The Road To Easter
Pt. 4 - Breaking Bread Before It Breaks Bad
Introduction
Destination disease. It is deadly. It is contagious. It is the inability to enjoy, learn from or live in the moment long enough to pay attention to the now because we are focused on then! The drive to next causes us to miss memories. It causes us to miss opportunities. It causes us to miss moments that we should learn from and gain wisdom. We are so focused on the final destination that we refuse to slow down and learn.
Jesus' journey to Easter is our focus. The destination holds so much meaning and hope for us that if we aren't careful our drive for that day causes us to miss important moments along the way. We are attempting to pause and reflect on the road Jesus took to get to the empty tomb. What happened on the Tuesday or Thursday before He is raised from the dead? Do you know? Does it matter? Let's walk this road together and see as we head to the Disneyland of our faith . . . Easter!
We have reviewed Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry. We talked about Jesus' Monday when He cleansed the temple. Last week, we discussed Tuesday. It was the day Jesus handed out hope.
Now if you have your Road to Easter Card, then you will realize that Wednesday is missing. The reason that is the case is that we know practically nothing about Wednesday. Little is recorded. A woman anoints Jesus' feet. Judas meets with the Chief Priests and agrees to betray Jesus. Other than those events there isn't much known. So, the only thing I can tell you is even Jesus pauses. Jesus, knowing the hardest days are about to begin, disappears from the public stage. Maybe with no details we need to learn that our ability to handle the public stage is established in the private days. Some of you just need to take a day and refresh, renew, strengthen for the days to come.
Then comes Thursday. Thursday is the beginning of a brutal two days. It is chock full of events. It is long. It is grueling. It is eventful.
It is on this day that Jesus will wash His disciples' feet. It is on this day that Jesus prays in the Garden in agony, despair and with such intensity that His sweat becomes blood. It is on this day that Judas kisses Jesus' cheek to identify Him to the Romans. It is on this day that Jesus is arrested. It is on this day that Jesus heals the Roman guard's severed ear. It is on this day that Peter will follow at a distance and ultimately deny Christ. It is on Thursday that Jesus is brought before Caiaphas, the High Priest, where the whole religious council had gathered to begin making their case against Jesus. He is accused of blasphemy. He is spit on. He slapped. He is struck in the face with fists. It was an incredibly difficult day. We could spend week's examining this day alone.
However, let's back up, slow down and also realize that there was an important event that is positioned at the beginning of all that will take place on this painful day. We call it the Last Supper.
Thursday - Communes
Text: Luke 22:14-20 (MSG)
When it was time, he sat down, all the apostles with him, and said, “You’ve no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It’s the last one I’ll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God.” Taking the cup, he blessed it, then said, “Take this and pass it among you. As for me, I’ll not drink wine again until the kingdom of God arrives.” Taking bread, he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, given for you. Eat it in my memory.”
He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you.
VS. 15 - (WEY) He said to them, "Earnestly have I longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer."
(LET) And He said to them, Upon passionate longing I have passionately longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
(KJV) With fervent desire I longed to eat.
This moment, that has captured the minds of artists and the hearts of Christians for centuries, takes place before everything else on this hectic and heartbreaking day. However, if you read verse 15 slowly, then we discover that this wasn't as much about the meal as much as it was about the men Jesus ate the meal with. There is a deep, fervent desire, longing, and passion inside of Jesus to spend some quality time with His closest friends, followers, confidants right before everything becomes unbearable!
I think we miss that aspect of the account. Jesus is literally letting us see that in this moment that He needed His men as badly as they needed Him.
I think it is crucial to pay attention to the order established by Jesus. He makes this statement . . . You have no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering.
Earnestly have I longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Communion prepared Jesus for suffering!
Jesus wanted to commune with His disciples before He suffered. We tend to wait to commune after suffering. ?Jesus positions communion before the cross! Why do we continue to position communion after we go to a cross?
I think we missed it. Jesus gives us the secret sauce for being able to survive indescribable suffering! It is our time together that strengthens us to survive suffering!
Notice that before they spend the evening together Jesus sends his disciples ahead to prepare for communion. A lot of times we act like we don’t have to prepare for communion. We just expect it to happen, and then we are frustrated when it doesn’t.
Communion requires preparation. The disciples prepare by securing a room and food. We too must prepare for and be intentional about communing. However, our preparation isn't about prepping a room or ordering the right appetizer. Our preparation is about how we approach our time together. We can't operate in isolation and then expect to enjoy the fruit and benefits of intimacy. We can't just roll in here and expect intimacy. We must prepare. We must prepare our hearts. We must prepare our spirits. We must prepare our souls. We must remove walls and let guards down. We must prepare to allow others in. If we had prepared for communion by setting at the table before the pain, then we would be prepared to endure the pain. If we don't commune before we suffer, then there typically isn't anyone to commune with after we suffer. There seems to be a pattern that Jesus is trying to establish, but for some reason we have established our own pattern. Jesus communes before. We inform after. We wait and then we wallow. Jesus knew that suffering could only be survived if He communed before the suffering began.
When we think about Jesus' suffering we think whips, fists, thorns, nails and spears. Perhaps a greater part of the suffering that Jesus knew He was about to face was separation. Perhaps this is why Paul later chooses to examine the power of Jesus' love for us by exclaiming that His love is a greater power than the power of separation! He says nothing can separate us and then lists incredibly powerful forces that have been stripped of their capacity to overtake Jesus' love for us. Perhaps the power of separation is broken by Jesus' love when we commune with one another!
The investment of time you make in relationships when things are good will determine the withdrawal you can make when things are bad.
Communion is critical for courage. ?
Jesus apparently knew that communion makes us stronger. We can face more together than we can alone. Haven't you experienced this when you were lifting weights or working out? You are struggling to do one more rep until someone comes along and says "Come on just one more. You can do it!" Or they put their hands just under the bar and somehow you have the ability to lift the weight one more time. Communion makes you stronger! Jesus' ability to endure the rest of this day and the day to come is birthed in communion. This is why Scripture tells us not to forsake gathering together (Hebrews). That isn't so we can just have church services together. That isn't about just going through a program or religious routine. That is about the fact that when we gather together we gather courage! Your pain threshold could be determined/contingent on your willingness to commune with others. We are weakest when we are alone. We are strongest when we commune with one another. Jesus even says that as we spend this time together that we "re"member the body. It is as we come together that we find strength in numbers.
I will remind you that on Friday, Jesus couldn't even carry His cross by Himself. Why do we think we can carry ours all by ourselves? We need to commune with one another before we suffer so that we will have individuals who rally around us when we buckle under the weight of what we are carrying! It is communion that gives way to carrying one another's burdens! Through communion a covenant of care is established. If no one rallies, then could it be that this is the result of not breaking bread before it broke bad? No relationship but we want to be rescued. Rescue comes with relationship!
Communion is critical for compassion!
Notice that immediately following communion compassion is birthed. Jesus washes His disciples' feet. He serves them. How do you have the strength to serve folks that will walk away from you? Betray you? Forsake you? Deny you? You commune with them and learn to love them enough to offer them grace! Then Jesus' compassion carries outside the walls of that room and He heals the severed ear of someone who is an enemy. How do you have the strength to heal someone who is trying to lead you to undeserved pain? You commune with folks who are for you so that you are so full of compassion that you are able to bless those who will despitefully use you! Jesus' actions out of a time of communion reveal that the true test of our faith isn't loving Jesus. He is easy to love. He dies for us. The true test is loving Judas. He is trying to get you killed. Communion with one another is where we find enough strength so that we can love those who hurt us intentionally. When I am with you and commune with you, I become more compassionate. If I remain in isolation, then I inevitably become self-centered and self-serving!?
Communion leads to conquering!?We know that no one quits alone. Jesus also knew that no one wins alone. He knew that He needed these men to continue after He was gone. He knew that to win He would need them. My win not only depends on Him . . . my win depends on we! Your win depends on me. Isolation leads to annihilation. Communion leads to conquering.
We always take communion and remember Jesus' death and we should. However, today I want us to take communion together not only to remember Him but to also celebrate our communion with one another through Him!
