The recreation of Leonardo Da Vince's famous painting "The Last Supper" performed by members of the First United Methodist Church of Irwin Tuesday and Thursday of Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter Sunday) at 7pm.
After the Last Supper, Jesus Christ willfully and obediently allowed himself to be brutally sacrificed on a wooden cross. He did this to reconcile each of us to God by paying the debt of our sins, which we could never do on our own power. In return, Jesus makes a simple request, remember this act of love He performed on our behalf. Jesus Christ did not have to die for us. He did, however, because He values every life on earth and wants to see each of us sitting at His dining table someday in heaven. Throughout the Bible, and throughout history, the truth of Christ's message has been established - that we can join Jesus in heaven by acknowledging His sacrifice and accepting Him into our life. In addition, we can apply the lessons Jesus taught at the Last Supper to live a faithful life while here on earth by serving others in love. The bread is a symbol of the body of Jesus, never to be forgotten as it was given to us. The cup represents the blood of Jesus, never to be forgotten as he poured out His life for us. Jesus Christ has offered everybody the gift of His life, death and resurrection. The Last Supper reminds us of Christ's sacrifice, and that by faith in Him, we can dine with Christ for all eternity.
“For centuries before Jesus came to earth, each year when the spring harvest began, the Jewish people were instructed to remember the emancipation of Israel from slavery in Egypt by observing Passover. Ritual prayers of blessing were learned and recited. All leaven was removed from the house, a specific set of foods was prepared on dishes used only for this occasion, and a ceremony was performed by each family through which the story of the Exodus was retold. The instructions for the Passover Feast were given to Moses before the Ten Commandments! It pre-dates all other feasts, and its importance was made clear when Jesus chose to celebrate this feast during His last hours.
“The Passover Supper is rich with beauty and symbolism, but its significance is lost to many Christians today. The unleavened bread represents the sinless Savior; it is broken and half hidden away, representing His death and burial; it is later uncovered and eaten. … The Matzo bread used for this ceremony is grilled, so it has stripes that remind us that Jesus was beaten; it has holes in it, which remind us that he was pierced. When Jesus says to His disciples, “This is my body,” it gives the bread a whole new level of meaning. The blood of a lamb figures heavily into this ceremony as well. In Egypt, the Israelites painted their door posts with the blood of a spotless lamb. When the angel of death saw this, he “passed over” those homes and spared the first-born from the last of the ten plagues – the plague of death. When John refers to Jesus as “…the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” it becomes clear that the Israelites had been presenting a picture of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for 1500 years before His birth by celebrating Passover!
“The Living Last Supper incorporates the DaVinci painting as a model for the set and is also meant to represent a true picture of the Last Supper, which was a celebration of the Passover Feast. …The speaking parts are meant to allow us to hear the inner thoughts of each man. …"
“When God called these twelve men to be His disciples and apostles and to establish the New Testament Church, He chose flawed individuals, people just like you and me, men who were not saints or even finished products, but works in progress; men whose qualities needed to be honed, molded, and channeled in positive ways. It is my prayer that God will use this production to remind all of us that He is not finished with any of us, and that every one of us is guilty of denying and betraying Him. The most important lesson of this presentation, however, is that His love and mercy covers every contingency, and His will is perfect, even if it is difficult to understand. Just as these twelve exemplary men had a mission given to them to build the New Testament Church on a foundation of love and grace, we are also charged to continue that mission, to love one another and to share the good news of the Messiah.”