Maundy Thursday

Today we recall the Last Supper. John's Gospel has a different focus than the three Synoptics. They call it a Passover meal. Matthew tells us that Jesus reveals He will be betrayed, with harsh words for the betrayer. Then He offers them the bread/body and wine/blood. Mark has the same. Luke has expanded it a bit. For example he mentions the guest room, a Greek word which also occurs at the beginning of his Gospel (there was no room for Jesus). One can ponder the symbolism there. Luke also reverses the order found in Matthew and Mark and adds additional material about a servant mentality. Then there is a section where Jesus warns Peter that Peter will be tested and fail. Lastly, Jesus tells the disciples that things have changed, it is time to carry money and a sword in their ministry. One notices that some of these elements are expanded in John.

One is left with the impression that the meal must have been amazing. You can imagine the hushed silence and wonder as Jesus handed them the bread and cup, each filled with a new meaning in light of His pending sacrifice. A new covenant, promised by the prophets, and here they were tasting the banquet. The connection Jesus makes between the meal and the cross has been lost on most of us. We fail to see the connection. Yet Jesus is clear. My body, given for you. My blood, shed for your sins. Do this. Remember Me.

John, however, has the meal on a different day. Many scholars have wrestled with the dating of these events. It can be pretty confusing. The more I study scripture and the more I understand the ancient mindset, the more I come to peace with the role of theology in the writings. In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus dies on the Day of Preparation (i.e. when the lambs were slaughtered for Passover), they offer a sponge filled with wine on a branch of hyssop (Exodus 12:22, hyssop applies blood on the door), there is a mention that no bones were broken (a requirement of the Passover lamb). The Fourth Gospel has no mention of bread and wine at the meal. Instead Jesus washes the feet of His disciples and teaches. (Yet chapter six has an extensive reflection on eucharist in the Bread of Life discourse: My flesh is real food, My blood is real drink, unless you feed on My flesh and drink My blood you will not live) John clearly wants to make the connections between Passover and the death of Jesus clear. He is interested in helping us see the meaning of these events.

We do well, today, to think how we would have tried to convey that last meal. Would art (music, dance, sculpture) be our venue? Perhaps a dry, though detailed, chronology of the events? Maybe interviews with the disciples afterward? Some might choose a panel of experts to assess and analyze, there are, after all, various angles: psychology, biology, economics, sociology. Some would desire to hear a cynic, while others might prefer to hear a mystic. The Biblical-Theological approach to the story of Jesus is certainly a legitimate option and the ancient exercise of that discipline is as True as any of the others listed above.

I hope the realization that there are different approaches helps you, dear reader, to see this story with new eyes. Understand the Gospel writers seek to bring you to insight and understanding. For them, there was no question that the Crucified and Risen Lord was Who He said He was. For them there was no doubt or fear. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Messiah. Jesus is Savior. They believed and they were committed. It is our turn to join them, or recommit, in the journey of faith, the path of discipleship.

Jesus died for you. He makes that clear. Understanding the mechanism is not as important as trusting and obeying is. Today, right now, we are given, again, a glimpse into reality. We are invited to follow. We are welcome to eat and drink. We are enlightened to understand Who the food is and what we are called to be.