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When the hour came, He took His place at the table, and the apostles with Him. He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;  for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks He said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves;  for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." Then He took a loaf of bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and His hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom He is betrayed!" Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this. (Luke 22:14-23)

The Rev. Ken Houston, our pastor in Refugio, has seen over 50 executions in the State of Texas.  He was at one time, the chaplain on Death Row.  He witnessed the last meal requests of those inmates.  If you know which meal would be your last, what would you choose?  As I write this, I think I would be too nervous and excited, to know what to ask.  I would think, "What's the point?  Let's hurry; I want to see Jesus!"  Others have made it a lavish meal to remember all the good food they had had.

Tonight we remember the last supper of Jesus our Lord.  This is the account of that meal by Luke, who was not there, but interviewed many eyewitnesses and those of the disciples still alive to gather as much information as he could to report back to the Roman official, Theophilus, of all that happened in the life of Jesus.  He records that this last supper was the Passover meal celebration of Jesus and His twelve, along with the group that slowly grew around Him and some estimates put that group at about 125.  He used the meal not only as a remembrance in Jewish history of what God had done, intervening in the life of Israel and delivering them from slavery and bondage in Egypt, but also as what God was doing in the present, and what God would do in the future through this meal.  The bread and the cup became new symbols of grace, power, and blessing.  The bread became His body which in only hours would be broken, bruised, pierced, and dead.  The body became a remembrance of what it underwent to take on our sins and there on the cross were removed.  The cup would be a cup of forgiveness; the forgiveness of sin.  Then to bring sadness to the reality of the moment, Jesus revealed that one among them would betray Him.  And this account ends with the disciples worrying more about that betrayal, asking, "Is it I?" rather than understanding and celebrating the mystery Jesus revealed of love and forgiveness.  

The truth is dear friend, many have been the times you and I have betrayed Jesus.  Some have been intentional, other times, through something we failed to do; but we are still guilty of having to say, "Yes, it was I!"  But, Jesus' love shows that even those times are forgiven, and while we have breath, we have new and wonderful opportunities to serve Jesus and those who do not yet know Him.  Let right now and tonight be those times we say again, "Thank You, Lord."

PRAYER:  Loving God, we again thank You for Jesus.  While we may not fully understand tonight's meaning and purpose, we still are in appreciation to You for Your love and mercy.  Help us to become the Gospel in ways that show others, Your love and grace.  And we pray this in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.

The new commandment is to love one another.

Eradio Valverde