THE JESUS THANKSGIVING MEAL

Six Ways Jesus Celebrated Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, originally a harvest festival, has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789. It became a federal holiday in 1863 when then President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” 1 But did Jesus beat us to the idea? Did Jesus actually celebrate a Thanksgiving meal? If so, when? And, what was he giving thanks for?

Lord's Supper

 

The Seder: An Ancient Thanksgiving Meal

Jews throughout the world observe the Passover festival with a highly ritualized meal called a seder. The word means “order” and refers to the order of the service at the meal, including prayers, psalms, the retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and the eating of special foods that have symbolic meaning.

This important celebration is a remembrance of the dramatic way God freed the Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery. The angel of death “passed over” Israel and spared the first-born sons, taking instead the first-born of Egypt. In that act, God vindicated his people and freed them from their oppressors. The Passover meal became a thanksgiving celebration of the God who liberates all those who are oppressed and shackled by slavery. 2

 

Jesus’ “Seder” as Thanksgiving Meal

The seder, as it is practiced today, didn’t exist when Jesus was walking the earth. At least not with its present name and form. That all developed after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  But, they did observe the meal and there were certainly similarities – the eating of unleavened bread, bitter herbs, roasted lamb, and the singing of certain psalms. 3

There are two big differences between the seder as practiced today and the Passover celebration in Jesus’ day: (1) In Jesus’ day there was a nationalistic fervor surrounding the celebration, and (2) In Jesus’ day there was a centrality of emphasis on the literal, physical sacrifice of a lamb.

For Jesus and his disciples, the Passover celebration was all about the freedom that God gives us, no matter what oppressive forces may surround us, and the idea of God’s sacrificial love.

When you remember that it was Abraham Lincoln who proclaimed Thanksgiving as a national holiday in the middle of the American Civil War — the defining battle for the freedom of all people in our country — it makes sense that the sacrificial God of love is at the center of our celebration.

Thanksgiving should be a celebration of freedom for all who suffer under oppression and slavery.

 

So, what legacy did Jesus leave us in the way he celebrated his Thanksgiving meal?

 

The Essential Elements of Jesus’ Thanksgiving Meal

1. He celebrated with family.

The people in the room were his family (Mark 3:32-35). We don’t know exactly how many were there, but we know it was more than just the Twelve Disciples (Mark 14:18-20).4 There had to be children there because the Passover Meal could not be observed without children. 5 Jesus celebrated with his family.

 

2. He served those he loved.

Jesus made humble service a part of the experience. After the meal he washed the feet of his disciples. He then, instructed them to do the same (John 13:5, 14).

 

3. He said, “I love you.”

He told his disciples that he loved them and that he was proud of them and that he would never really leave them. He made sure they felt loved in his presence (John 15:9).

 

4. He asked them to take time to remember.

He made a memory that would last forever. He gave them some symbols to anchor their faith in him and their confidence in what was happening. He made sure they would have a way to process the meaning of the moment and the importance of his sacrifice for them (Lk. 22:19).

 

5. He placed God at the center of the celebration.

Everything was about his heavenly Father. He made it clear that he did nothing without the Father (John 14:10). That he and the Father were one. And that any power he had was given to him by the Father. Everything that was going to happen was orchestrated by the Father (John 13:3).

 

6. He emphasized God’s sacrificial love.

The Thanksgiving meal turned out to be a celebration of God’s sacrificial love (John 15:13). The slaying of the Lamb was a symbol of the sacrifice Jesus would make the next day (1 Cor. 5:7). The blood splattered on the doorposts to our hearts is that of Jesus, the sacrificial lamb who died for our sins (John 1:29). Jesus was celebrating his own death and giving his disciples a new ritual to celebrate the new thing God was doing (1 Cor. 11:26).

 

Whatever else you do this Thanksgiving, take time to remember God’s sacrificial love that provides a pathway to healing and freedom.

 

Rabbi Eliana Falk, reflecting on the seder, says,

The promise of healing from our bondage – our spiritual winter – awakens us and gives us the strength to walk forward, no matter what we are leaving behind, or walking towards … we are all leaving our own Egypts, walking toward a new beginning, and we don’t know the way. We may be marching in step with others, or keeping to the beat of our own drums as we walk toward the Promised Land within.”6

 

May your Thanksgiving be sweet and healing … no matter how you choose to observe it.