While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." - Matthew 26:26-29
Jesus's final meal on earth is the first one we receive as we enter God's kingdom. The disciples scarcely understand the significance of what they are partaking: they are unknowingly feasting on the grace that Jesus is about to secure with his sacrifice. The very men that have gathered around the table with him are the ones that will betray, forsake, and deny him. All of them will scatter. But right now, these fair-weather followers gather around the meal for which they all hunger: God's grace.
Jesus knows they will fail him. "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me." Each one responds with the somber query: "Surely you don't mean me, Lord?"
Judas is chief among them. In insincere remorse, Judas addresses Jesus with the less authoritative honorific, "Surely you don't mean me, Rabbi?" Jesus responds with a non-answer that he reserves for those who accuse him of falsehoods: "You have said so."
And yet, Jesus lets the statement hang over the dinner table - because while Judas will be the first to act, all of his closest friends and followers will abandon him before the night is over. They will demonstrate just how desperately they need the grace for which they are gathering around the table. Perhaps this is what qualifies people to sit with Jesus: not their faithfulness, but their desperate need for the grace he alone provides.
"If we are faithless, He remains faithful - for He cannot deny Himself," (2 Timothy 2:13).
For it is not the satisfied, the satiated, or the well-rested that Jesus calls, but the hungry (John 6:35), the thirsty (John 7:37), and the weary (Matthew 11:28). It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. It is not the righteous who need forgiveness, but sinners.
Only those who hunger and thirst for the sacrifice of grace that Jesus provides will gather at the table he provides.
