Scripture connections: Matthew 24-26, Luke 21-22, John 13-14,18
Mark 13-14 gives me that uneasy feeling again. We're getting to the part in the Easter story I don't like to read, about all the bad things that are going to happen to Jesus. The big shots of the time are out to get Him. They want Him dead. They see Jesus as a threat to their authority. The tension mounts. They don't want to believe He is who believers say He is, the promised Messiah, the Son of God. The disciples are clinging to Jesus' every word at this point. Jesus is preparing them for life after He dies and rises to be with our Heavenly Father.
The Last Supper is one of the ways Jesus prepares His Followers for days ahead. If you have ever been a church goer, chances are pretty good you have experienced communion at some point, a way of honoring and remembering The Last Supper. If you're like me, communion has been something you have always just done. And because I have always done it, I have come to accept it as important in my life as a Christian without really thinking it through. I can remember participating in communion for as long as I have been old enough to go to "big church" (the main worship service). Have you ever wondered why it's such a big deal? Where did this sacred and holy tradition come from and who says it's important? We have already read about it in Matthew 26:17-30, and here it is again in Mark.
