Saturday, March 16

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover." "Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked. (Luke 22: 7-9)

In the midst of a troubling time, when Jesus is being shadowed by the religious authorities, He keeps the Jewish tradition of Passover and entrusts Peter and John with setting it up.

Keeping a tradition in the midst of travail is very useful: having something to DO that we know how to do, e.g., the preparation and serving of food for each other. It is “doing the next right thing” when our lives are in turmoil, “faking it 'til you make it,” and trusting that we will meet God there. I wrote this to my mother several years ago:

You taught me more 

Than how to set the table, 

But honestly, I kind of like it now 

That I know how - 

When everything is wrong, 

To set a place and do it with some class . . .

This particular tradition for which we are preparing is symbolic for us. Historically, the Passover referred to the Hebrews' escape from Egypt, following God’s instruction to paint the doorframes of their homes with blood of a lamb so that the angel of death would pass over them. (Deut. 16:13, Ex. 12:24-27)

In our context, Jesus, who lived the way God created us to live and love, became the “sacrificial lamb,” leading us in our exodus from the slavery of trying to be acceptable to God by the law or culturally correct behavior, to realizing the freedom of knowing we ARE the beloved children of God and humbly living into oneness with God, each other and all creation.

Jane Kenneweg-Welch