Many of my favorite holiday traditions, memories and highlights take place around a table. Whether it’s Christmas breakfast and the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls, the classic Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole, or an Easter egg and ham quiche, our celebrations are often arranged around food and the people we share it with. Whether your Easter table is already set or a brunch reservation is yet to be made, most of us would say the day is only made complete when sharing a meal with those we love. We all crave a sort of “catered-connection” on a holiday that promises hope, new life, and restoration. 

3 days before Jesus would rise from the dead, we see Him around a table with those He loved–His disciples. This was not unusual for Jesus, as all throughout His ministry we see Him eating and dining, sharing the gospel one meal at a time. He used food, one of our most fundamental needs as humans, as a metaphor for Himself, the Bread of Life, promising those who come to Him will never go hungry (John 6:35). Those who came were tax collectors, sinners, widows, Jews, and Gentiles–the rich and the poor. In a society where food was a marker of stratification and class, Christ invited anyone and everyone to dine with Him at His table. 

It was no coincidence that Jesus’ last meal on earth was the Passover meal, shared in an upper room with His disciples. This was a feast of remembrance that God instituted for the Jews to partake of and reflect on His faithfulness in delivering them out of Egypt. But His disciples were about to partake in a new deliverance, one for both the Jews and Gentiles. 

Jesus broke the bread and told them to “take and eat; this is my body;” followed by the cup, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28). This metaphor instituted a new meal of remembrance, a sacrament that we know as Communion. Both in repentance and celebration we remember Christ, the perfect sacrifice, who was crucified on a cross, defeating death and sin, and delivering us from all unrighteousness. Now because of His resurrection, we are raised to life with Him and freed to walk in the Spirit, until we join Him at His table at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

Following Jesus' resurrection and moments before ascending to Heaven, we see Jesus around a table just as he spent His final moments before His death. Appearing to His disciples on the beach, He served them breakfast before leaving them with the greatest Commission of all time–go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). That’s you, that’s me! We are those nations that now gather around a table this Easter, sharing a meal in reflection and celebration of what Christ has done. Their commission is ours too, to invite the broken, hurting, and lost to His table, that they might also taste of His goodness and grace. May we share in His heart of hospitality this weekend, breaking bread and feasting on the gospel of Jesus Christ.