The Worst Feast Ever!

So it’s the day before Passover. Jesus has had a Passover meal a day early with his disciples. What is up with that??? Is he about to take on the Romans on Passover? Is he about to unleash ten plagues on the Romans and tell them, “Let my people go!”?

He has taught them that he is about to be glorified. He has taught them that he will die. Talk about your mixed signals!

They go out to their favorite place of prayer and teaching, a garden. Jesus is obviously distraught, yet his disciples are tired and sleepy. His distress is so deep that he literally sweats blood as his disciples drowse on. He asks his Father if there is any other way to accomplish his mission than to “drink this cup,” but remains steadfast to accomplish his Father’s will regardless of his feelings.

The time comes. He rouses his disciples as an armed mob comes to arrest him. Betrayed to the soldiers in the mob by a kiss from one of his closest disciples, he prevents a bloody battle from ensuing after Peter cuts off the ear of one of the High Priest’s servants by healing the ear.

After identifiying himself as “I am,” (the Greek form of the name God told Moses to use for Himself) he orders the mob to let the others go, and they comply, allowing his disciples to escape. (Wait a moment, who is really in charge here, anyway?) And Jesus goes with them, alone.

The disciples scatter to their own homes, except for Peter and John, who go to the Temple. As Peter is questioned, he denies being a disciple three times (just as Jesus predicted), and leaves in shame. This leaves only John out of the twelve to witness the mistrial and execution. (Jesus’ mother and the two Mary’s later find out about the crucifixion and attend alongside John.)

Jesus is tried by the Sanhedrin and found guilty in spite of conflicting witnesses and sent to Pilate, who cannot find any fault with Jesus. In spite of this he orders Jesus beaten and flogged (fulfilling prophecies of punishment on kings and priests of Israel) and humiliated publicly with a crown of thorns and regal robe even as his skin has been ripped to shreds and bleeding profusely. Covering it must have hurt immensely.

So weakened and tortured is he that he cannot even carry the crosspiece of his cross to the place of execution. After he falls, another must bear it for him. Spikes are driven through his hands and feet to fasten him to a cross. The angles designed to slowly suffocate him unless he tries to rise on his agonizing feet and hands.

Even on the cross, in extreme agony and short of breath, he thinks of others before himself.

He forgives the thief on one of the other crosses as that man expresses belief in Jesus.

He tasks John with the care of his mother (in spite of her having three other sons).

With his penultimate breath he asks the Father to forgive his executioners “for they do not know what they are doing.” This, of course, is because his entire mission was about saving rather than judging. (Don’t worry, judging comes later.) He died to pay the penalty for sin: death.

Anyone who believes in him and lives in him will live forgiven of their sinfulness. Of course, that won’t help much if you end up dying anyway. Unless… … someone can defeat death and offer eternal life! … which Jesus does three days later.

Naturally the disciples, in spite of Jesus’ teaching and warnings, are taken completely aback by the circumstances. As the rest of the remnant of Israel in Judea celebrate a memorial of freedom from Egyptian oppression in anticipation of a Messiah who will do the same to Rome, Jesus’ disciples languish in despair because the Messiah is dead. Who will save them now?

We who gathered last night and ate together in fellowship and laughter know the end of the story. They didn’t. Their meal that night was very subdued, sad and despondent. All they could do was wait until they could properly honor their dead after the High Day.

That had to be the worst Passover feast ever for them!

Fortunately they were to learn that it would get much, much better. So on the first day of the week, the day we call Sunday, Jesus’ mother and the two Mary’s go to the tomb before sunrise, hoping to do a better job of burial preparation. To their surprise the stone is removed from the entrance. (Not just “rolled back” but “removed” or “rolled away from the tomb” according to witnesses.) Matthew says that the angel who moved the stone away from the entrance (a superhuman feat!) also sat on it (Matt. 28:1-2).

Now it is perhaps possible for an angel to leap or fly to the top of a round upright stone in order to sit on it, but it seems more logical for it to be on its side, away from the entrance, for the angel to sit on it. That way there is also no danger of it rolling away (or back over the entrance).

After alerting Peter and John Mary stays near the tomb, where she encounters a man whom she eventually recognizes as Jesus. She falls to her knees, grasping his feet. Strangely, he asks her not to cling to him because he has not yet “ascended” to his Father. The significance of this request comes from an ancient ritual performed on the first day of the week during Passover week at sunrise. (This was also very likely the anniversary of the crossing of the Red Sea during Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Sunrise was when the waters of the Red Sea returned to its normal place, drowning the Egyptian army, signalling Israel’s complete freedom from fear of Egyptian reprisals.)

Meanwhile in another part of the outskirts of Jerusalem the priests were offering a “wave offering” to God as the sun began to rise, starting the seven-week countdown to Pentecost. This was to present the “firstfruits” (the first ripe grains of barley) of the harvest to God. Only when this offering was made was the harvest allowed to begin in Israel.

At the same time, sunrise, Jesus was about to offer himself as the “firstfruits” of the resurrection harvest to his Father. Since he was about to “ascend” to his Father, Mary needed to let go, lest she be dragged skyward with him. (It wasn’t a matter of ritual purity on Jesus’ part, as practical necessity for her safety.)

Later that day, Jesus shows himself, first to two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus. He explains how all the scriptures about the Messiah suffering and dying and living again applied to Jesus. They stop for supper, where they finally recognize Jesus as he blesses the meal… And he disappears!…

…Only to appear to a group of distressed disciples hiding out from the authorities in a locked room! Somehow Jesus seems to jump from one supper to another in different communities, perhaps instantaneously. Over the next 40 days Jesus appears to many disciples (not just the Twelve Apostles), teaching, eating and walking with them. Their world has changed forever! If we grasp the implication, our world changes forever, too. A man has come back to life from the dead, and now he lives forever! Not only that, but he offers eternal life to everyone who will trust in him and follow him!

The worst feast ever turns into the…

Best. News. Ever!