is My body, My blood: Jesus offers Himself as the Passover Lamb. We are invited to receive the offering and sacrifice He makes. We can participate in it and make it our own.
- I will not drink again...until: A beautiful statement of hope. Here is an assurance of victory, celebration and hope.
There is great power in ritual and ceremony. The disciples have just had their world turned upside down. They sense the inevitability of the moment and yet they sing an old passover hymn. They probably began with shaky voices, but as the words and melody gripped their souls, sang with conviction and faith, somehow, strangely, gaining hope and strength from this act of faith and community. This is why we sing at funerals and other sombre moments...
And so that is the surreal supper. A moment that should have fallen apart into bedlam and chaos but is held together by the framework of an ancient and hopeful ritual and the powerful presence of Jesus the Lamb of God who willingly gave Himself for broken people like the disciples, and you and me.
