The Adventures of Jesus Christ
Episodes from the Life of Jesus for Young Readers
by Vincent Cheung
[ Contents ]
Chapter 26. Jesus Feasted with His Followers
DO THIS TO REMEMBER ME
The time had come for the Passover, a celebration that reminded the Jewish people of God’s great deliverance. The truth is that the Passover had always been a picture of a much greater deliverance that Jesus was about to bring, not just to Israel, but to the entire world, and to every person who would believe in him.
Jesus knew this would be his last meal with his disciples before he would face the challenges ahead. He wanted to share something important with them, so he made plans for a special gathering.
As evening approached, Jesus and his disciples came to an upper room in Jerusalem. They settled around a table, ready to enjoy the Passover meal together. The room was filled with the warmth of friendship and love as they shared stories and laughter.
As they began to eat, Jesus looked around at his friends and thought about what was about to happen. He understood that soon he would be betrayed, arrested, and put to death. He had known this for a long time. The prophets had predicted all of this. He had to experience these things in order to save humanity. He wanted to prepare his disciples for what was to come. He had mentioned it to the disciples a number of times, but they did not seem to understand.
Jesus wanted to teach them an important lesson. He stood up, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. The disciples were confused. What was Jesus doing? He poured water into a basin and began to wash their feet, one by one.
At that time, washing feet was something a servant usually did. People wore sandals and walked on dusty, dirty roads, so their feet would get really dirty. When someone visited a house, the servant would wash their feet as a way of welcoming them. It was a job that not many people wanted to do.
The disciples were shocked. Peter said, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Do not do this!” But Jesus insisted. And he said, “Do you understand what I have done? You call me Lord and Teacher, and you are right. I am indeed the master of you all. If even I have washed your feet, you should also serve one another.”
When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, it was a big surprise. He was the most powerful and important person. He was even the Son of God, the hero of humanity. But now he was bent down, washing their feet. He was showing them that even though he was their leader, he was willing to do the work of a servant. He used his position for their benefit.
After Jesus returned to heaven, he wanted his disciples to remember to take care of one another. He did not want them to fight over who was the most important or who could be the boss. If he, the real leader, would do this for his followers, then nobody is too important to humble himself and serve other people.
This would be a necessary lesson for the disciples to work together and keep the group intact. Once religious pride seeps into the hearts of people, even if no one attacks the group, it would destroy itself from the inside.
You might think you are better than someone else, but you are never better than Jesus. If even Jesus would humble himself to serve other people, then you should also be able to serve other people too. Some people always try so hard to prove that they are number one. But only Jesus is number one.
There is another side to this. It also means that no one can think he is so much better than you that he can abuse or control you. He is not better than Jesus. At the end, we really do not answer to one another, but each of us have to answer to Jesus.
No religious leader can tell you to agree with something that does not agree with Jesus, because no religious leader is greater than Jesus. He is the master of us all. It does not matter if religious people think you are good or important. God’s opinion is the only one that matters. If you have faith, God already thinks you are great! And if you are a religious leader, do not make people follow you. The people do not belong to you. They belong to God. Teach people about Jesus, and tell them to follow him.
Then Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins.”
And Jesus took the bread and gave thanks. He broke the bread into pieces and handed it to his disciples. He said, “This is my body, given for you. Do this to remember me.”
And then he picked up a cup of wine, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” He said that his blood will be poured out for many, so that their sins can be forgiven.
Jesus was setting up a way for his followers to remember him. The practice is known as communion or the Lord’s Supper.
As they continued the meal, Jesus said that one of them would betray him. The disciples were extremely troubled by this. Each of them asked him, “Surely it cannot be me, Lord?” Jesus knew that his disciples loved him, but among them, Judas Iscariot had decided to betray him for money.
He knew that soon they would face difficult challenges, but he reassured them, saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Also believe in me.”
Today, churches make the Lord’s Supper an extremely important thing, but they do not really do it at all. Churches will pass around tiny crackers and tiny cups of juice, and call that the Lord’s Supper. But that is not even a snack, and certainly not a supper!
When Jesus did it, it was a complete meal. Today, when churches do it, the pastor is probably the only one who talks, and the rest of the people listen before they take the tiny crackers and tiny cups. But when Jesus did it, it was a time of conversation among all of them, just like what happens during a real dinner.
Many religious people also claim that Jesus is really in the crackers and cups. However, Jesus intended those items in the meal to be symbols of his body and his blood. A symbol is like a picture. It reminds you of the real thing, but it is not the real thing.
Jesus meant that when his followers sit together for a meal once in a while, they should remember him and what he did to save his people. Instead of doing that, religious people want to say that the crackers and cups are really the body and blood of Jesus.
Imagine thinking that a picture of Jesus is the real Jesus. Why would people do that? Because they do not know the real Jesus. If they convince themselves that the picture of Jesus is the real Jesus, then they can convince themselves that they know the real Jesus. This is silly, but it is what faithless religious people do. It takes no faith to handle a picture.
Faithless churches do not know the real Jesus. But they want you to believe that the whole situation is good and real. They give you a picture of Jesus and tell you that picture is the real Jesus. If you accept this, you would think, “Wonderful, they really know the real Jesus!”
And remember that communion is supposed to be a full meal. In giving you only tiny crackers and cups, the churches do not even have the whole picture! It is like they have torn off a corner of the picture and then tell you that it is the entire real Jesus. It is all very silly and useless.
A picture of a person reminds you of the person, but it is not the person. Jesus himself said, “When you do this, remember me.” The picture is there so you will remember the real Jesus and talk about him with other followers of Jesus.
The bread and cup remind you of Jesus, but never think they are the real Jesus, or that Jesus is in the bread and cup. Faithless people use many other symbols in the forms of clothes, decorations, rituals, and special days. They like symbols so much because they have no faith. Many of them do not know Jesus at all. You know Jesus by faith, and only by faith. When you live by faith in Jesus, you will not need to play silly religious games.