REMEMBERING THE SUPPER

  

We gathered again in the upper room where we had celebrated the Passover on that last night before our Lord was crucified. This had been a very exciting year. It began with the greatest tragedy we had ever experienced. That led to the most thrilling event in history. Jesus was raised from the dead! Everything in us and everything in the world was changed by those events. The church in Jerusalem continues to multiply despite severe opposition. However, most of us are being sent by the Spirit to other places. Some have gone beyond the borders of Israel. Jesus told us many times what he concluded as He ascended into the heavens. By the Spirit we are to take the good news to all the earth. 

Jesus gave us what we are calling His supper at the Passover. He told us to remember Him with the Supper as we had kept the Passover. We have begun to celebrate it in our love feasts. But this is the first Passover after the cross. And we thought it was appropriate to celebrate it in the upper room where Jesus first gave us this wonderful reminder. 

I began by saying, “We have gathered here tonight to remember that last supper with our Lord. We welcome you ladies and family members, the mother, sisters and brothers of our Lord, and of course, Matthias who has taken the place of Judas.” Peter then set the bread and the cup of wine before us. 

He began by holding up the bread and saying, “Jesus said, ‘This is my body given for you.’”

Then I said, “I think all of you remember when Jesus fed the multitude the first time on the far side of the sea. Some men who thought food for our stomachs was what Jesus came to give said to Him, ‘Moses gave us bread from heaven as a sign in the wilderness.’ Jesus answered, ‘Moses did not give you the bread from Heaven. My Father gives you the true heavenly bread. The bread of life is the one the Father has sent to give life to the world. Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the bread of life given for the life of the world. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died. Whoever eats this bread will never die. Whoever believes in me has eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day.’ 

‘The bread  that I give for the life of the world is my flesh. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.’ When we take this bread and drink this cup we remind ourselves that we are nourished to eternal life through the sacrifice of Jesus. We feed on His flesh and drink His blood. He said, ‘My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. The one who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me. And I abide in that person. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.’”

Then Peter took the cup saying, “Jesus said, ‘This is my blood given for you.’” He passed the cup among us and we showed our faith in Him as we took the supper together. Finally Peter said, “Jesus said, ‘For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.’”

 

This story is drawn from words spoken in John 6:35-59.

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THE QUARREL

 

We were amazed when we saw Jesus heal the sick. We decided then to become his disciples. We led a multitude that grew larger at every village along the sea until we came to where Jesus had gone to the far side of the sea with some of his disciples. He amazed us even more by feeding everyone there with what looked to us like a little boy’s lunch. We wanted to make him king. But we hardly had time to tell him of our devotion when he went back up the mountain alone. Soon his closest disciples left in their boat, and Jesus was not with them. 

Several of us lit a bonfire and kept watch through the night, but we never saw Jesus. In the morning we were ready to eat again. We sent a man up the mountain to look for him. He said he saw where Jesus had been, but Jesus was not there. We were still puzzled over where he could have gone when a boat from Tiberius landed near where Jesus had blessed the bread and fish to feed everyone. We couldn't find Jesus, and we knew his disciples weren't there. Several people climbed into that boat. Other boats soon came along. More of us boarded them and headed back across to Capernaum. Looking for him in town seemed futile to me. I was tired and wanted to go home. But several men insisted that we go on hunting for him. Sure enough we found him in the synagogue. We interrupted his teaching to ask how he had come there. 

He said, “You are not seeking me because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill and were satisfied. Do not live for the bread that will perish. Seek the bread that will endure to eternal life which only the son of man can give you. The signs that you see are the Father's seal upon him.” 

We thought about this for a few minutes. Then I asked, “What must we be doing to do the works God demands?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is to believe in the one whom He has sent.”

One of us asked, “What mighty work will you do that we may see and believe in you. Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” This didn’t make sense to me. We had seen amazing signs. But we had not eaten since the day before, and they thought this was a fairly persuasive argument for him to feed us.

Jesus answered. “I am telling you the absolute truth. Moses did not give you bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 

The man said to him, “Sir, always give us this bread.” Others of us didn’t think Jesus was talking about food for our stomachs.

Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life—whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But you have seen and still do not believe.

“I did not come from Heaven to do my own will, but the will of the One who sent me. And it is His will, that I not lose any of those who come to me. It is my Father’s will that everyone who looks on the Son and believes should have eternal life. I will raise that person up on the last day.”

Well, many people complained about this. Some of them said, “This is Jesus the son of Joseph. We know his father and mother. How can he say that he came down from heaven?” I didn’t know how to answer this. But I had seen amazing miracles at his hand. I didn’t think Jesus answered them very well. 

He said, “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me. I will raise him up on the last day. Not that anyone has seen the Father except he who came from the Father. He has, of course, seen him.'” This was offensive. He didn't have to say we had never heard from God, although, I suppose we had not.

Then he said, “I am telling you the truth, and you had better pay attention. Whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven. Whoever eats it will never die. I am the bread of life. This bread that I give for the life of the world is my own flesh.”

The others answered, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?” I was still troubled because of the miracles he had done in our presence. But I did not know what to say to this.

Jesus said, “I will dwell in whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks in my blood, and that person will live in me.”

Most of the others were saying this was too hard to accept. They decided that they could not follow him any more. And what could I say? If he said things like this,.we would never again gather a crowd to make him king. So I left with the others. 

This story was drawn from John 6:22-65.

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I AM

After feeding the multitude Jesus left us with the people while he went up the mountain to pray. At the end of the day we went down to the water. I steadied the boat while everyone got in. Releasing the line that was fixed loosely to a tree along the shore, I came aboard. At Simon's command, we set a course for Capernaum. Darkness fell, and a strong wind blew up. We took down the sails lest we capsize in the storm. We had to row against the waves. By the fourth watch we were less than halfway across the sea. A flash of lightning revealed a fearful specter. Someone was walking on the water and coming near us. We stopped all effort to row, frozen in terror. 

Then Jesus spoke over the roar of the wind. “I AM! Do not be afraid.” We all thought immediately of the words spoken to Moses from the burning bush. We would not have thought much about this had he said those words in a synagogue in town or even that day on the mountain. But the force of it was overwhelming seeing him walk on the storm tossed sea as if it were solid rock. We were now eager to bring him into our boat. He had hardly stepped onto the deck when the boat was no longer in the middle of the sea but at the docks near Capernaum. In the next few months he explained more than we ever dreamed about the meaning of the words “I AM.” He would soon say, “I am the bread of life,” “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and other explanations of his divine identity and complete sufficiency for life and eternity. 

This story was taken from the account found in John 6;16-21 

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HE SPOKE TO ME

 

After the conflicts we had with the other Jews, Jesus took a group of us across the sea. He led us up a mountain, and sat down with us for a special time of teaching. The Passover was near, and we could not help thinking of Moses taking the elders up the mountain where God gave the law. 

Shortly after he had begun Jesus lifted his eyes and saw a huge multitude that had followed him around the sea. I stepped near the edge of the place where he was teaching and saw more people than I could believe. 

Jesus stepped up behind me. Putting his hand on my shoulder he said, “Philip where will we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing me, preparing to teach me a powerful lesson about depending on him to care for the needs of people. I was not one of the leaders in the group. I never had the insight of John or the courage to speak like Peter. But the least of us knew he loved us and that he had a purpose for each of us. I was no exception. 

I was still shaking my head at the size of the multitude. “200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough to feed all these people.” We couldn't guess how many there were. I could have said three or four hundred denarii worth of bread would not feed them all. But Andrew, bless his heart, came up with his hand on the head of a little boy. Even though Andrew was Simon Peter’s brother and half owner of the boat we came in, he was not one of the leaders either. 

He said, “This boy has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many.” I now suspect that the faith of Andrew was serious, but at the time what he said seemed funny to most of us. Judas laughed out loud. Jesus did not pay us any mind. 

He simply said, “Have the people sit down to eat.” The wet season was at its end, and there was a lot of grass along the sea. We started having the men sit down in groups of about 50, each man with his family. There were about a hundred groups of fifty or so men and their families. Who knows how many people there were altogether. Jesus stood where everyone could see and looking up to heaven blessed the bread and fish. Then he began to distribute food to the people. We went from group to group helping pass out bread and as much fish as anyone wanted. Time seemed to stand still as he fed the multitude. 

When we finished and had eaten a bite or two ourselves he told us to start gathering up the leftover pieces of bread so nothing would be lost. I didn't understand much of what was happening at the time, but I have never forgotten that a miracle of Jesus is precious. It is crucial that we not waste the fruit of the signs he continues to perform in our lives. We actually gathered twelve large baskets of bread from the five barley loaves Jesus had broken to multiply. We were not the only ones to recognize this magnificent sign of his majesty. 

Jesus pointed to a group of men whispering together. “They are getting ready to come and take me by force to make me king. I am going to slip away. I want you to stay a while with the people and then start back across the sea. I will catch up with you later.” We watched him start up the mountain alone. Then we walked among the people, talking about what they had seen, praying with many. As evening came we went back down to the sea to return to Capernaum with a great deal to think about.

This story was drawn from John 6:1-15.

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