The Last Supper

The Last Supper; Conversations That Led to the Cross

-Will Willimon

This year during Lent a group of us, that you are most welcome to join, will be studying Will Willimon’s book, The Last Supper.  It is going to be a challenging and enlightening experience as we journey with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem from Palm Sunday to Maundy Thursday and beyond.  Along the way we will dig deeply into the stories, parables, and what Willimon calls “riddles” Jesus told as he approached the capital city for what he knew to be his final human act of sacrifice and love.

To give all of you a sense of what the folks in this study will experience and perhaps to encourage you to sign up to join us on this journey, I want to share with you a series of quotes from the Introduction to Reverend Willimon’s book that just might peak your interest.

Reverend Willimon writes, On Palm Sunday he (Jesus) barges into town, uninvited, unwanted even, parading in public, up front in his intentions to claim the city as his own (Matthew 21:1-11; Luke 19:29-44).  We shouldn’t be surprised by his politics.  Never did Jesus begin a parable, “A personal relationship with me is like…”. It was always, “The kingdom of heaven is similar to…”God’s kingdom,” politics Jesus-style, is the theme of most of his parables.

Conquering your precious heart or solving your personal problems are too small a goal for Jesus’ royal aspirations.   As John puts it, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” (John 3:16).  The world, the whole world, more than your heart or even our zip code.  On Palm Sunday Jesus mixes religion with politics, takes it to the streets, in a public dispute with Caesar over who’s in charge…

But who thinks “king” when you see this itinerant country rabbi astride a borrowed donkey, his motley crew tagging along behind him on Palm Sunday…”My kingdom is not from here,” Jesus told Pilate at the trial.  Here, where the monarchs prop up their power with an army, here, where political strong-arming is the only way to get any good done, where people are admired, not for their love and mercy, but for their ability to coerce, enforce, build walls, make threats, and anybody who sheds an empathetic tear is dismissed as a wimp…

We wanted him to unfurl a battle flag, storm Jerusalem, and set up a new messianic King of David government.  Instead, he gave us a simple supper of bread and wine with a bunch of disappointing, simpleton disciples…

“Who are you?” we wondered.  “Where are we headed?”  Jesus answered, but indirectly, with pithy little stories that teased, cajoled, upset, made us smile, befuddled, disoriented, or sometimes smacked us upside the head…

Want to get close to Jesus?  You’ll have to sit for story time with him.

Matthew and Mark say Jesus said nothing except in parables (Mathew 13:34; Mark 4:34).  Over half of everything Luke quotes from Jesus is in parables…These days we prefer truth handed to us on a platter, three obvious points…five doctrines you must believe if you are to be a Christian.  Biblical fundamentals.  Sorry, that’s not Jesus’ way.  If his good news could be encapsulated in easy-to-remember general principles, he would have.  Instead, he told stories as a sly stratagem to make his story yours.

Tell us what it’s it like when God’s kingdom comes, God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven?”…Jesus responds, “Try this.  Somebody lies wounded, dying in a ditch in need of saving…it can be compared to an invitation to a great feast…a woman lost a coin and…the realm of God could be compared to a father who had two sons, both pains in the neck…

Maybe you come to church seeking confirmation for what you already know, and then Jesus throws a curveball of a parable and you find yourself dislocated, subverted, pushed on stage as a character in Jesus’ drama of salvation, made citizen of a kingdom not from here on the basis of nothing but a story…If you journey with Jesus as he heads toward his last meal, (or if you join us for this Lenten Bible study) you’ll have to put up with his riddles.

What kind of Son of God, Prince of Peace, Savior of the World would end up at supper, the night before his death, with a cluster of losers, promising them a place at the table in his coming kingdom?  Willimon says, “Perhaps this book (and I say perhaps this Bible study) is your answer.

I encourage you to join us for this Lenten Bible study.  To reserve your spot at the table contact Susan in the Chapel office by Tuesday, February 3rd.  We’ll make sure you have a book and all you need to prepare for the first session on February 11th from 2:30 - 3:45. 

Peace,

Pastor Paul