Jesus gathered the 12 into an upper room to eat a passover meal with his friends. We aren’t exactly sure if this is THE passover meal or one of the meals during the passover week. If it is the main passover meal we wonder why more isn’t said of the more obvious symbol of Jesus and what he is about to do – the sacrificial lamb. Instead he focuses on the bread and the wine. Matthew tells us that Jesus took the bread, gave thanks and broke it. The word used for gave thanks is the word eucharisto which is why many Christians refer to the Lord’s Supper as the Eucharist. It is a time of thanksgiving. Jesus first, us second. Jesus thanked God for the very bread that symbolized his immanent death. He thanked God for the wine that represented his own blood. That is not easy things to thank God for. Second we give thanks. We thank God that Jesus was willing to follow through with the plan to save humanity and creation. That is like the prisoner thanking God for the electric chair but it is more than that. Jesus is thanking God for all that will result from His self-sacrifice…the salvation of mankind.
I have thanked God for many things over the last several days. It was great to thank God for the greatest thing this morning – the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
