What a crazy year it has been, friend. 

I’m not sure where you were a year ago today, but I remember Easter week of 2020 very clearly. My husband and I celebrated the risen Savior alone on our couch as we watched our Easter Sunday service through a television screen. We were filled with uncertainty and angst as the word pandemic weighed heavily on our hearts and in our minds. We felt a little sad and a little lonely, not just because we weren’t surrounded by our family and friends on Easter Sunday singing our praises in church. But because we weren’t even given a choice. 

I don’t know where your heart is this Holy Week, friend. Are you still carrying the weight of uncertainty and loneliness that 2020 held? Are you burdened and weary or slowly finding the gift of joy again? 

For me, I find myself weary and waiting but holding the hope of my Savior close to my heart. 

So today, on this very Good, but perhaps heavy or lonely, Friday, I wanted to remind us all of the true miracle of Easter so clearly shown in Luke 22.

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

Luke 22:14-20

There are so many evident truths about the heart of Jesus laid out in this short passage where we find Jesus communing with His disciples the night before He was to be crucified. And with the heaviness that was 2020, I think we could all use a little reminder of what Jesus’ heart genuinely looks like. 

I want to use Luke 22 today to remind us that Easter isn’t just about going to church on a celebrated Sunday. 

I want to use this passage today to remind us that the Kingdom of Heaven is always closer than we think. 

Jesus invites you to sit at His table, my friend. 

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.

It’s an invitation He extends with a kind and gentle hand, beckoning you to sit and delight in His company as you find refreshment and total acceptance in His presence.  

There’s only one expectation:

Come as you are. 

You aren’t required to show up pretty and perfect, hiding your flaws and fissures behind a mask. You aren’t expected to show up knowing all of the answers or having it all together. You are invited to show up just as you are in this season and this very moment. 

Bring your burdens, your weariness, your heartaches, your shame, your anger, your questions, and your doubts, and simply sit down. 

Bring your praises, joys, gratitude, and victories, and simply sit down. 

Because you have a seat at Jesus’ table. 

This is the true miracle of Easter, of the sacrifice of His body and His blood that sets us free. 

The miracle that we now have full access to the God who created us and loves us fully despite our ever wandering hearts. 

There is grace, rest, and limitless love waiting for you here, and it’s free to be received and enjoyed to the absolute fullest. 

Not only does He invite you to sit at His table, but He eagerly wants to spend time with you. 

And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”

He suffered through accusations and hostile crowds, a crown of thorns, rusty nails through His feet and hands while His blood was spilled so that He could spend each and every day drawing near to you. 

You are His favorite person, and Jesus couldn’t imagine an eternity without you. This is His heart for you, dear one, that you would feel the overwhelming love of His continual presence with you. 

This is the true gift of Easter, to be able to behold Him the way He so completely beholds you.

To sit with the truth that you are wanted and seen, always.  

He’s always waiting for you, and He’ll never stop. 

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

Jesus is waiting to drink from the fruit of the vine until we are all together, at our Father’s table, in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

This reveals a major part of His heart toward you, as He is always waiting for you to draw near to Him as He continually draws near to you. 

There is no limit to His love, and there is no cap on His grace. No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, no matter who or what you’ve placed in front of your devotion to Him, He will never stop waiting to take you back. 

His love is not flawed; it’s not broken by this world or riddled with insecurity and unfaithfulness. 

His love is perfect, and His death on that cross at Calvary is an open invitation to enter into His upside-down Kingdom of grace where the first are last, and the last are first. 

Your Savior waits to pull out your chair in the Kingdom of Heaven as you sit and join in on the celebration of His sweet victory over sin and death, as you break bread with the God whose body was broken for you. 

It’s in the breaking that we find our whole selves. 

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

When you find your heart breaking, remember that His heart breaks when yours does too. 

One of my all-time favorite books is The Broken Way by Ann Voskamp. In Ann’s book, she writes, 

“The brave baring of all the broken in their brokenness can offer the miracle of communion. Never be afraid of being a broken thing.”

A life lived broken is a life lived surrendered to God. Just as Jesus allowed His body to be broken to show the strength and mighty power of His Heavenly Father, we too can be vessels broken for the display of His glory. 

Being broken doesn’t make you weak. It simply means that you now have room to let God’s strength shine through you. 

And as you break to make space for more of Jesus, you become a living testimony of His grace and goodness that brings others close to the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Brokenness brings us closer to our Savior and closer to those around us as our walls fall down and our masks slip off to make room for who we truly are… 

His. 

His promises never fail, and His faithfulness never ceases. 

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Jesus’ death shut the door on the power of sin and darkness and opened the door to the awesome power of His light and love-filled presence. 

Because of that closing door, we can walk confidently through the open door of light, knowing that He is faithful and true in keeping His word. 

His promises never fail. 

Even when His presence feels distant and your heart weighs heavy with the uncertainty of this world, He is your One true constant. 

He promises never to change. (Malachi 3:6)

He promises that His love will never run out. (Romans 8:38-39)

He promises to be your safe dwelling place. (Psalm 91:1)

He promises that His presence will bring you strength and rest. (Isaiah 40:31)

He promises always to be enough. (Philippians 4:19)

You can count on the King because He is and always will be exactly who He says He is. 

As you head into Easter weekend, carrying with you all that this season has brought, I pray that you hold fast to these truths about who Jesus is. 

Be reminded that the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection didn’t end with the empty tomb. 

It lives in you today.

His presence is a gift that never stops giving. 

He never stops moving. 

And He never stops being who He says He is. 

You are loved fiercely, and you hold the title of His Beloved daughter. A title, and identity, that He died to give you. 

Walk in that love today, my friend, and give thanks to the King who gave it all to have you. 

Xoxo,