Matthew 26:17-30 - Maundy Thursday - April 6, 2023

“So, what do you want for dinner tonight?”
“I don’t know. What do you want?”
“I don’t care. You pick.”
“Well, I don’t care either. Spaghetti?”

That conversation happens several times a week in our house. Maybe you’ve had similar conversations. 

However, there are products that aim to take those tough decisions out of our lives. I’ve seen ads for drinks that promise to revolutionize the way we feed ourselves. 

There is a beverage that contains everything a human body needs to live - a balanced macro split of carbs, proteins, and fats, along with 27 essential vitamins and minerals, all with little to no meal prep! It is meant to fuel the body in scientifically precise ways. Additionally, there’s no more cooking. No more cleaning. No more “what do you want for dinner” conversations. It’s revolutionary, indeed! 

But I have no idea how this company is going to survive. Maybe in emergency situations this drink could sustain survivors of natural disasters, or be sent to areas of famine to keep people alive and well, or even as an occasional meal replacement, but I don’t see how this type of product could replace the food and drink we consume. 

After all, we don’t just eat to give our bodies fuel. We eat for pleasure, for exploration, for flavors… to live and to thrive, not merely to survive. We eat for community and relationship. We eat because breaking bread together and pouring a glass of wine turns a simple table into a place of belonging. The conversations before, during, and after are part of what makes food into a meal. 

Tonight, we read Matthew’s account of Jesus’ last supper - that meal he shares with his closest friends and followers right before the events of tomorrow’s cross. At this table, Jesus gives the gift of life to them and to us. But even at this table of belonging and wholeness, betrayal and death are also present. 

The meal that Jesus and his friends celebrate is the Passover meal. The Passover celebrated the great deliverance of Israel from slavery to freedom, from bondage in Egypt to liberation in the Promised Land. Death passed over those who adorned their doorways with the blood of the sacrificial lamb. The life promised by God was fulfilled. 

But paradoxically, even in this meal celebrating life, death finds a way to sneak in. “One of you,” Jesus says, “will betray me.” The Gospel writers all struggle to understand why and how Judas would do such a thing. We probably do, too. Moreover, why would Jesus welcome Judas into the company of disciples in the first place? Why is he there? Why is he eating with them? 

And yet, there he is. He is not dismissed, shunned, or excluded at all, even as this announcement of betrayal is made known. Judas shares in the bread and wine, the meal that Jesus says is his body and the blood of the covenant, which delivers us from sin and offers us forgiveness. 

So, Judas is there. And so are each of the other disciples. And while tomorrow night we will hear the details of their failures, suffice it to say that they themselves become deserters of their rabbi. Peter scoffs at such a notion, but we know his story all too well. 

Jesus’ faithfulness tonight, tomorrow, and forevermore stands in stark contrast to Judas, but also to all the disciples whom Jesus handpicked to walk on this road alongside him. Jesus is faithful; the disciples, each and every one of them, try as they might, fall short. 

And it may be helpful to remember this whenever we gather for the meal,
when we do this in remembrance,
when we share in the body and blood of Christ.
The table isn’t full of perfect people - not then, and not now.
It’s a table with seats for those who desert when the going gets tough and the future uncertain.
It’s a table that has room for those who don’t always believe what Jesus says.
It’s a table that even has a spot for that person you don’t like and who doesn’t like you. 

This is true because everything is dependent on Jesus and the gifts of his body and blood for us, for you. It’s his table, it’s his gift, it’s his meal. And he welcomes you. He invites you. He feeds you. He gives grace. He nourishes faith. He forgives sin. He calls us to be witnesses to the Gospel. All of these gifts are grace upon grace that our faithlessness cannot change.  

Jesus proves he is faithful, even when we are not. The meal is a gift - more than a gift of simple food, but gifts of fellowship and unity, forgiveness and grace, nourishment for our spirits as well as our souls, a time where Christ communes with us and gives us himself. 

In the end, it may be misleading to call this the Last Supper. For sure, it is the last time Jesus breaks bread and drinks wine with his disciples before he faces trial and crucifixion. But Jesus makes a promise here, a promise he will keep. 

“I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” This isn’t the last meal of a condemned man. 

This is but the first of many meals we will share with Jesus in a kingdom that will know no end.
This is but the first of many meals where we will draw closer to God and to one another.
This is but the first of many meals without end where we will be nourished and made whole, where relationships with God and one another are mended, and where we are again given the hope and promise of resurrected life. 

Take and eat, for this meal is more than just sustenance; it is a magnificent feast.
Take and drink, for its wonder is accompanied by a song whose melodies resonate through generations, while the story of God's liberation echoes in our ears.
Taste and see; celebrate with simple bread and wine as God gives us a place of belonging. Now and forever.