“On the night when Jesus was betrayed, he took a loaf of bread. . .”
At the Last Supper Jesus, knowing what is going to happen, that one disciple will betray him, that one disciple will deny him, and that all the disciples will abandon him, still sits down and breaks break with them.
October 26, 2025
The Welcome Table
“Stay at the Table: Betrayal and Denial”
Luke 22: 7-34
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Luke 22: 7-34
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” They asked him, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” “Listen,” he said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’ He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.” So they went and found everything as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!”
Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this. A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, “The kings of the gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather, the greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. “You are those who have stood by me in my trials, and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail, and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” And he said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day until you have denied three times that you know me.”
Stay at the Table: Betrayal and Denial Luke 22: 7-34
In studying texts, our starting place is always context because as you have heard me say on many occasions, the Bible was not written for us as modern day people of faith. It was written for a particular community, in a particular time with a particular concern. We hold this to be true AND we know that in 2025, we still can find wisdom for us within its words, wisdom which speaks to our situation, which speaks to our concern. Because not only do we look at the context of what is happening around the text when we study our sacred texts, we also name what is happening within our own community context as well. And when we do that for the larger Midway community, we need to recognize, we need to name that this past week was weird. Just weeks after a unifying community gathering, our community woke up on Wednesday morning to hateful and hate filled flyers spread across sidewalks, and people’s yards. I also need to name that in light of that event, it may seem tone deaf to continue this conversation about staying at the Table, to read this passage about the Lord’s Supper, to hold onto hope that one day divisions among humanity will cease.
But I argue that this is the perfect text for a time such as this. You see, Luke gives us a huge clue to the context of this text in the very first line. “Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when Passover lamb had to be sacrificed”. With that one line, Luke is letting us know that emotions were running high in Jerusalem. With these few simple words, Luke is telling his readers, Luke is telling us that it was a time of political turmoil in large part because the people were living under the oppression of the Roman Empire. And now in the midst of that political turmoil, the people of Jerusalem were preparing for Passover, a celebration which honors the time when God made the impossible possible, when God liberated God’s people from the bonds of oppression. In the midst of that political turmoil and oppression, questions of how God was moving in and among the people were swirling in the air. In the midst of that political turmoil, people were wondering if God would act to liberate God’s people once more. And in response to these questions, these wonderings, the powers that be were trying to maintain control through narratives which stoked fear and worry. From the very first line in our text, Luke is letting us know tensions and emotions were running high.
And in the midst of that political turmoil, Jesus invites his disciples to gather at the Table. Knowing what awaits him in Jerusalem, knowing what will happen in the next few days, Jesus eats a meal with his disciples. In the midst of all that political turmoil, Jesus takes a loaf of bread and says, “this is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” In the midst of all that political turmoil, Jesus calls his disciples to remember, to remember his teachings, to remember his example, to remember his words, to remember his call to be in community with one another.
Of course, the disciples miss the significance of the moment. They soon begin to argue who is the greatest in which Jesus gives them another lesson on what it means to be a servant, what it means to be Jesus’ disciples, what it means to live in the promises of God’s Kingdom coming to fruition here on Earth just as it is heaven. And it comes to the disciples, it comes to us in the oddest and most powerful of ways…in verse 32, Jesus turns to Peter and says…Peter, I have prayed for you. I prayed that your faith will not fail. And you, once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
For me, the impact of this statement is easy to miss because we want to skip to the next line where Peter ironically says, Jesus, I will follow you unto death. We know what happens just a few hours later, when Peter denies even knowing Jesus, not once but three times. But that is not where I want us to focus our attention this morning as we spend time with this foundational text.
This morning, in light of the events of the week, in light of the tensions running high in our community and in our nation, in light of people living on the edge, worn out emotionally, mentally, physically, and maybe even spiritually, I’m going to invite us to sit with verse 32 for a bit. In this verse, Jesus shows us how to live in community with one another, Jesus shows us how to stay at the table with each other. Jesus simply says, “Peter, it is your choice. I cannot fix you. I will not enable you. I will simply hold you in prayer and trust in your return. I will simply hold onto the hope of the promise of God’s Beloved community. Jesus simply says what I will do is place my trust in God who is bringing healing and wholeness to all of God’s people with or without our help.
The power of that simple statement comes from the fact that Jesus knew his disciples. He was in relationship with his disciples. He was in community with his disciples And because of that, he knew their strengths as well as their growing areas. He knew being in community was hard. He knew relationships were complicated. He knew that we humans are grumpy imperfect people who get it wrong more times than we get it right. Jesus knew all this when he called them, when he called us to be his disciples. And, “Jesus also knew that there is a God who is with us more fully than we are with each other”
Or let me say it this way…I get it. It is so easy to become disillusioned with the world, with each other. It is easy to become disillusioned with the church. After all, it seems in our two thousand years, we have done more harm than good, adding to the divisions, sometimes even creating them. I get it. Believe me I get it. I told someone the other day, that people get on my nerves and I’m in the people business. I get it. I understand how easy it is to walk away, to write people out of our lives, to leave the church, to mistrust the institutions whose mission it is to provide security. I get it.
And I still say, I still believe, I still know that as people of faith, we hold, we believe that there is something about that Table which invites, which calls us to put our trust, not in human institutions with all their imperfections but to seek and find the presence of God in our midst. I still say, I still believe, I still know that there is something powerful about this meal which we celebrate each and every Sunday, that Jesus, knowing what is going to happen, knowing that one disciple will betray him, that one disciple will deny him, that all the disciples will abandon him, Jesus still sits down and breaks break with them. There is something about this meal which is our cornerstone, which is our foundation of faith, that invites us to see each other as people who are perfect the way we are AND as people who are called to do the hard work of becoming the people God created us to be. There is something about this meal, this Table which calls us to stay at the Table because again, it is at this meal, at this Table, we are reminded that it is not about us as individuals. It is about us as a community, about us as the Body of Christ, about us with all our strengths and weaknesses, still holding onto the hope of God’s Beloved Community coming to fruition here on Earth for all of God’s people.
Because it is at this meal, it is at this Table, as people of faith, we are reminded that even when we fail, God is there, moving in and among us, bringing healing and wholeness, binding us together in community. That when we say the words, “every time we eat this bread, we drink this cup, we remember and celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ until he comes, we are proclaiming that love and light will always overcome, we are proclaiming that this world will not have the last word, we are proclaiming that we are stubbornly holding onto the hope that by living in community with all our strengths and with all our weaknesses, we will show this world that there is a different way to be, a way of peace, a way of love, a way of grace, a way which brings healing and wholeness for all of God’s people.
Again, I’m not pretending to have all the answers but what I do have is Jesus’ example, an example which so transformed me, so transformed us, that opened our eyes, opened our hearts to the presence of God in our midst, that we can do nothing else but stay at the Table and choose stubborn faithfulness, trusting in God to do what we cannot, and that is to continue moving in and among us, bring about healing and wholeness, and binding us together as one. May it be so. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, October 26, 2025 – Stay at the Table: Betrayal and Denial Luke 22: 7-34.
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