"The Last Supper was crackers with dots on it," says Devin, 4. "Jesus was there, nobody else. Oh, yeah, the wise men were there eating with Jesus. The sheep came with them."

Devin, I think you've merged two Bible stories. As for crackers with dots, that's a modern adaptation of the bread Jesus broke and distributed to his disciples.

"The Last Supper was when Jesus was telling people that they needed to drink the wine and eat the bread. Then someone wrote on the wall, and the people were scared, but Jesus was not scared," says Ashley, 8.

Again, we have a merger of two Bible stories. The handwriting on the wall recorded in the book of Daniel told surprised banqueters that Babylon had been weighed in the balance and found wanting. As we'll see, Ashley's ideas about the Last Supper are not the only ones found wanting.

"The Last Supper is when Jesus and his disciples had their last supper together," says Morgan, 12. "He broke the bread, and said it was his body and drank the wine together as his blood. The significance it has today is that he meant that he would give up his body on the tree (cross) and shed his blood on the cross, as well for our sins."

Morgan, your summary is excellent, but Kayla, 12, says there's more: "I think the Last Supper is when Jesus called in all his disciples to tell them he would be leaving the Earth, but would return later."

At the supper, wine was symbolic of the new covenant in Jesus' blood. Jesus said he would not drink the fruit of the vine again until "that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom" (Matthew 26:29).

I believe what Jesus had in mind is the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

It's the great gathering of God's people at the wedding feast where Jesus is the groom and his people are the bride. The same word for "supper" is used in the New Testament for both the Lord's Supper and the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Can anyone conceive of crackers and a sip of grape juice as the main course at the marriage feast of the Lamb? Why do we call this the Lord's Supper when there's no supper?

In the early church, the bread and wine were joined with a complete meal that became known as the "Love Feast," but "as early as the second century, these two exercises were separated," writes church historian Philip Schaff.

Mallory, 8, celebrates the Lord's Supper: "We eat on long tables with lots of stuff on them. I eat meat, carrots and cakes. I have to because we have a celebration."

How did the Gospel spread so rapidly in the first century? Early Christians celebrated the Lord's Supper with a simple meal of brotherly love, in communion with each other and their redeemer. During this meal, they "forgot all distinctions of rank, wealth and culture, and felt themselves to be members of one family of God," writes Schaff.

When distinctions of class, wealth, rank and culture are smashed, word got around fast. People saw the Gospel in the love Christians had for each other.

Consider the difference between a weekly celebration where people eat together, and a brief memorial where people have a piece of cracker and a drink of grape juice. The first became known as the "Love Feast," and the latter is usually called communion.

Listen to a talking book, download the "Kids Color Me Bible" for free, and watch Kid TV Interviews and travel around the world by viewing the "Mission Explorers Streaming Video" at www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org. Bible quotations are from the New King James Version. To find out more about Carey Kinsolving and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CAREY KINSOLVING

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