The Last Supper — the table, the sop, and the two men who denied Him

From a sermon · John 11:55–57; 13:1–30; Luke 22; Mark 14

The night, in order

The chief priests and scribes want Jesus dead but are nervous about doing it during the feast (John 11:55–57). Jesus goes to Bethany, to Mary, Martha, and Lazarus; Mary breaks the alabaster jar over Him and Judas objects to the waste. Judas goes to the priests and works out a price (Luke 22:3–6). Jesus sends Peter and John into the city, where — just as He said — they find a man carrying a water jar who leads them to a furnished upper room (Mark 14:12–16). They prepare the Passover. Jesus washes the disciples' feet and gives them their example: love and service (John 13:3–20). He tells them one of them will betray Him, fulfilling Psalm 41:9, "even my friend in whom I trusted, one who ate my bread, has raised his heel against me." They ask each other, "Is it I?" Peter nudges John to ask who. Jesus says it's the one He hands the piece of bread to — and hands it to Judas, who eats it and goes out into the night (John 13:21–30). Jesus teaches the eleven, institutes the picture of the new covenant in bread and cup (Luke 22:14–20), and they leave for the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39).

The table

Meals then were eaten at low tables, guests reclining on cushions, with the most honored guest placed beside the host. The Passover menu that night likely included lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, bean stew, olives, and fish sauce. Every element pointed somewhere. The lamb recalled the night in Egypt when blood on the doorposts made the Lord pass over — and pointed forward to "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), whose bones, like the Passover lamb's, were not broken (Exodus 12:46; John 19:33). The unleavened bread recalled leaving Egypt in haste — and leaven, throughout Scripture, pictures sin; the bread must be unleavened, striped, and pierced, and it's hard not to see Isaiah 53:5 and Psalm 22:16 in it.

In the Seder, three pieces of unleavened bread sit together in a single bag called the echad — "one," the same word Genesis 2:24 uses for husband and wife becoming one flesh. The middle piece is broken; half goes back in the bag and half is wrapped in linen, hidden, and later found by the children and held for a ransom. Jewish tradition can't fully explain why. The New Testament can: three in one; the middle one broken — "this is my body, which is broken for you" (1 Corinthians 11:24); divine nature returned to the one, human nature wrapped in a burial cloth, hidden, sought, and found; "a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). Jesus sat at that table as the completion of everything on it — "the new covenant" Jeremiah promised (Jeremiah 31:31).

The sop

The "sop" was a small piece of bread dipped in the dish. At a meal like this, the host would hand it to the guest he wanted to honor most — the one he loved and esteemed above the others. Sit in each seat for a moment. John, leaning on Jesus' chest, whispering the question. Peter, across the table, signaling to John. Judas, close enough to be handed the bread — which means close enough to be honored. And Jesus, who knew exactly what Judas had already agreed to, handing His betrayer the token of His greatest love, and then letting him go.

Two outcomes

Both Judas and Peter denied Jesus that night. Judas sold Him; Peter swore three times he'd never met Him. Watch where each one went. Judas, seeing Jesus condemned, was seized with remorse, threw the silver back at the priests — "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood" — and went and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3–5; Acts 1:16–20). Peter wept bitterly, and three days later ran to an empty tomb — and a few weeks after that Jesus met him on a beach, cooked him breakfast, and asked him three times, "Do you love me?", once for each denial, and gave him his work back (John 21).

My wife sent me a line once that I've never forgotten: learn to discern your Judas from your Peter. Peter had a bad day. Judas had a bad heart. Peter you restore. Judas you release. And yet — notice what Jesus did with His Judas. He never released him. He kept him at the table to the very end, even though it meant His betrayal. He washed his feet. He handed him the sop. Jesus loved Judas. Let that one sink in.

Three things to take with you

People are going to hurt you. Jesus loves them. Some will be Peters — they had a bad day — and some will be Judases. Learn the difference, and remember that Jesus kept even His Judas close until the end. That's the heart of Christ: you don't give up on people, even when it costs you.

You are going to hurt Jesus. Jesus loves you. Judas and Peter both denied Him, and He loved both of them. He will always take you back if you'll come back to Him. "If the humble-hearted Savior could wash the feet of His betrayer, then surely He could love a heart like mine."

So forgive people — and restore your relationship with Jesus. Don't end up like Judas, sorry and alone. End up like Peter, on the beach, back at work, loved.

The sop is still in His hand

If you've never come to Jesus at all, look one more time at what He did at that table. He knew exactly what Judas was about to do, and He washed his feet anyway. He handed him the bread anyway. That's the same heart that went to the cross for people who were still against Him, and that's the same heart that walked out of the tomb three days later. You don't have to clean yourself up first. You don't have to prove you're a Peter and not a Judas. You just have to come to Him and tell Him you believe He died for you and rose, and ask Him to save you. He'll take you. He always has.

Believer, there's already a name in your head. Somebody who hurt you. This week, decide which one they are, and then act like you decided. If they're a Peter, call them. Not a text. Call.

And if you're the one who denied Him lately — quietly, in your own house, where nobody saw it — He isn't waiting on you to grovel. He's waiting on you to come back to work.

Related: 'It is finished' — Jesus and the five offerings and The destruction of bitterness.