We were supposed to be sharing a fish and chip supper and service of Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday evening.
Instead Sue Joyce has suggested some simple things we can do at home to remember the Passover, and Jesus’ Last Supper.
You will need
- The words on this page (plus a Bible, if you’d rather read from a Bible)
- Two candles
- A way of lighting the candles (!)
I told you it was simple! If you want to have a piece of bread and some wine to hand, to use during the Bible reading, that’s up to you.
1. Before the meal
Wash your hands!!
Once the table is laid, the candles are out, and the food is ready, it’s time to say grace. Light the candles, and give thanks for the food you are about to eat. (Or you can say this traditional blessing: Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has chosen us and made us holy with your commands.)
2. Enjoy your dinner!
3. Telling the story
After the main course, or after the meal, open your Bible and read from Mark 14:12-26 (printed out at the bottom of this page).
Or you could watch this video from Saddleback Kids:
4. Ending
Pray: Father, thank for this meal, and for our church family. Help each of us know your blessing, and how close you are to us today. Amen.
And that’s it!
Mark 14:12-26 (NIV)
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’
So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, “The Teacher asks: where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’
The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me – one who is eating with me.’
They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, ‘Surely you don’t mean me?’
‘It is one of the Twelve,’ he replied, ‘one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.’
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take it; this is my body.’
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,’ he said to them. ‘Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.