Eugene Peterson has suggested that the main setting Jesus used for evangelism was not the synagogue or in the open air, but around the meal table.

Think about the lives transformed when people spent time with Jesus over a meal!

• An immoral woman receives forgiveness when she tenderly wipes the Lord’s feet with her tears and hair.
• Zaccheus – shunned by the community because he was a tax-collector – finds salvation and grace when Jesus invites Himself to dinner.
• After saying yes to following Jesus, Matthew throws a party for his fellow tax-collectors with Jesus as the guest of honour. Jesus uses it as an opportunity to call them back to God!

It was also in the context of a meal that Jesus taught His disciples to remember His death for the sins of the world by breaking bread and drinking wine.

The meal was the Passover, the Jewish commemoration of God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. At various points during the meal, bread was broken and distributed by hand from person to person. “Breaking bread” with another was regarded as a sacred act. For the Jew, it was more than simply sharing food with them – it signified that those sharing the meal were in relationship together and that the guest was under the protection of the host.

The Passover was also built around 4 Cups and one of these called to mind the Old Covenant made between God and Israel at Sinai and sealed by the blood of an animal sacrifice. In saying the wine represents His blood, Jesus speaks of His death for mankind’s sin – the New Covenant between God and His people.

At its very heart, Communion reminds us that we share in the life of Jesus – through His death and resurrection we have entered a covenant relationship with Him and He is present with us – and as His followers, we share life together.

All this, from sharing a meal with Him!

Today’s Bible reading: Mark 14:22-31