Jesus’ disciples would all fall away. They would all fail. Judas would betray Jesus and Peter would deny him. John alone would re-appear at the cross, but Jesus would go to his trial utterly abandoned by them all. It is in the context of the ‘last supper’ that Jesus predicted this, and this fact highlights the significance of the symbols he instituted and which we celebrate today as the ‘Lord’s Supper’ or ‘Eucharist’. In the symbols of the bread and the wine Jesus was instituting a new covenant, one that is the culmination of the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants. He was about to lay down his life for his people, to open an inexhaustible source of grace for them. His broken body and shed blood become our point of reconnection with God. Just as the temple and its sacrifices were once this point of reconnection, so now it is Christ. In fact, it was always Christ since he fulfils the symbolism of the temple and the animal sacrifices. This supper echoes the parable of the wedding feast and it also follows as the natural conclusion to Jesus’ warnings about judgement in Matthew 25. If you felt like a failure against the criteria of Matthew 25 then you join the ranks of the disciples. Jesus knows we will all fail, so he instituted these symbols to remind us continually that there is always grace for us to make a fresh start. Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more (Romans 5:20). Don’t wallow in failure. Jesus’ sacrifice makes a way forward and gives you a new beginning.
Confess your failures and receive God’s grace in Christ.
Read Matthew 26:17-35
