God s Story The Last Supper

God's Story, Jesus' Last Supper. So part of God's story is about the night before Jesus died, and it begins like this. Jesus knew he was going to go back to heaven soon, but he hadn't finished teaching his friends everything they needed to know. So he planned a special supper with 12 of his closest friends, called his disciples. A disciple means a Jesus follower. Anybody who follows Jesus gets to be his disciple and his friend, including you and me. So Jesus was sitting around the dinner table with his friends eating supper. We call it the last supper because it was the last meal they ate together before Jesus died on the cross. During the meal, Jesus suddenly left, got a big bucket of water and a towel, knelt down on the floor, and started washing the disciples' feet. That was awfully nice of Jesus, because back then, people walked around on muddy roads without wearing shoes or sandals. They probably stepped in a lot of dirt and camel poop. And now here was Jesus, kneeling right next to their dirty, sweaty, stinky, poop-caked feet. It might sound like Jesus really hated dirty feet, but even though dirty feet can be pretty gross, especially if you've just stepped in camel poop, Jesus was actually teaching his disciples how to act like him. See, Jesus came to earth so that he could serve other people, even if that meant helping them with things like scrubbing their stinky feet, because Jesus thinks helping people is the coolest. And after Jesus leaves, it's up to his disciples to show people how Jesus would act if he were still on earth. Do you think you could show somebody how to act like Jesus? Well, after that, Jesus had some more to teach his friends. Hopefully, he washed his hands since he touched all his feet, but we don't know for sure. Anyway, Jesus knew the disciples might have a hard time always acting like him, so Jesus told them he was going to send a special helper called the Holy Spirit to show his friends how to act like him. And the Holy Spirit still helps Jesus' friends today. Well, after the exciting news about the Holy Spirit coming to help everyone, Jesus started teaching his friends how to stay close to him, too, even when he's in heaven. We can stay close to Jesus by talking to him, listening to him, and obeying him by doing the things he was teaching. Jesus explained this by talking about a plant. First, he said that he is like a grapevine growing in a garden. His friends, that's us, are like the branches. God is like the gardener who comes out and helps make sure those branches are healthy and strong, growing juicy, delicious grapes. Think about what will happen if a branch falls off a grapevine. It's not going to be able to grow any grapes laying on the dirty ground. Instead, spiders and ants will come live in it, people will step on it, and it might become a bathroom for birds. So basically, we, the branches, need to be connected to Jesus, the vine, if we're going to be healthy disciples. That means we should talk to Jesus, listen to him, and obey him, even when we don't feel like it. We have to stay close to Jesus to be his followers. After all this garden talk, Jesus wanted to make sure the disciples knew how to pray. So he prayed and showed them that prayer is really just talking to God. Remember, kids, Jesus loves all of us so much that he wants us to stay close to him, just like his disciples. Staying close to Jesus doesn't just mean knowing stuff about him. It means knowing him like a friend by talking to him, listening to him, and showing that we love him by obeying what he teaches. And that's the story of Jesus' Last Supper. So, in case you missed it, here's the quick version. Jesus ate dinner. He washed his friends' feet. That showed them how to help others. He told them the Holy Spirit was coming. The Holy Spirit helps us. Jesus wants us to stay close to him, like a vine and its branches. He talked to God. We can help others, get help from the Holy Spirit, stay close to Jesus, and talk to God, too. And that's a part of God's story.