MAUNDY THURSDAY

Luke 22:14 – “And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him.”

Given our familiarity with this story, it’s hard to imagine just how bewildering that Upper Room experience must have been for the Twelve. There was that business with the washing of their feet, and the notion that they were to emulate that level of servanthood; the cloud of suspicion that must have enveloped the room during the conversation about betrayal; the designation of bread and wine as the Master’s body and blood; the bravado of Simon Peter and the chilling response of Christ: ‘Before the cock crows…’

Yet from this final table gathering arose the distinctively Christian celebration of eucharist, Holy Communion. The confusion and anxiety of that Last Supper gave way to joy, assurance, peace and purpose in the glow of Easter and the missional surge of Pentecost. But it is true today, as it was when Jesus told his parables, that there is still room at the banquet for many others to come.

In this connection, the table fellowship with Jesus throughout the Gospels is amazing. As Professor Bryan Stone has said it, "At this table, tax collectors, Phariseees, Zealots and prostitutes eat together -- a commonality made possible only by the dismantling of social hierarchies and oppositions. There is an equality around the table: each is called to care for the other person's plate over one's own, and greatness is defined by serving at table and washing dirty feet." [Bryan P. Stone, Evangelism After Christendom, Brazos Press, 2007]