Day 306 – Jesus’ Passover Meal

• Today’s main storyline passage is, in a change from the regular, the third reading of the three listed (although there is huge significance in the second passage too!). Make sure you spend a good amount of your focus on it.
• We read Exodus 12 all the way back on day 52. 253 days ago! You may find it helpful to glance over the notes I made for that day, as it talked about the reasons that the Jews celebrated the Passover. What about it did you remember from all that time ago?
• What connections are there between the Passover event and the death on the cross that is to come?
• In the brief words we read in Luke, what did Jesus share with the disciples? Do you think they are starting to appreciate just how close Jesus’ “time” (i.e. His death) was?
• In our reading plan, John takes up the story to give us a detailed picture of the events of the Passover meal. What, perhaps surprising, thing does Jesus did for His disciples during the eating of their Passover meal?
• Washing feet was very important before such a meal, as the way they reclined at the table would have put their feet on display, and they would have been dirty from the roads. It would normally be done by a lowly servant. What was Jesus showing when He did this job Himself instead?
• What did Peter ask in John 13:9? What do you think Jesus’ reply in verse 10 means? What did He mean about something who had “bathed”? Your study notes might help you.
• Jesus explained to Peter the true meaning of being washed by Him. Peter had experienced the cleansing of a person who had “been saved” and did not need to be washed again in the spiritual sense. Salvation is a one-time act of justification by faith (which means being made right again). But… the lifelong process of sanctification (which means daily coming closer to Jesus) includes regular washing of the stain of sin that we experience as we live in this world. Make sure you understand the way the washing links to the topics of justification and sanctification, and that you’re away of the differences between them. Chat about this with whomever you meet up with.
• Imagine how Judas might have felt as he heard Jesus’ words in John 13:18 onwards. What about when Jesus turned to him with the bread? When he went out, where do you think he went? What do you think he would have been thinking about? Doesn’t the last four words of our reading today cast an onimous note on Judas’ dark plan?!
• Jesus was both fully God and fully human. That means that He would have felt tiredness and pain and concern like us. How, now in the last 24 hours before His death, do you think He would have been feeling? Do you think this might have been why He “eagerly desired” to spend time with His disciples on this night?

Well, the major periods of public teaching, discussion and healing are over. No more time for parables! From now on, we’ll see Jesus with His disciples (in some cases with an extraordinary insight into what they did) and then His time under arrest, leading eventually to His death. If this was a film, it’s certainly about the time that the director would start to ramp up the tension!

We’ve spent over 300 days to get to this week. As you read the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, remember that all of history has been pointing to this moment. It’s the event that God planned from before Creation to redeem His people back to Himself. Through the evil acts of men, God will work great good, and the events of the Old Testament have all been pointing to it. This was no accident. No blip in the story. It will be very helpful to your understanding to bear that in mind this week as we continue to read…