Luke 22:23-38
But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
24 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
34 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”
“Nothing,” they answered.
36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”
38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”
“That’s enough!” he replied.
So, here it is, the famous Last Supper. As we have seen in previous passages, it was a God ordained, God supplied feast. My wife, who volunteers at the rescue ministry, says people show up all the time from out of town without money, out of gas, no place to stay, and say "Here I am. Meet my needs" Generally they give them gas vouchers to get back home. When we visited Hawaii, we were amazed at all the homeless people. When we asked around we were told that some rescue ministries buy one way tickets for the homeless to Hawaii. Since they can never afford a return ticket, the homeless problem in their community is solved. So when I think of the last supper and this picture, I think of 13 homeless guys coming to town, needing a foal of a donkey, a large room, and needing a spread of lamb, wine, herbs, plates, cups, unleavened bread, napkins, eggs, horseradish, etc. and it is all just given to them, no questions asked. This, in and of itself is a miracle.
Karen cooks a big Thanksgiving meal every year for the family. There are usually 15 people here and my job is always to give the after meal devotion. In her mind, I am sure she pictures 15 people sitting quietly in a tryptophan coma reflecting on God's goodness to us through the year and it turning into a worshipful experience. In actuality, the grandkids start screaming shortly into the experience wanting to get out of their chairs and go play. The men want to get up and go see the football game or NBA game and so the last thing they want to do is sit till some of the slowest eaters known to man finish eating and then sit and listen to me talk for 5 minutes. So I try to do it while they are still eating and my wife tells me to stop because no one is ready. (She is still expecting the worshipful experience that she is due for cooking and cleaning the last 72 hours) And then coming up with a devotion that speaks to young and old alike is usually an epic fail. So what I'm describing is no Last Supper experience, is it. Or is it? Look at the dinner conversation. First of all, they are trying to figure out who is the one traitor in their midst so there is a distrust of everyone there. Then they are all in the midst of a power play and jealous situation probably not liking their seating arrangements or their order of being served and probably being fed up with certain people after spending day in and day out with them. They get in arguments about who will be greatest and end up having a first century discussion on the equivalent of gun control and the Christian.
I like this last supper painting because Jesus appears totally peaceful in the midst of a lot of commotion going on around Him, and maybe that is the point to me today. Am I so in tune with God and in love with Him and yielded to Him, that nothing gets to me? If things aren't coming together like they should be, am I trusting that He will handle the details. If there is turmoil in the family, at work, can I just commune with God through it and not let it get to me. And if I have a stressful tomorrow coming, can I just enjoy the moment I have today in the presence of God?
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