Come To The Table

Today is Maundy Thursday … the night we remember the final meal that Jesus had with his disciples.     For years I have been profoundly moved by this remembrance because of who was at the table with Jesus for that meaningful event.  It may be because we have twelve children who have a variety of different relationships with us who we have dined with often.... in the same way that Jesus had a unique relationship with the twelve folks he had dinner with that night.

You probably know a lot about some of these men.  We don’t need to talk about each of them but we know that one was a tax collector….. not popular back in the day.  James and John were brothers and called the “Sons of Thunder” and I’m guessing that was not because they were mild mannered.   Peter was an impetuous dude who always seemed to be putting his foot in his mouth.   Can you imagine Jesus looking around and thinking about each of them “He’s come a long way the last three years!”

But Jesus not only had the ability to look behind, he had the ability to look ahead.  He knew that he was having dinner with a guy who was going to completely doubt his resurrection.  He could see into the future to know that one of the guys at the table was going to deny him publicly three times.  And most sobering, he knew that one of the folks around the table was going to betray him and turn him over to the authorities to be killed.

But the character of Jesus and the purity of who he was led him to treat each of those men the same way.  He fed each.  He washed the feet of each of them…. The one who referred to himself as the “disciple Jesus loved” AS WELL AS the one who would turn him over to be killed.

So no matter where you’ve been, and no matter who you are … your personality quirks, your bad habits, your faithlessness and doubt…. And no matter what you’ve done, and maybe even more surprisingly, no matter what you are going to do you are always welcome at the table of Jesus.

This video is one of the most moving videos I’ve ever seen.  I can’t even explain to you how much I love it.

This is your invitation today.