The last supper is a highlight of holy week for Christianity. By Thursday, Jesus can sense that the authorities have had about enough of his protests and he feels that this could be his last meal. This narrative has many layers of meaning. Some are probably valid and others are not. Mark, the earliest Gospel, paints the picture different than in John, the last Gospel. It seems the imagery kept growing for those later generations of Christians.. Actually, even as early as the writing of Mark’s Gospel the imagery of what this meal might mean had begun to develop.

Meals were often an important source of symbolism for Jesus. He had long been making bold statements about social justice and inclusion by sharing meals with all sorts of people. The storytellers of the Gospels use this Passover meal to tie in the death of Jesus to the story of Israel being delivered from Egypt. However, I tend to disagree with some symbolism introduced around Jesus death. I don’t buy into the atonement by substitution theory. The idea that God would demand a death in our place is bizarre and out of character with the image of God that Jesus had spent his life revealing. Forgiveness would not be forgiveness if a payment is made. Also, we don’t die a physical death for our sin or gain our physical life when we get “saved”, so why would a physical death somehow be able to replace our punishment. Another point is that an infinite amount of punishment (eternal damnation) for a finite amount of sin doesn’t seem much like justice even by harsh human standards. It counters Jesus’ teachings that punishment should be within reasonable limits and in proportion to the crime. This is what he meant by “an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth” (an often misunderstood passage).

Moving beyond my ideas about atonement (I realize that most people reading this won’t agree with me), I do still find tremendous value in the story of the last supper. The most interesting thing I see in this story is the fact that this meal is a time of invitation to be included in what Jesus was doing. He has invited the disciples (and us) to join with him in his protest against the empire and his willingness to die for the ideals of his dream for an inclusive neighborhood (kingdom) of God. When I celebrate this event I do not celebrate Jesus death, but instead I remember his life and make a renewed commitment to join his protest at all cost and to carry on his mission until my death. Maundy Thursday is a day of commitment as Jesus asks us to symbolically take on his life as our own.

Jesus, accept my commitment to join with you in the protest against empire even if it comes at great cost to me. I pray that your dream of justice, peace, and compassion will continue to become more and more of a reality.