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    The Meal Jesus Gave Us, Revised Edition
    The Meal Jesus Gave Us, Revised Edition
    The Meal Jesus Gave Us, Revised Edition
    Ebook71 pages1 hour

    The Meal Jesus Gave Us, Revised Edition

    By N. T. Wright

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    About this ebook

    In this introductory volume, perfect for Protestant new member and confirmation classes, acclaimed theologian and writer N. T. Wright explains in clear and vivid style the background of the Last Supper, the ways in which Christians have interpreted this event over the centuries, and what it all means for us today. This revision includes questions for discussion or reflection after each chapter.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestminster John Knox Press
    Release dateAug 24, 2015
    ISBN9781611646092
    The Meal Jesus Gave Us, Revised Edition
    Author

    N. T. Wright

    N. T. Wright is the former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and one of the world’s leading Bible scholars. He serves as the chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews as well as Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University. He has been featured on ABC News, Dateline, The Colbert Report, and Fresh Air. Wright is the award-winning author of many books, including Paul: A Biography, Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, The Day the Revolution Began, Simply Jesus, After You Believe, and Scripture and the Authority of God.

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      Book preview

      The Meal Jesus Gave Us, Revised Edition - N. T. Wright

      matters

      Part One

      HOW IT ALL BEGAN

      1

      The birthday party

      You are just sitting down to the table. It is your ten-year-old sister’s birthday party. (If you’re too old to have a ten-year-old sister, think of your daughter, your niece or your granddaughter.) Everything is ready: the table is laid; the birthday cake is waiting to have its candles lit. There are balloons everywhere. People have come with odd-shaped parcels.

      Everyone has arrived; but suddenly the doorbell rings. You rush to see who it is. There, just arrived from his own planet, is a polite (and fortunately English-speaking) Martian. He asks graciously if he can come in. This is going to be a birthday party with a difference. You bring him into the house, and to the room where the party is about to start. After the shock and surprise, people realize he’s harmless and just wants to enjoy the fun. The party gets under way.

      But the Martian, who feels he knows you best since you met him at the door, keeps asking you in a low voice what’s going on. Why are all these people here? Why do they pull those things that make a bang? Why are they wearing funny hats? Why does the little girl in the middle of it all keep opening parcels? And why, oh why is someone trying to set fire to that cake?

      Every time you try to answer him, it seems to make him more puzzled.

      ‘It’s her birthday!’

      ‘You mean she’s just been born?’

      ‘No – she was born ten years ago!’

      ‘So what’s special about that?’

      ‘We always do this each year.’

      ‘What’s a year?’

      ‘It’s when … well, you know, 365 days.’

      ‘It isn’t with us … but never mind. Why are they giving her things?’

      ‘Because it’s her birthday.’

      ‘Why do you give people things on their birthday?’

      ‘Because we always do … I guess – I suppose – I guess it’s to tell them we think they’re special.’

      ‘Isn’t everybody special?’

      ‘Well, yes … but on your birthday you’re extra special.’

      ‘So why are you wearing those funny hats? Are they special too?’

      ‘Well, yes, in a way … they’re to make the day different.’

      ‘And why are they setting fire to the cake?’

      ‘They aren’t – those are candles.’

      ‘But why are you lighting candles? It’s quite light in this room – I can see you perfectly well.’

      ‘We always do … I guess it’s because it makes the party special again.’

      ‘But why do you put them on the cake?’

      ‘I dunno. We just always do. Everybody does.’

      ‘We don’t … but never mind. Why do you all eat things to celebrate someone’s birthday?’

      ‘Now there you’ve got me. I don’t know. But who cares? Here, shut up a minute and have some cake …’

      Imagine life without parties. Imagine life without the thousand things we do, large and small, that give shape to who we are, that give extra meaning and value to people, to occasions, to the way we do things. I guess you can just about imagine living without any little outward signs as to what you were thinking – no hugs and kisses at the start and end of the day, no wave of the hand, no handshakes, no raising of a glass to toast a bride, or a colleague, or an exam passed. I suppose we might, if we tried very hard, be able to organize our lives without special meals on special occasions, without special trips to special places, without all those things that bring colour and depth to our world. We might just manage it. But life would be very dull.

      Imagine life without the things we do that give extra meaning and value

      All human societies, in fact, have developed ways of saying things by doing things. Or, if you like, of meaning things by doing things. A military salute, a pat on the head, the handshake that clinches a business deal: all these are symbolic actions that say things, that mean what they mean within a particular world. And some of the most meaningful things are the special meals that people share together. A wedding reception. The supper when the teenager comes home after six months on the other side of the world. The surprise party to celebrate the end of exams. And, of course, the birthday party.

      The birthday party says two things in particular. ‘Jane, we wish you a very happy birthday today; and we’re glad that, ten years ago, today, you made your grand appearance into the world.’ The party joins together the past event and the present moment. (When my children were little, we used to tell a suitably abbreviated version of the story of the day they were born as part of the party entertainment.) It also looks into the future: ‘Many happy returns of the day!’ we say, even to a ninety-two-year-old. Somehow past, present and future are held together in this one meal. That’s why we make it special, with things that are both silly and meaningless at one level (party hats, candles, and so on) and very

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