Thursday: The Last Supper
Open Your Bible
Mark 14:12-72, John 16:16-24, John 16:32-33, Psalm 41:7-13, Zechariah 13:7
BY Bailey Gillespie
My good friend had hit a breaking point. After experiencing crisis upon crisis, she finally collapsed under the weight of what felt like too much to bear. A relationship had just dissolved. An EF-3 tornado ripped through her neighborhood, and she spent the next week volunteering with Hands-On Nashville relief efforts. There are financial struggles within her family. The COVID-19 quarantine suspended her classes and, along with it, the chance of getting into a music program for which she had already had four callbacks. In a moment of clarity, she realized while texting us that her birthday was that coming weekend—a birthday she would likely not be able to celebrate as planned.
My friend’s sorrows are personal, but she is not alone in her grief. Similar sorrows are shared by much of the world right now. There is a collective weight in the air these days. Can you imagine the sorrow Jesus must have carried during the nights leading up to His death? He had His own sorrow (Mark 14:34), but He ached for His friends as well (Luke 22:32), even as He prepared to carry the sin and sorrow of the whole world on His shoulders (Isaiah 53:4).
During the Passover feast with His disciples—what we call the Last Supper—Jesus knows that sorrow will soon find them. Trying to prepare His friends for His death, He navigates the situation with delicacy and affirms the sorrow they will feel in losing Him, a close friend. He also reassures them that it will be worth it in the end. “You will become sorrowful,” He says, “but your sorrow will turn to joy” (John 16:20). This strange comfort is also for women who suffer the pain of childbirth (v.21) or Christian martyrs facing their own death after standing for a cause.
Sorrow isn’t a bad thing. Jesus experienced it as a natural part of the human condition. But even while affirming such feelings, He gives the disciples a framework for understanding their future hope—a future extending far beyond the plane of what they can immediately see. Yes, they must grieve His death, but that death was actually a seed that would unfold into new life. Jesus makes sure His disciples know with certainty that they will see Him again (v.22). Even if they don’t fully understand what He means, this changes everything for them, just as it changes everything for us.
No matter what happens in this life, we will see Jesus again. Because of the resurrection, those who hope in Christ Jesus will see each other again too. There is a time coming when every tear will be wiped away, and the burdens that we carry will be released (Revelation 21:4). The old will pass away, as joy triumphs over our troubles and swallows the pain of grief.
In Christ, we have permission to feel sorrow. But we also have the charge to walk forward in courage and expectation of our future hope. “You will have suffering in this world,” Jesus tells us. “Be courageous! I have conquered the world” (John 16:33).
51 thoughts on "Thursday: The Last Supper"
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Sorry, I should have read my post to Jess before sending it:
This scripture does seem a bit random:
In Mark 14 it mentions this naked guy who tried to follow after Jesus is arrested.
But I too know that there is nothing random about God’s word. -
Hey Jess, I agree this scripture does seem a bit random:
In Mark 14 it mentions this naked guy who tried to follow after Jesus is arrested.
But I too that their is nothing random about God’s word. I hope that we get an answer. I’ve got to get a study bible. -
Good morning Taylor. I’m praying for all of you, Carol, Cynthia, all of you. Psalm 41 was powerful to read this morning and of course right on time. God will give you all favor and raise you up in spite of what the enemy reports. Cancer? NO, Fear? NO. Jesus has already overcome and restored joy and peace. Receive it.
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This devotional today helped me realize that Jesus died not only for my sin, but for my sorrows as well. Sometimes I get so stuck in the disappointments but believing that He died for those too brings hope that they will be changed in the restoration. I had thought that if you pray Thy will be done, and have to relinquish something, that you just had to live with the disappointed feelings, but now I see that He cares about those too and will restore joy. In the morning.
Waiting for the morning! -
To those who from yesterday’s post expressed the burden for adult children and/or parents who are not following the Lord with zeal, I wanted to say, “me too.” In regard to the heavy emotions that come with such a burden, I’ve been encouraged on the matter time and time again through Paul’s words in Romans 9:1-3 when he speaks of having “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” His sorrow and anguish as because of his “kinsmen according to the flesh” who have rejected Jesus. While I do believe it is good to ask the Lord to keep our hearts from idolizing our kinsmen, it seems these words of God’s servant show us that deep emotion over our lost family is part of loving the Lord and them. I hope this may be a kind of encouragement to you all as it has been to me.
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As a type A personality, my Bible is color-coded to the extreme. For me, the color purple is assigned to “miracles & prophecies.” Today was challenging- I hesitated to break out my purple pen for today’s readings because yes, they were prophecies fulfilled, but it certainly didn’t feel appropriate to categorize them among miracles: betrayal, heartbreak, suffering,… But then I got it,… that’s the point. Jesus’ passion and the events leading up to it are all of the above,… prophecy, fulfillment, AND miracle. As hard as it is to believe (Jesus Himself found it hard to swallow in Gesthemane), Jesus’ suffering is miraculous! God orchestrated the suffering and sacrifice of His Son from the beginning, as plan A, and through this plan, we are saved from our sin. So there it is, ladies, God revealing Himself to my Type A self in a way that only He can. Wishing you all a Blessed Holy Week & a Happy Easter, purple pen in hand!
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Taylor, I join with others here to pray for your friend, Carol and her mom, Cynthia. May the Lord bring healing to Cynthia both soul and body in whatever way he deems good and will glorify him. I pray for Carol’s grief and fears to be cast upon the Lord as she humbles herself under him, trusting he is not only in control of her mom’s cancer, but that he cares for them.
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I’m grateful for the reminder that Jesus doesn’t expect us to face death with stoic-like emotions. What an example the Lord displayed for us at the tomb of Lazarus as well as here on the brink of his own death.And it is a gift for the Lord to teach us that though death brings us sorrow, the resurrected life brings us joy that cannot be taken from us! As I meditate on this truth and what happened to our Lord and Savior more the 2000 years ago, I feel the mixing of sorrow and joy. How glad I am that one day the sorrow will go and will be with a joy unimaginable forever! Blessed be the name of the Lord! Amen.
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