When our children were much younger they were part of a weekly program at a local church. Each Wednesday we would drop them off for the program and then join our friends (who also dropped off their kids) for dinner. My wife and I loved those dinners. It was a chance to relax and enjoy companionship with people we cared about.
We need to remember that Holy Communion is an opportunity to be in spiritual communion with our Lord and Savior, a chance for that time of intimate companionship with Christ.
Luke’s version of the Last Supper varies from the previous two (Matthew 26:26-29 and Mark 14:22-25). What is the first thing Jesus tells his disciples? What does he do next? What does he say about the bread? What does he say about the second cup?
Luke’s version has a first cup, a cup of wine that is blessed before Jesus takes the bread and wine that we are so familiar with in Communion. This can be somewhat confusing, but the Seder meal, or Passover meal, has many rituals and symbolic elements.
One of the rituals involves four glasses of wine at specific points during the meal. From my estimation, this first cup of wine in Luke is actually the second cup of wine from the Seder meal. This is the Cup of Sanctification. It is a cup used to bless the meal.
By taking up this cup and having it divided among the disciples, Jesus is sanctifying, or blessing, this gathering. He is making the meal holy. This act of sharing and of explaining the sacrifice he was about to make was consecrated, made holy.
Another aspect of this version of the Last Supper is the opening comment from Jesus. “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you.” He is very open with the fact that he wants to be in the company of these people who are so close to him. He desires – not just a little, but eagerly – to be in their company.
The same is true of us. Christ eagerly desires to be in the company of us. He eagerly desires to share the broken body of his sacrifice and the cup of salvation with each one of us. We should eagerly desire to come to the table of the Lord and be in communion with the Holy Spirit.
DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you become eager to share in this encounter with Christ?
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