The Last Supper Brought to Life

Throughout the week we have been sharing ideas on this website on how to bring meaning and perspective to the Easter story. Understanding the ‘meaning’ of Easter is exactly what I had in mind when hosting a Last Supper for my family. Let me say up front that this need not be a time consuming project! I easily put this together using items we had on hand. While simple to put together however, I think the impact on my family was far reaching. I hope you find this a helpful guide for having your own Last Supper.

Our meal started with reading the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet from John 13:3-30. We use The Beginner’s Bible from Zonderkids which gives an age appropriate interpretation of the scripture – perfect for my 6, 3 and 1 year olds.

My 3 year old pouring the water to the basin

My 6 year old washing my 1 year olds little feet

As I watched my children wash each others feet, I was struck that as a parent of young kids this is something I regularly do. However, It was touching to see them so lovingly and carefully cleaning the feet of their sisters. We discussed with the girls how by serving each other we are showing our love.

We then sat down for our simple feast and read the story of the last supper from Matthew 26:17-29. The girls especially liked how similar our table looked to the one shown in their Bible.

Our ‘Last Supper’

We prayed over our meal, broke bread and shared our ‘wine’ (okay the sparkling juice may have been the real highlight!). The concept of metaphors is not one easily understood by young children, but the idea that when you break bread you should think of Jesus is one they grabbed onto. As we sat around the table sharing our simple foods we talked about Jesus and how he might have been feeling and they had tons of questions. While we read our Bible together regularly, immersing ourselves in the experience really brought it to life for all of us and I hope brought a better understanding to the true meaning of Easter.