My family has some really awesome family traditions. For example, every Saturday after church our family goes hiking. Another tradition that we have as a family is coming together for a family member’s birthday. We always make sure that person feels really special.
Right now I’m getting ready for our Christmas pajamas tradition. Every year my family buys a new pair of Christmas pajamas and wears them on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We wake up on Christmas morning and know from the very start of the day that it will be full of lots of fun, plus yummy food.
For breakfast we have lots of different things, including waffles and cake, but mostly cake. For lunch we eat this type of flatbread that has a bunch of spices on it and then spend the day together, as a family, especially with those who are coming from Texas to visit for the holiday. If you were to walk into our house on Christmas Day you would see all of the moms in the kitchen cooking up all of the yummy food for the day, most of the dads chilling on the couch, and all of us kids playing outside with one another (some on their phones). This family tradition of coming together each year and spending time together is something that I look forward to.
Traditions are really important, and as I think of my own family traditions it makes me think of one of the traditions that Jesus had with his disciples.
In Luke 22:7-20, we read the story of the Last Supper. Jesus tells his disciples to go to a random person’s house and ask them if they could use one of the person’s guest rooms and set up their dinner there.
What would you do if Jesus told you to go to some random house and ask to use their guest room as a place to eat? My personal reaction would be to question Jesus, saying something like, “Are you being for real right now? You want me to go to a stranger’s house? We could just skip dinner or go have a picnic outside?”
However, they didn’t question Jesus. They went straight to it and did as Jesus told them. Luke 22:13 says, “They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.” They trusted Jesus and did as he had told them.
Once at the dinner it got deep. Jesus said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant of my blood, which is poured out for you.”
We now know what Jesus meant by the words he spoke, but the disciples were probably really confused. Jesus wanted to share with the disciples what was about to take place and that is why he called them all together. This gathering of the disciples was a time where all were together. They had Jesus with them. The disciples and Jesus were like a family, coming together and celebrating the passover.
This moment that we now know of as the Last Supper is something that we remember through the tradition of Communion, a special moment where we reflect on the gift that Jesus gave us on the cross.
Even though my Christmas tradition may not be the same as the disciples meeting together, or even some traditions we have at church, it’s still a tradition that I really love and value. This Christmas as I continue my tradition, I am going to make sure to stop and think of the gift that Jesus made for me.
Kidduse Daniel is a seventh-grader at La Sierra Academy, who loves playing different types of sports and hanging out with his friends.