“But look! My betrayer is with me; his hand is on this table. The Human One goes just as it has been determined. But how terrible it is for that person who betrays him.” They began to argue among themselves about which of them it could possibly be who would do this. An argument broke out among the disciples over which one of them should be regarded as the greatest. —Luke 22:21-24 (CEB)
That’s right. Around this Last Supper table, according to Luke, Jesus announces he will be betrayed that very evening. The disciples begin to argue about who’s the guilty one, and that argument devolves into another argument . . . over who is the greatest.
Huh? Really?
Luke must be rolling his eyes as he writes. Likely, he’s got chapter 14 in mind, setting up the irony of this dispute.
That’s the chapter with Jesus at a table nearly the whole time. And his stories there are about tables and banquets, etiquette and invitations.
When Jesus noticed how the guests sought out the best seats at the table, he told them a parable. “When someone invites you to a wedding celebration, don’t take your seat in the place of honor. Someone more highly regarded than you could have been invited by your host. The host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give your seat to this other person.’ Embarrassed, you will take your seat in the least important place” (Luke 14:7-9).
Instead, says Jesus, sit at a low place and let the host offer you a better seat. It’s pragmatic advice, really—and had Jesus stopped there, we might even think it a bit strange. (Isn’t it simply a good strategy to get honored in the end?) But Jesus is just getting warmed up.
Next comes his upside-down way of doing a guest list: Don’t invite people who will invite you back. Invite those who will never be in a position to return the favor—those who won’t earn you a single point of social capital or honor or political favor. Invite, says Jesus, the least and the lost.
Were his disciples missing from the dinner table that day? Or not listening? Or had the forgotten already?
Or is it that this Way of Jesus is easier preached about than practiced?
I suspect it’s the latter—which is why we gather this evening for this ancient meal around a Table—with Cup and Bread, Basin and Towel. This Way of Jesus does indeed take practice. Again and again and again.
If you are in Southern California, join us this evening (7pm) at the La Sierra University Church sanctuary for the first of 4 Days with Jesus.