We, the disciples of the Lord, saw a new world that night.
We had taken part in a Passover like no other. The covenant was transformed, with Our Lord himself before us, as The Sacrifice. The vision of that perfect Sacrifice swam before our eyes as we ate the Lamb and drank from the cup of His blood.
How could the darkness intrude on that occasion? Hardly had I taken my gaze from Him when I heard an argument brewing about the form of our authority. Who should take the seat of honor? Who was senior among us? What titles should we, who were close to Him, have in the new Kingdom?
And then we fell silent, one by one, as we felt his gaze fall on us.
The First Shall Be Last…
Greater and lesser, servant and master … once again he challenged us to think anew. In my mind’s eye I saw the mighty removed from their seats and children climbing on to thrones. Like Sarah, I stifled a laugh. He caught my eye: ‘Let the greatest among you become as the youngest’ and I thought of the children he lifted up in His arms.
I also thought about great people: military men, scholars and the rich. All of them poor when compared to Jesus in the moment when He came to us as the perfect Lamb, who is acceptable to God. He shone before our eyes then, so that we could barely keep our gaze upon Him. Before His greatness we knew ourselves to be small, with as little authority as children. We held back in awe and reverence, but he reached out and drew us close, feeding us with Himself.
Serve
In all His greatness he loved and cared for us. It occurred to me that we often despise those who care for us. Women and servants tend to our needs, but we do not stop to look at them.
He said, ‘… here am I among you as one who serves.’
The Lord as a servant?
He heard my thought and as I gazed, I saw a woman. She was a poor young woman of no account, and she raised her head and cried out, ‘My soul glorifies the Lord …’ and the song of praise rang out, ‘He casts the mighty from their thrones, and raises the lowly.’ I followed her gaze up to the heavens as she sang out her praise, and oh, how vast the great dome of the heavens looked, with all of God’s creation echoing that song.
And then I heard another sound. It was the cry of a newborn child. The Lord was in our midst, the poorest of us, in the humblest of places, helpless and laid in the feeding manger of a stable. The young girl who gave birth, away from home, in a place where she could shelter awhile before making a flight from danger, who was just another refugee, was the Mother of the Lord. And the Lord was the least of us in such a beginning, and became a servant to us, never holding back from giving Himself.
As that understanding of His service sank into our hearts He lifted our spirits, saying, ‘You are the men who have stood by me faithfully in my trials; and now I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father conferred one on me: you will eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.’
So, we understood how we are called to guide Israel, the new Israel, with that same love and humility.
