It’s time to go. You’ve been with family sharing your love for one another, but now your time together is ending. You take one last look around, snap some pictures, maybe leave a memento of some type behind, and you say goodbye. You think of your time together and you want to be remembered.
The great man wanted this night to be special, to be memorable. This supper would be their last time together. So, he made plans:
“As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.” (Luke 22:10 – 12)
So there they were in this special place at this special time. The apostles who had followed him on this divine journey gathered with him to hear the final words of their Teacher. Jesus said to them:
“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 22:15 – 16)
Still, they didn’t understand. Jesus had told them several times that he must suffer and die but would come again. This lesson was hard for them to comprehend. But even more than their lack of understanding, they were anxious and upset at the thought that Jesus would soon be leaving them. This was the man whom they had entrusted their lives and their faith, how would they go on without him?
Jesus saw their anxiety. He felt their sense of loss. To comfort and re-assure them, he took the bread that was at the table. He blessed the bread, divided it, and gave it to them saying:
“This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19)
There had been a time when the world didn’t know its Savior. When the word of God was silent. But we were given hope when it was foretold that a child would be born and called Emmanuel – God is with us. And now, this man Jesus who walked among us in fulfillment of the prophecies, who came to be the Word of God, says he is soon to depart. As he prepares to leave, he asks us to remember him.
If we have known Jesus in our lives, how could we ever forget him? With every breath we take and each morsel of food we consume, Jesus leads us. His words are always with us. The path to eternal life lies ahead as Jesus smiles at us with his arm extended.
Yes, we remember.
These Gospel stories are re-imagined in the book series:
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