By Shirley Mitchell
“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”
Let’s talk about the interactions between Jesus and His followers on Jesus’ last night which was also His last Passover Feast. The brotherhood of men touches my heart like nothing else. The closeness of the disciples and Jesus’ great love for them permeate this night. Jesus was their whole lives. In Him, they were cleansed from their past lives. They had forsaken their occupations and wages to follow Him for three years because they believed that He was the Messiah to deliver Israel. He represented security and strength to them. All their hope for their future rested in His promises.
Jesus had sent Peter and John to prepare for Passover on this night. Every word of Jesus’ instructions for the preparations to Peter and John had come true. Just like Jesus said, they had found the man carrying a pitcher of water, and he had provided a room. At sundown, thirteen men met in an upper room in a house in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. By flickering flames, Jesus explained how much He desired to eat this Passover meal with them. He said He would not eat it again until it was fulfilled in the kingdom of God. In spite of the multiple warnings from Jesus, none of them understood that this was their last meal together, except the one who would betray Him.
Jesus knew that it was time for Him to leave this world and go to His Father. It was time to be betrayed. It was time to be arrested. It was time to be abandoned. It was time to be tried and tortured. It was time to be crucified. Jesus was fully aware of what the next 24 hours held; yet, instead of focusing on His impending crisis, He served His disciples and “showed them the full extent of His love.”
In a devotion time before a Lexington Passion Play performance, the actor who played Jesus shared his thoughts about a scene where the disciples and the crowd sing a praise song to Jesus and God. He said, “As you all sing the song ‘Jehovah,’ you disciples sing, dance, clap, and celebrate around me. I look at your faces and the glowing faces of you who play the crowd. I see the love you have for God.” Tears welled up in his eyes. Then he said with a breathlike voice while he choked back the emotion, “Your faces burn in my heart.”
On the last night with His disciples, I believe the faces of Jesus’ disciples were burning in His heart. His eyes must have been moist. Perhaps at times He looked around the table and saw others’ eyes were moist, too. I can see Jesus trying to grab every facial expression and every bit of human eye contact He could for His last few hours with His disciples. He was trying to savor these last moments with them. Yes, He knew He would see them again but only briefly until heaven. He knew what they would endure on account of Him so He communicated to them deeper than ever. He knew that in a little while they would cling to these last words. For now, they were struggling to follow the majestic things that He was saying. So on His last night, He showed them the extent of His love for them. The next day, Jesus showed every person who has ever lived, including you and me, the extent of His love for us. Maybe our faces were burning in His heart, and He clung to the fact that someday we would be with in heaven with our Father God – forever. Hallelujah and Glory to God!
Pray with me: I am amazed. It makes me stop and just absorb it like I’m drinking from a spiritual cup when it hits me how much You love me. I feel the chains of this life and the cares of this world fall off of me. I want to please You so much, Jesus, that You experience whatever the heavenly equivalent is of being choked up with emotion when You see me. It’s in Your Name that I pray, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Excerpt from the Jesus Lives Bible study
“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”
John 13:1
Let’s talk about the interactions between Jesus and His followers on Jesus’ last night which was also His last Passover Feast. The brotherhood of men touches my heart like nothing else. The closeness of the disciples and Jesus’ great love for them permeate this night. Jesus was their whole lives. In Him, they were cleansed from their past lives. They had forsaken their occupations and wages to follow Him for three years because they believed that He was the Messiah to deliver Israel. He represented security and strength to them. All their hope for their future rested in His promises.
Jesus had sent Peter and John to prepare for Passover on this night. Every word of Jesus’ instructions for the preparations to Peter and John had come true. Just like Jesus said, they had found the man carrying a pitcher of water, and he had provided a room. At sundown, thirteen men met in an upper room in a house in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. By flickering flames, Jesus explained how much He desired to eat this Passover meal with them. He said He would not eat it again until it was fulfilled in the kingdom of God. In spite of the multiple warnings from Jesus, none of them understood that this was their last meal together, except the one who would betray Him.
Jesus knew that it was time for Him to leave this world and go to His Father. It was time to be betrayed. It was time to be arrested. It was time to be abandoned. It was time to be tried and tortured. It was time to be crucified. Jesus was fully aware of what the next 24 hours held; yet, instead of focusing on His impending crisis, He served His disciples and “showed them the full extent of His love.”
In a devotion time before a Lexington Passion Play performance, the actor who played Jesus shared his thoughts about a scene where the disciples and the crowd sing a praise song to Jesus and God. He said, “As you all sing the song ‘Jehovah,’ you disciples sing, dance, clap, and celebrate around me. I look at your faces and the glowing faces of you who play the crowd. I see the love you have for God.” Tears welled up in his eyes. Then he said with a breathlike voice while he choked back the emotion, “Your faces burn in my heart.”
On the last night with His disciples, I believe the faces of Jesus’ disciples were burning in His heart. His eyes must have been moist. Perhaps at times He looked around the table and saw others’ eyes were moist, too. I can see Jesus trying to grab every facial expression and every bit of human eye contact He could for His last few hours with His disciples. He was trying to savor these last moments with them. Yes, He knew He would see them again but only briefly until heaven. He knew what they would endure on account of Him so He communicated to them deeper than ever. He knew that in a little while they would cling to these last words. For now, they were struggling to follow the majestic things that He was saying. So on His last night, He showed them the extent of His love for them. The next day, Jesus showed every person who has ever lived, including you and me, the extent of His love for us. Maybe our faces were burning in His heart, and He clung to the fact that someday we would be with in heaven with our Father God – forever. Hallelujah and Glory to God!
Pray with me: I am amazed. It makes me stop and just absorb it like I’m drinking from a spiritual cup when it hits me how much You love me. I feel the chains of this life and the cares of this world fall off of me. I want to please You so much, Jesus, that You experience whatever the heavenly equivalent is of being choked up with emotion when You see me. It’s in Your Name that I pray, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Excerpt from the Jesus Lives Bible study
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