URC Daily Devotion Tuesday 8 April 2025

St Luke 22 14 – 23

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.

Reflection

Of all the Gospel writers, Luke is the one who most determinedly identifies the meal that Jesus shared with his disciples before he was betrayed as a Passover meal. 

If you are used to the words that are normally said in church as part of the Communion liturgy, Luke’s version raises some questions!  If you read the New Revised Standard Version (as above) Jesus seems to repeat himself and there is more than one cup. If you read the Revised English Bible, by contrast, some verses are not there, eliminating the apparent repetition (verses 19b and 20 are omitted if you want to check). It’s to do, in part, with which ancient manuscripts the translators rely on. But it’s also about expectations. The problem of the repetition (of the two cups) is not there if you really take seriously Luke’s account that this meal was a Passover meal, where there was more than one symbolic cup and maybe as many as four. What you then see is Jesus sharing a Passover meal, and giving parts of it a renewed meaning. He has ‘eagerly desired’ to eat the Passover meal – it means everything to him, as a meal bringing into the present the liberating story of the past. And Jesus, at the cost again of the shedding of blood, is another part of that liberating story. God set free those enslaved in Egypt and Jesus came to set free the enslaved in his present and in our future. The bread and wine are signs of precious and profound history but also of the promise of the Kingdom of God to come, when all creation will be free. Jesus is painting himself, and with him those who follow him, into the story of God’s covenant with the people.

When you next share bread and wine around the table, whether at home or in church, remember those who have done the same over the centuries in hope of liberation. Never betray the freedom that was won for all God’s children, long ago in Egypt, and once for all on the cross. 

Prayer

Thank you God of all creation, 
that in bread and wine, 
you make plain your promise of freedom. 
Thank you God of Jesus Christ, 
that in broken bread and shared cups
you reveal your presence.
Thank you God the Holy Spirit,
that as we share food around common tables,
you bless and hallow our living.
May your desire to meet with us
be met by our faithfulness
to the covenant you make,
today and always, Amen.