Passover

By Pat Russell

They sat around the table in the dim twilight of the evening. The conversation was easy, as these men had been together nearly three years now. Their friendships were forged in the heat of the sun, on the dusty Galilean roads and in the cool night breeze on the Lake of Galilee. Theirs was not a friendship of convenience or easy likableness. No, they were such very different sorts. 

Only being together night and day in stressful situations could give birth to such love between them. Jealousy, pride, anger, humor, laziness, lack of trust, tenderness, fear, amazement, near exhaustion, joy, sorrow: these were but a few of the human conditions that bound them together in a knot so strong that it seemed as though nothing could break it. Even so, one stood on the fringe, not because he was not wanted, but because he seemed to keep a part of himself from the others. 

And always there was Jesus. He was the golden cord that kept them bound. He saw into each man’s soul and knew what was going on at the very core, even though their spoken words might say otherwise. He was able to take a conversation about the mundane things of life and turn it into a window into heaven. He protected them and provided for them when things looked hopeless. He helped them to see how such different backgrounds mean nothing when people choose to be committed to one another. He led them into the very courts of the temple with truth that pierced the hearts of all who heard him speak.

Three years of togetherness. Three years of growth in body, mind and spirit. Three years of another world. But of late it seemed that things were going to change. The friction was stronger, the hate more fierce, the love more intense; moments of peace and quiet were fewer. Even Jesus seemed more resolute, more directed. On some days He seemed almost gone to another place. Something was brewing, but no one knew what.

Now at this Passover meal, the twelve men told stories of their encounters of the last few days. They laughed with one another and questioned one another in easy familiarity. They were brothers of the lasting kind. Then, raising his hands, Jesus began to speak to them about the days to come and their world was changed forever.