Rev. Dan Mahan
Luke 22:14-15 Then at the proper time Jesus and the twelve apostles sat down together at the table. Jesus said “I have looked forward to this hour with deep longing, anxious to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins.”
Have you ever made big plans for a holiday dinner? One year Darlene and I made big plans and preparations for Christmas. It was our first Christmas in our very own house. We had moved back to our hometown after seminary and it was the first chance we had for years to have family together. Our daughters were both coming and we asked other relatives to join us for Christmas dinner. Darlene and I got up early Christmas morning and prepared the special meal. Darlene was cooking the glaze for the ham over the stove. The more she stirred that glaze, the sicker she felt. By the time the guests were all there and we were sitting down for dinner, she was not feeling well at all. As we sat down at the dining room table, she laid down on a loveseat beside the table. The rest of us ate our dinner, played Chicken-Foot dominoes for several hours, and ate supper. Darlene slept through it all! When the guests left that evening, I woke her up long enough to take her temperature. It was 104 degrees—she had pneumonia! After all the plans and preparation for that special meal, she missed it all!
Holidays are special times for family and sharing meals together. Lots of plans and preparations go into making it a special time. It was no different in Jesus’ time. Passover was coming up—a big holiday. Many were making plans and preparations for the Passover meal. Jesus was making plans as well. But to Jesus, it would not be an ordinary Passover holiday. He was making special plans and special preparations.
One year, two weeks before Christmas, my sister Charlcie was in an automobile accident. At first, we were not sure if she would make it or not. The accident broke her back in three places; she was paralyzed and the doctors said she may not walk again. (Today, praise God, she walks with not even the help of a cane!)
The family made special plans on celebrating that Christmas. Colin got rooms in a really nice hotel for the entire family. We had planned a finger-food meal, one that we could eat in the hospital room. Cost was not an issue for Colin. He was willing to sacrifice at any cost for those he loved. He wanted to make that holiday a special time of sharing with those closest to my sister. Everyone was there to make it that special time because of what she had gone through and because of what she had left to go through. Everyone was there—except for my brother John. He could not work it into his schedule. He was too busy. He did not stop to consider the importance of partaking of this special meal and time together.
Jesus was working on making this holiday special. If you read Matt 26, Mark14 and Luke 22, you will see that the wording is almost identical in the accounts of this event. As you read, you will notice the details that went into the planning and preparation of this celebration. Jesus tells Peter and John “Go, prepare the Passover meal.” Now I wonder why Jesus sent Peter and John—two fishermen—two MEN—to prepare this special meal. Why not choose Mary and Martha? Martha was the cook! We know that Martha would have done a great job. Little Miss Homemaker was always cooking and preparing meals for those that she loved. But as far as we can tell, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were not invited to this holiday event. Jesus planned this meal for those special twelve who he had disciplined so closely over the last three years.
Peter and John ask “Where?”
Jesus replies: “Go to Jerusalem. You will see a man with a pitcher of water. Follow him. When you get to the house, tell the owner that the Lord needs his guest room for the Passover meal. He will take you to a large room upstairs. You will find it already set up” The disciples found it just as He said and they prepared the Passover meal.
I wonder if the disciples were awe-stricken in amazement at all of the detail of Jesus’ preparations as I was when I read the account. The Lord said “find a man with a pitcher of water.” There he was. “Follow him and ask for a room. He will lead you to an upstairs room.” The owner willing gave him a room to use-upstairs! “You will find it already set up.” And it was!
How much Jesus wanted to have this special meal with those he loved. In Luke 22: 14, after Jesus and the disciples were seated down at the table, Jesus said, ”“I have looked forward to this time with you with deep longing. I have been anxious to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins”
The he took a loaf of bread, blessed it, broke it and said, ”This is my body given for you, Do this in remembrance of me.” After supper, Jesus took a cup of wine and said, “This is my blood that I will pour out for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Now you would think that the disciples, after seeing how much Jesus wanted to have this meal with them
And how much love he showed them in its preparation—after hearing him tell of his upcoming death, they would grasp the importance of the meal He gave to them. But, no! We find their attention turned inward, not on Jesus, his love or his death. Their thoughts were on themselves and worldly things. Who among them would be greatest? I wonder how much their actions hurt Jesus. He was giving the ultimate sacrifice for their sins. The meal that Jesus prepared came with great cost. But the disciples failed to understand the significance of that special meal.
How much we are like the disciples when it comes to the meal that Christ has given to us. We do not take the time to comprehend the significance of this special meal. How much He loved us to give us this special way of remembering his great love for us. But our thoughts are often elsewhere when we partake, aren’t they? Often our thoughts are on self or worldly things. We allow these thoughts to distract us from partaking as we should. How this must sadden Christ. Jesus said “This is my body broken for you. This is my blood spilled out for you. Do this and remember.” Too often, we do it, but never remember. We never really contemplate his love and death, do we? We never consider the great cost behind the meal Jesus prepared for us.
Sometimes we allow things to distract us out of our fear of drawing near to Christ. We are afraid of that intimacy. Jesus wanted that intimacy with his disciples. .“Oh how I have longed for this time together”, he said. It was to be a time of sharing, a time of reflecting --good quality, intimate time together. Family meals use to be a special time together in good old Walton style, didn’t they? A time of talking, sharing, planning, and reflecting. It’s sad that it is not this way anymore. We are too busy. Too many worldly things distract us from this intimate time together as family. When we were young, John and I would be outside playing
solders, or playing in the sand with our trucks, or just roaming the desert of Arizona where we lived.
All the while mom would be inside preparing a meal for us. She would holler “Come on in, children, it’s supper time.” How hurt she would have been if we declined this offer or didn’t have time to eat what she had prepared especially for her children. What if our minds were filled with things outside as we partake of her meal instead of gratitude for what she had done for us.
A pastor friend of mine has a son in the military. The son came home last week for Independence Day. Malcolm was in the kitchen, preparing his son’s favorite meal for supper. His son walked into the kitchen
and asked how much longer it would be before they ate. When Malcolm replied about fifteen minutes, the son said “I don’t have time to wait” and he walked out of the house. His actions hurt Malcolm deeply. His son did not appreciate the special meal his father had prepared for him. How it must sadden our Father that we don’t either.
As we partake today, let’s remember what a special time this is. It is a time to share, a time of prayer, & thanksgiving. It is a time of reflection on Christ’s great love for us—on the great sacrifice behind this special meal. Let’s make it a time of intimacy and drawing near to Christ. Jesus says to us today: “I have looked forward to this time with you with deep longing. Come on in, children, it’s supper-time.”
