Ages 7+ · Bible Stories · Easter and the early church
The last supper
🏺a water jar🪔lamps🦶feet to wash🍞bread🍵a cup
A supper in an upstairs room.
The big ideaThe Bible tells us Jesus washed his friends' feet and asked them to love one another.
How it works
The Bible tells how Jesus's friends got ready for the Passover supper in Jerusalem. Passover was a special meal that remembered how God rescued his people from Egypt.
Jesus sent Peter and John ahead. A man with a water jar led them to a house, and they got an upstairs room ready, with flat bread and bitter herbs on the table.
At supper Jesus tied a towel around his waist and washed his friends' feet, which was a servant's job in those days. Peter held back at first. Jesus said he had set them an example, and that they should serve one another too.
Jesus gave thanks and broke the bread, and he shared a cup. He gave them a new command, to love one another. Then they sang a song and went out into the night.
The supper, in order.In those days, and at the supper.
Example 1: Tell the supper in order
First Peter and John get the upstairs room ready.
Then Jesus washes his friends' feet.
Next he breaks the bread and shares a cup.
Last he gives a new command, to love one another, and they sing.
Example 2: A servant's job
In those days a servant washed a guest's dusty feet.
Jesus did that job for his friends.
He said he had set them an example, so they should serve one another too.
Example 3: Do one small job
Pick one small job at home, such as setting the table.
Do it without asking for a thank-you.
That is one small way to serve, as Jesus asked his friends to do.
Words to know
servant
Someone whose job is to help and serve other people.
example
Something you do that shows others the way to do it.
Passover
A special meal that remembered how God rescued his people from Egypt.
Watch out
Jesus washed the friends' feet. The friends did not wash his.
The supper was in an upstairs room in Jerusalem, not in a boat or on a mountain.
Peter held back his feet at first, and then he laughed and asked to be washed all over.
The friends stayed for the whole meal, and they sang a song together at the end.
Try it
Who did Jesus send to get the supper ready?
In those days, whose job was washing a guest's feet?
What new command did Jesus give?
What did they do at the end of the supper?
Answers: 1. Peter and John · 2. A servant's · 3. To love one another · 4. Sang a song
Try at homeWith a grown-up, do one small job for someone at home, like setting the table, and do not ask for a thank-you.
For grown-upsFor a faith reviewer and for you: the bread and the cup are told in a few words, as the Bible tells them, and your church may use its own. The episode joins two Gospel tellings in one order (feet, bread, cup, command), so a pastor may want a different order. Ask your child what small job they could do for someone.
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