One Last Passover ...

John Mark was not there.  He did not participate.  You and I were not there.  We did not participate.  All we have, is the witness recorded from those who were there.  But the testimony of those who witness a thing is often colored by the perspective of the participant.  Take for example, the most recent Republican Convention to nominate Donald Trump for President.  How you witness this event depends heavily on who you are, what your opinions were before the event, and the degree to which you personally participated in it.  Those who were on the convention floor have unique and probably more detailed perceptions of what took place.  Those of us who watched it on TV likely have a different view of it.  And then it depends on which news network we watch.  Fox has a decidedly conservative slant.  MSNBC has a decidedly liberal slant.  CNN purports to be in the middle, but depending on the particular journalist, again the bias may slant one way or the other.  Fans of the Donald, will find things in his acceptance speech that are very positive and give hope for our future.  Detractors of the Donald, will find things that are negative and would present a scary picture of the future of our nation.

The facts do not change.  The words do not change.  But how you see them changes radically based on your preconceptions, point of view, and influences of others tied more closely to these events.  Peter, one of the closer disciples of Jesus Christ, has a unique point of view, about the events that occurred at the end of Christ’s life here on earth.  John Mark was merely his transcriptionist.  The Gospel of Mark could not be told first person by Mark, because Mark was not there.  Peter was.  But the events at the end of Christ’s life being told by Peter would present a point of view, a witness testimony from only one perspective.  The perspective of Peter would also be clouded by the participation of Peter, and frankly by the failure of Peter to live up to the commitments he made to Jesus.  The facts do not change.  But Peter would only bear witness to some of them, and to some of them while under significant duress.

So we come to the last Passover, and the last Passover meal.  This was supposed to be festive.  From the perspective of the disciples, even despite having Jesus warn them several times throughout His ministry, that He would die and be resurrected, the disciples still had hope of an earthly kingdom.  From the minds of the disciples, the people were ready to make Jesus their king.  The time was right.  This was even more so as pilgrims from all over the world would be near Jerusalem traveling to it for the day of atonement traditions, and the feasts, and celebrations that surrounded it.  Jesus too, was nearby.  Jesus had been teaching in the Temple recently.  Jesus had bested the priests, the scribes, the leaders of the Sanhedrin.  Jesus had put them to silence and ended their verbal traps.  And the people loved it even more.  The Temple money changers had been driven out, commerce in the Temple had dried up, and the time to crown a righteous King could never be better.

So from the minds of the disciples, from Peter, the timing could not be better.  This celebration of Passover would be the best version of it ever.  Peter begins his personal recollection to John Mark picking up in verse 12 saying … “And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?”  We do not know exactly the timing of these events.  We do know when the Sabbath appears within them.  We do know when Jesus was raised.  We know Jesus died on Friday prior to the Sabbath, and was raised again on Sunday morning.  But relative to this, when the first day of unleavened bread would have occurred at that time, or when they “killed the Passover” is a bit foggy.  Originally the unleavened bread celebration would have been seven days before the day of atonement so … the previous Friday.  But the killing of the Passover, or more precisely the killing of the Passover lamb, might have taken place traditionally on the day of atonement itself.  So the fact that Peter is asking about where to celebrate these events, prior to the day of atonement, suggests, the schedule may be a bit different near the time of Christ.

The other significant idea that comes from this recollection, is that this meal would include eating the Passover lamb.  This lamb was traditionally roasted over a fire, not cooked any other way.  Left overs were not preserved, they were burned up.  And the lamb having been roasted was only one star of this meal.  The bread, not surprisingly, was unleavened meaning it did not rise, it was flat.  It could have had the consistency of a cracker, or of a tortilla, or pita bread.  But there was no yeast it in, by order of God.  The bread was actually to be served this way for an entire week.  Violators would be cast out of the celebrations until they concluded.  And the final stars of these feasts were the bitter herbs and wine (or pressed grape juice).  The bitter herbs reminded the participant of the bitter lives Pharoah inflicted upon them in their slavery.  To us the parallel would be the bitter lives we live while in slavery to our sins.  The wine could not have had time to ferment (nor was that ever advocated).  It was a drink of haste.  As should be our desire to escape our slavery from sin, done in haste.

What Peter was asking Jesus in this passage was where they should prepare to eat this meal?  Determining how much lamb would be needed for the 12 of them plus Jesus, determining where the bread should be prepared, and where all of this should be served, was on his and the other disciples minds.  Jesus responds in verse 13 saying … “And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. [verse 14] And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? [verse 15] And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.”  Several things are important to note in the answer of Jesus.  First, it is likely that given this is Peter’s perspective, Peter’s recollection to John Mark for his gospel, that Jesus sent Peter and one of the other disciples (my guess John).  The reason this is important is to remember that Judas had already decided to betray Jesus to death.  If Judas knew in advance where they were going, it would have been easy to take Jesus in a smaller confined space, than out in the open.  But by doing it this way, only the 2 disciples who went, would know where the room was.  Judas would not.  Perhaps Jesus was trying to give Judas more time, to regret his choice, and change his mind.

Second, dispatching two disciples, to find a man bearing a pitcher of water sounds like it would be a common place event, easy to pick, as if there would be lots of men doing this.  But there would not be.  This was a woman’s work.  Only women would be caught doing this.  The woman at the well in Samaria was a good case in point, coming alone after the others had left to avoid gossip and ridicule, and instead finding Jesus at the well.  So Jesus asking his two disciples to find a man doing a woman’s work, and then charging the disciples to follow that man (not immediately ask for a room), was breaking two boundaries. Men could be asked to do women’s work.  And disciples were not to be above following a man doing women’s work.  Since traditions abound in Jerusalem, finding such a man would have been miraculous indeed.  Even among slaves, traditional work was divided between the sexes.

Lastly, Jesus would be known to the owner of this home, and would be welcomed into it.  But not only that, the preparations were already done and waiting for the entire crew.  The owner of the home had taken it upon himself to make preparations, perhaps inspired by the Holy Spirit, before there was ever any confirmations that Jesus would be coming.  If Jesus and His disciples did not come, it would have been quite a bit of food wasted thrown into the fire.  It was a financial risk to take this preemptive action.  It was a faith of the owner to be rewarded by Jesus.  It was a series of miracles from beginning to end surrounding this selection of this home.  Jesus again demonstrates before Judas, how accurately He is able to predict the future.  He offers Judas yet another insight into who He is.  The betrayal of Judas is already known to Him, and He still wants Judas there, He still wants Judas to participate.  Peter marks the results of this mission in verse 16 saying … “And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.”  The bulk of the work was done, all that remained were the final touches.

Peter continues his recollection in verse 17 saying … “And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.”  The two disciples sent to prepare find everything as Jesus said.  The faith of the owner of the home rewarded.  They have time to complete the work, and return to Jesus rejoining everyone else.   John Mark continues in verse 18 saying … “And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. [verse 19] And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?”  The focus of this evening shifts to Judas.  Jesus says out loud what up to now He has only been thinking to Himself.  As Judas has been unwilling to change his mind, the prophecy from Christ now reveals to the others what will shortly come to pass.  The mood in the feast changes.  Joy flees from the room.  Only Judas knows it is him.  But the others begin to doubt themselves, they know Jesus does not lie, they also know Jesus is never wrong.

Each disciple begins to consider the worst of all fates, that they will be the traitor.  Each disciple begins to ponder whether their own selfishness will lead them to do this betrayal.  They must know.  Perhaps He will forgive them, and change the outcome for them.  Even if they have not sinned this sin yet, they must know if it will be something they do.  So each begins to ask Jesus … “is it I?”.  This is a level of faith we seldom demonstrate.  We think ourselves as Abraham having a faith that surely cannot and will not be shaken.  So did they.  But faced with this prophecy, each of them began to question themselves, something we rarely do.  We assume we are Peter, when perhaps we are Judas.  Have we learned to rely upon Jesus for our faith itself, for our fidelity to Him, for our salvation from who we are.  Or do we trust in our own strength to be faithful, and to save and perfect in ourselves what we could never accomplish?

Jesus must be careful how He responds, He is still looking to redeem Judas, not to push him away further.  Jesus answers picking up in verse 20 saying … “And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish. [verse 21] The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.”  Jesus does not give a direct answer.  Dipping unleavened bread into olive oil is a common practice at meals in this day.  I am certain nearly all the disciples were doing this.  The fact that Judas could reach the same bowl as Jesus tells us that Jesus did not ostracize Judas, but rather still kept him close by.  The answer of Jesus likely kept all of the disciples uncomfortable as each looks at their bread and oil.  But Jesus continued stating that He was ready to go, and walk the road, scripture has predicted for Him.

Lastly, Jesus states, that “woe” or great regret, is reserved for the one who betrays Him.  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.  This is not a curse.  This is not a condemnation to hell, notice the word hell is never used.  This is not a sin beyond forgiveness.  Each of us commit it, each time we commit sin we know must cost our Saviors blood to redeem once again.  However, the weight of the knowledge of this sin is overwhelming.  Judas would have to accept forgiveness for it.  Jesus would gladly give it.  But Judas even if he took the forgiveness of Jesus, would still bear the self condemnation of having done it.  That weight would crush him.  It would be too much for him.  Seeing what happened to Jesus was indeed too much for Judas, and eventually he hung himself during these events.  Judas did not see the resurrection.  Judas did not see Christ arisen.  The weight of his sin, crushed him first.  But the love of Christ even now for Judas would reach out to redeem him.

Peter concludes the events of this meal now briefly picking up in verse 22 saying … “And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. [verse 23] And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. [verse 24] And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. [verse 25] Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. [verse 26] And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”  Peter remembers his own guilt.  He offers only 4 verses to encompass the entire last supper, or last Passover of Jesus here on earth.  Even now, as he recalls it to John Mark, Peter can remember only his own failure.  The parallels between himself and Judas are too close, are too painful.  The weight of Peters sin now crushes him and makes his memory of these events brief.

Peter omits the feet washing of Jesus.  Peter omits all the counsel of Jesus during this dinner and afterwards.  Peter records only a sequence of events that mirrors the traditions of a Passover Seder.  Prayers over the bread.  Prayers over the wine.  The singing of a hymn.  These events were all part of the original Passover feast, yet even in Peter’s brevity, Jesus is transforming the past into the future.  Out of an old tradition comes a remembrance of Him, and of His great love for us all.  Jesus Himself however, will refrain from having the grape juice, even the grape juice of heaven, until He can have it with us once again in our eternal home.  The disciples do not understand how long Jesus will be foregoing this custom, and this beverage.  It will be more than 2000 years and counting that Jesus foregoes the pressing of grapes into His cup.  Jesus longs to be with us, He does not crave the juice, but He does crave our company, our proximity, the ability to reach out and touch us personally.  This restoration He craves more than anything, more than even His own life.

We who were not there have only the memories of these recollections in print to offer us insight.  I wonder how many of us easily condemn Judas for what he did.  I wonder how many of us believe Judas is lost to that eternal home because of what he did.  How easy it is to judge.  And how little we know of the love of Jesus for each and every one of us, for Judas, and for one worse than him, for me, for you.  But I believe there is yet hope for Judas. 

There are 12 gates in heaven, with the names of 12 tribes of Israel inscribed above them, as well as 12 disciples (or apostles) of Jesus.  We like to think we know which names are there, but in truth, we only guess.  Could the name of Judas be there in bright bold letters?  Is it possible that in his last act of desperation here on earth he repented of his sin like Samson of old, yet could not imagine ever receiving forgiveness as he did not deserve it?  How close to you and I.  We do not deserve it either, and we have only faith to believe we receive it.  We have only trust in Jesus to believe He can ever change us from the people who love our sins, to the people who love the absence of our sins.  If God can love me, if He has that much love, perhaps I will one day walk under the gate inscribed with the name of Judas.  Not because Judas or I are worthy, but because the love of God is just that great.