This Easter I thought that it would be fitting to reflect on the events around Easter. Often I can be so involved at church, youth camps or family events that I don’t take the time to stop and reflect on what Jesus has done for me. However, I didn’t just want to read the accounts – I wanted to feel what Jesus felt. So I CAME, I PAID, I ROSE was born – a three-part series which tells the story of Easter from Jesus’ perspective. I have merged the gospel accounts and you will find that I have left out a lot of things, but due to the nature of this project, some final decisions had to be made to end up with a result. I will be uploading each section as we move through the weekend, and I hope that you will find this reflection as deep and profound as I have found it while writing it.
-Mike
I CAME
I came to the Mount of Olives and sent two of my disciples ahead to a nearby village to retrieve a young donkey from a stable. I told them to tell anyone who questioned their actions that the Lord needed the donkey. I rested with the other disciples under a large, shady tree as we waited for the two to return.
About twenty minutes had passed, when in the distance, Peter spotted the two disciples returning.
“Took you long enough!” shouted Peter, impatiently.
The disciples who returned with the donkey laid their cloaks down on the donkey’s back as I mounted the donkey and pressed my legs into it’s ribs so it would move forward.
“We should get moving immediately so we can get to Jerusalem before nightfall,” I urged, as my disciples followed behind me.
As I neared Jerusalem, the people of the city lined the main road in. They were throwing down cloaks and palm branches in front of the young donkey’s path. That’s lovely, I thought. As I drew closer I could hear their shouts.
“HOSANNA!!” shouted the people of Jerusalem, “HOSANNA to the Son of David!!”
They knew who I was.
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” continued the crowd, as Jesus entered the city.
However, there were also some teachers of the law present and they called out to me to rebuke the crowd and my disciples. I wept for Jerusalem as I approached the temple.
“If only you had known that this day would bring you peace, but now Jerusalem will fall, for you have not recognised the arrival of God,” I muttered, as I dismounted the donkey.
I walked into the temple, and to my dismay, it had been turned into a night market. I was fuming. I began flipping tables and chasing out the cashiers.
“My house is a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” I exclaimed, as I drove out every last one of the stall keepers.
It was getting late, and I was exhausted from the day’s travel, so my disciples and I stayed at Bethany overnight.
The next morning, I awoke with the roosters. I prayed while I waited for my disciples to arise, and once they had, we set out for the temple.
I taught on many topics such as money, moral standards, and life after death, and I had some good dialogue with the temple-goers. Some teachers of the law and political leaders were also present and very interested in what I had to say, however, they had disapproving looks on their faces and were whispering
between themselves most of the time.
Once the crowd were out of questions, I rose and left the temple, headed for a nearby house. Peter and John had arranged earlier for my disciples and I to eat the Passover meal together there. The meal had been prepared as was tradition by the owner of the house when we arrived.
It was tradition for a ceremonial hand washing to take place at the start of the meal, however, I wanted to serve my disciples by washing their feet also. I went to the bathroom and wrapped myself in a towel and filled a basin of water. I returned to the sitting room and requested all the disciples to sit down.
Silently, I began to wash each of the disciples’ feet. I didn’t speak and neither did they. Once I got to Peter, he pulled his feet away from me.
“Lord you can never wash my feet!” he exclaimed, with a look of horror on his face.
“Peter,” I said gently, “You won’t understand what I am doing now, but it will make sense later. Unless I wash your feet, you cannot be my disciple.”
“Why not wash my entire body?” Peter asked, still confused.
“I need only to wash your feet as if you bathe, your body is clean already,” I said and washed his feet in the basin, and drying them on my towel.
I returned the basin to the bathroom and prepared myself for dinner. I was about to share something deep with my disciples – I prayed they would understand.
I walked into the upper room where all of my disciples were already seated around the table. The unleavened bread had been placed in front of Jesus and the wine had been poured out into the goblets.
“Hear me in this,” began Jesus, “I have been looking forward to sharing this meal with you all before I suffer. I will not partake of this meal again until the kingdom of God comes again.”
Jesus took the bread.
“But I pity the man who will betray me to put my suffering in motion,” said Jesus, deeply saddened, “he is sitting in our midst.”
There was much chatter among the disciples, for they thought that none of them was capable of such a despicable act against their Lord.
Judas hung his head, and lifted it slightly only to mumble, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
“Yes, Judas, it is you,” replied Jesus.
The table went silent for a moment while the disciples processed this news. Judas ran his fingers over the silver coins in his pocket that he had been paid to bring me to the authorities and hung his head again.
I broke the bread, gave thanks for it and distributed it to the disciples.
“This bread signifies my body, broken for you. Eat this in remembrance of me.”
I ate the bread and my disciples followed. I then picked up my goblet filled with wine and gave thanks for it also.
“This wine is the new covenant, representing my blood, which is poured out for you. Whenever you drink this cup, remember me.”
I drank from my goblet while all my disciples followed suit. I sat and reclined at the table feeling relieved that the weight of this burden had been lifted, but without assurance that the disciples had understood.