“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”
~ Luke 22:27
Hi James and Ellen,
It is the evening of the 14th of Nisan. A motley group of twelve guys are already in the city of Jerusalem and in the house where they will celebrate the Passover Feast together with their leader once he arrives. The Passover Feast is traditionally celebrated on the evening of the 14th of Nisan. The Passover Feast was the designated time to recall the night 1480 years or so earlier when God’s angel of death did not stop to kill the boy in an Israelite people group home who had been born first in his family because his dad and ma had smeared lamb’s blood on the doorframe of their house. God’s angel of death stopped that night at the houses that did not have lamb’s blood smeared on the doorframes to kill the boy who had been born first in his family. The houses where God’s death angel stopped were homes where Egyptian guys and gals lived. The Israelite people group guys and gals were living in Goshen, Egypt when God sent His death angel to kill the Egyptian boys who had been born first in their families. Right after this heartbreaking night for Egyptian dads and mas, the Egyptian Pharaoh finally relented to let the Israelite people group guys and gals – with their kids, leave his country for the land area of Canaan – the land area where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the patriarchs of the Israelite people group guys and gals, had lived for most of their lives. God was returning the land of Canaan back to His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group guys and gals, to always to have to live as their very own land if . . .
Before this diverse group of thirteen guys met together in the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Feast, the group’s leader had sent two of his guys ahead to the city of Jerusalem to set up a place where they would eat the Passover meal alone and together. The group’s leader had told the two guys – Pete and John, to look for a guy who would be carrying a water jug – which was really a gal’s job to do, and to follow the guy as the guy would lead them to a house that had a large upstairs room where they would be able to eat the Passover meal alone and together. The group’s leader began recruiting going on three years earlier his ragtag gang of twelve guys. The group’s leader first randomly chose several fishermen to be on his team. The group’s leader then added Matt – who was a tax collector, Tom – who had trouble trusting in what other guys said, Simon – who had been a freedom fighter, Tad and Bart – a couple of guys who no one seems to knows anything about and Jud – who had sticky fingers and very questionable motives for continuing to stay with the gang. Because most of the guys had spent at least a couple of years together traveling with their leader throughout the Galilee, Judea and Samaria regions – listening to their leader as he taught absolute truths to large crowds of guys, gals and kids and watching their leader as he miraculously healed an array of infirmed guys, gals and kids, there is every reason to think that this gang of twelve guys would have become by the 14th of Nisan – around 33 B.C., a close knit bunch of buddies but . . . Luke recounts in Luke 22 the days before and on the 14th of Nisan – around 33 B.C., when the twelve ‘cronies’ were together for the last time with their leader. After doing what their leader had told them to do, Pete and John sets up an upstairs room for a Passover meal. When the Passover meal is almost over, the group’s leader instructs his guys to a new way of how to remember this time and why they were to remember this time. The group’s leader tells the guys that the Passover Feast will be from this time on a time of remembering him versus remembering what took place in Egypt going on 1500 years earlier. The group’s leader uses a cup of wine to symbolize his blood that would soon be poured out and he uses a chunk of bread that he broke off a loaf of bread to symbolize the suffering that his body would soon suffer. Your grandpaa thinks that it was at this time that the leader of the group changed the Passover Feast to being a focus to Himself as a new covenant, that Jud leaves his ‘pals’ as they continue to celebrate with their leader and goes to the chief priests in order to turn in his leader for thirty silver pieces. The group’s leader had before Jud left told his guys as they were finishing eating the Passover meal that one of them was going to betray Him. The eleven remaining guys – instead of banding together as a united team, begin to argue among themselves about who was the most capable, best known and greatest among them. When the group’s leader hears his guys arguing, he says in verse 27, “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” When the group’s leader tells Pete – who he calls Simon, that he expects him after he has left them to be strong for his cohorts, Pete tells his leader that he is ready for whatever – even if it means going to jail or even dying. The gang’s leader tells Pete that he will eat those words – that at the moment that he faces a death sentence that Pete will say three times to people that he has no clue who the dude is. The group’s leader tells Pete that a rooster – who will crow after the third time that Pete says that he has no clue who the guy is, will remind Pete of what he just said. The group’s leader than takes his guys to a quiet place outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem where he spends his time agonizingly talking with his dad while his guys who are with him cannot stay awake and fall asleep instead of . . . when the chief priests and elders suddenly show up with Jud – along with some officers who guarded the temple, to take his leader away, Pete using a sword lops off the ear of a chief priest’s servant.
Jesus was the leader of the guys who He chose. Jesus understood what it was like for His disciples to stumble through life learning how to serve Him. Your grandpaa is very thankful that God has been just as patient with him.
Luke 22 (664)