The Sermon at the Table
Jan 16 2024 - Amy Raby
Twelve years ago, our family spent a year in Spain sharing the good news of Jesus. There were so many things we learned from the people and culture. Things like slowing down to grab coffee with a friend on his way to work or talking for an hour with the woman selling fruit and vegetables below our apartment. One of the lasting cultural impressions we took away with us from Spain was something called “sobremesa”. The literal Spanish meaning is “upon the table.”
Sobremesa refers to the lingering space after a meal for delight and conversation. Our best stab at it in English would be “after dinner conversation”, but it’s more than that. It’s about creating space to enjoy the people gathered around you over another drink or dessert. It’s about sharing words from deeper places in the heart and receiving them with care and grace. The gift of knowing and being known can more easily be expressed here. It isn’t just a Spanish thing, it’s a human thing and most certainly a Christian thing. Sobremesa is something we see Jesus do again and again.
John 13 sets a scene that surprisingly lasts through the next five chapters! Chapters 13-17 display one long inspiring conversation between Jesus and His disciples where we find some of the sweetest and most powerful words many of us cling to still today. It all starts with Jesus humbly washing their feet, and then He simply reclines at the table with them. It ends in 17 with His heartfelt prayer to the Father for his disciples.
The atmosphere gets a little intense at first as Jesus announces that one of them will betray Him. He dips the bread and gives it to Judas, marking him as the betrayer. Judas eats the bread, Satan actually enters Judas here at the table, and then verse 30 says, “After receiving the piece of bread, he immediately left. And it was night.”
Judas got his bread and left. Because Judas cared more about money (or himself) than being with Jesus, he missed out on the wondrous symphony of love and power Jesus was about to pour out. These are some of the heavenly treasures he missed:
Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me…John 14:1
I am the way, the truth, and the life…John 14:6
If you ask anything in my name, I will do it…John 14:14
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send…John 14:26
Remain in me…I am the vine; you are the branches…John 15:4-5
Love one another as I have loved you…John 15:12
When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth…John 16:13
Your sorrow will turn to joy…John 16:20
Be courageous! I have conquered the world… John 16:33
I am praying…that you protect them from the evil one…John 17:15
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth…John 17:17 (CSB)
All of this…began at a table, after a meal. We’ve all heard of the sermon on the mount, but this is the sermon at the table! The sobremesa with Jesus. It is full of hard things and promising things. Unbearable words and words so full of hope in the Holy Trinity. I find it so fascinating that He chose to begin this massive sermon to His disciples while reclined at a table in the comfort of someone’s home, and Judas missed it because he ate his bread and left.
Don’t be like Judas, too self-absorbed to love others. Too preoccupied to see the heart of God before your very eyes. Take the gifts of time and table and fill them with meaningful meals, Spirit-filled conversations, and prayers centered around the love and power of God.