Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

The first Passover was celebrated when Pharaoh set his Israelite slaves free. Nine plagues against Egypt didn’t convince him. But the tenth did. An angel of death killed the firstborn in Egyptian families, while passing over Israelite families. That was the “pass” . . . “over”, the death angel sparing Israelites. 

Mark 14 tells how Jesus celebrated a Passover meal, his Last Supper before he was crucified. 

Moses’ instructions for the Passover meal specified roast lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread (a tortilla-like flatbread you might buy at Superstore) (Exo 12:8-9). 

At Jesus’ passover meal, he didn’t emphasize celebrating freedom like Moses did. Jesus said to his disciples, “One of you will betray me” (v. 17). An ominous allusion. Will the death angel from Egypt show up in Jesus’ Passover story? 

During Passover dinner, Jesus passed pieces of bread to the disciples, saying, “This is my body” (v. 22). A human body isn’t normal food. Do you think the disciples heard what Jesus said? Did they find it strange that Jesus wanted them to eat his body?  

Later Jesus passed the wine, saying, “This is my blood” (v. 24). Moses’ law instructed Jews not to consume blood (Lev 17:10-12), so drinking Jesus’ blood was a strange, strange Passover symbol. 

There is no mention of roast lamb at the Last Supper. Instead, at the end of a sobering meal, Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn and went out into the night.

So what do we make of the Last Supper? Here are some thoughts. 

1. It was a difficult evening for Jesus. He knew his crucifixion was near. He knew the disciples didn’t believe he would die. Perhaps he found comfort in a traditional meal with his followers, in believing that God would see him through the next 24 hours. 

2. l find Jesus’ symbolism shocking. Eat someone’s body and drink his blood? 

And yet . . . these graphic symbols express something close to my heart. My flesh-and-blood journey through life is shared with Jesus who also made a flesh-and-blood journey. He encourages me with reminders of his 33 years living in a human body. 

Much of following Jesus is a spiritual and mystical exercise. But the bread and wine served at communion encourages me to live in my body as Jesus lived in his, to let his life-blood flow in my veins, to let his broken body be bread that nourishes my aging body. 

3.  The symbolism reminds me that Christianity is a religion of sacrifice. As a modern, civilized person, I could be offended by symbols of Christ’s tortured body and bloody death. Is there something there for me to eat and drink?

Maybe Christ didn’t come to make me civilized. Perhaps he came to deal harshly and realistically with out-of-control evil, in a world choking on violence and death. Perhaps redemption required the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross.

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, the bread and wine we take at communion reminds us of your body and blood. We eat and drink, barely knowing what it means. But we trust that you, who lived in flesh-and-blood, will guide our lives, and that you who died will carry us through the soon-coming darkness of death. 

O Jesus, we remember you, your stories and healings, your life and crucifixion. Though you were God’s son, yet you learned obedience by what you suffered, and you became the author of eternal salvation for all who obey you (Heb 5:8).

Teach us to obey you. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

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