Truly I Tell You

By EMILY SIMPSON
Baptist Progress Editor

Leonardo DaVinci's "The Last Supper" Painting

“One of you will betray me.”
 
The talk around the room comes to a sudden halt. An uncomfortable silence pulses through the room, but not for long. Internally, heartbeats rise and thoughts begin to race.
 
“Is it I, Lord?”
 
None of us today were there the night Jesus Christ and His disciples celebrated the iconic Passover Feast. In the hours that followed, Jesus would be betrayed, wrongfully tried, mocked, beaten and crucified. The days before were a series of events that God graciously saw fit to inform us of in scripture. We know what happened each day of that momentous week in history.
 
Christian’s have celebrated these events, named Passion or Holy Week, since the earliest centuries. The purpose? To prime believers’ hearts in remembering the week’s climax, the greatest act of sacrifice and triumph ever known on this earth: Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection three days later. What we call today - Easter or Resurrection Sunday. The truth of this story is one God has used for generations to draw unbelieving hearts to Himself.
 
This story is what Pathway Baptist Church in Waxahachie has hoped to illuminate with their performance of the “Living Lord’s Supper.” Part of their Passion Week celebrations, the Living Lord’s Supper is performed on the Thursday before Easter, correlating with the day Jesus and His disciples would have eaten the Passover Feast. 

(L-R) Jonathan D'Avila playing John the beloved, Jeff Martinez playing Jesus, Tory Jones playing James the brother of John and Jonathan Newton playing Thomas

The cast of the Living Lord’s Supper at Pathway Baptist Church

​Thirteen men from the church are asked to participate and fill roles as Jesus and His disciples. Sometimes deacons, sometimes youth, sometimes a mix. Every year there is a new group, which has resulted in multi-generational friendships. The cast alongside a small crew set a stage designed after Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting. The performance consists of monologues from each disciple, reenactments of the story and a time of reflection. To conclude the evening, communion is held inviting believers to participate in the ordinance Christ gave that very night.
 
Though we do not know what the 12 disciples were truly thinking inside their hearts as Jesus gave the life-altering notice of betrayal, we do know they each verbally questioned if they were the one to forsake Jesus. The goal of Pathway’s Living Lord’s Supper is to prompt the audience to reflect on whether they would’ve done the same by shadowing on stage this story from the living Word of God.
 
“I think it gets people to thinking…. about their walk with the Lord. And then I think it gets people that aren’t saved to think about where they’re at and what Christ did for them,” reflects Jeff Yarbrough, Pathway deacon chairman and director of the Living Lord’s Supper.
 
The night’s performance year after year brings a solemn response from the crowd. The same would have been the case for Jesus and His disciples. However, we are gifted in knowing what Jesus already knew then, that this sorrow would not last forever. His betrayal was the catalyst which led to His willful obedience at the cross. His sacrifice meant forgiveness of sins once and evermore for those who would believe.
 
That gospel message is what Yarbrough says is most important about the night, “and that’s why we continue to do it.”
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If you are interested in seeing the Living Lord’s Supper yourself, join Pathway Baptist Church next Easter and be reminded of the historic event that took place the night before Jesus gave His life for all.

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