March 29: The Last Passover
♫ Music:
Day 44 - Thursday, March 29
Maundy Thursday
Title: The Last Passover
Scripture: Mark 14:12-25
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. When it was evening He came with the twelve. As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me one who is eating with Me.” They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” And He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl. For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Poetry: The Dream of John
By Tadeusz Rózewicz
[Translated by Victor Contoski]
John fell asleep
on the breast of the Master
he saw himself
with the face of Judas
felt the heft of
the moneybag in his hand
kissed the godly face
he did it all
because he was chosen
the tree was covered
with leaves and flowers
the fruit in secret
ripened
and fell
Awake
he saw that love and hate
are like the left hand
resting
motionless
on the lap
JESUS OR JUDAS?
It is now more common to see churches of many different denominations hold a Maundy Thursday service. Though the name itself is a reference to the New Commandment given by Jesus to his disciples (John 13:34 – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another”; in Middle English mandé means “commandment”), modern celebrations often emphasize foot washing, in imitation of Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet as a sign of his love for them. It is a good yearly reminder to a congregation that their pastor is (supposed) to be a servant of all – a “servant of the servants of God,” to quote Gregory the Great (d. 604).
But today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark emphasizes that this gathering of Jesus with his disciples is actually a Passover meal; or, depending on one’s perspective, the first Christian Eucharist. In fact, Mark’s gospel does not even mention Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet. Though Mark is a compact gospel, we can assume that this omission, if you will, is intentional to place emphasis elsewhere. The gospel itself suggests a few emphases: 1) the Passover and its sacrificial lamb; 2) the betrayal of Jesus by one of the twelve disciples; 3) the eating and drinking of the bread and the wine as part of a proper Passover meal.
Bloch’s The Last Supper and Rózewicz’s “The Dream of John” both choose to emphasize Jesus’ betrayal. Bloch has Judas standing away from the other disciples during the events of the Last Supper. Whereas most disciples are close to Jesus, and John even rests his head on Jesus’ shoulder, Judas glares from a distance, getting ready, no doubt, to go fetch the Jewish authorities to arrest Jesus. In a moment of subtle inference, Rózewicz posits an apocryphal dream of John. In this dream, John imagines that he is Judas, no longer the disciple who dearly loves Jesus but the one woefully betrays the Savior of the world. It is as if Rózewicz asks his readers, are you any different than Judas? If John the beloved disciple could think that he would betray Jesus, can we claim to do any better? It is an uncomfortable question yet one that every follower of Jesus Christ must ask herself at some point. Moreover, not only should we ask ourselves whether we could behave like Judas but it is also important to ask ourselves, how do we act like Judas? For it is not only an if but a how. So, I ask you reader (as I ask myself), on this Maundy Thursday, as we stand at the threshold of Jesus’ crucifixion, how are you more like Judas than you are like Jesus?
Prayer:
Almighty Father, strengthened by the Holy Spirit and nourished by the Eucharist, help us to follow the good example of your son Jesus Christ by loving others as you have loved us so that the world will know that we are your disciples; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Dr. Greg Peters
Associate Professor
Torrey Honors Institute
Biola University
About the Artwork:
The Last Supper
Carl Heinrich Bloch
1876
Oil on copper
Chapel at Frederiksborg Palace
Hillerod, Denmark
This is one of the few 19th century paintings of The Last Supper that features Judas so prominently. As viewers, we observe as Judas slips away from the room to betray Jesus. Our eye is moved by the compositional lines and the tension created between Jesus at the center of the composition and Judas as the foreground figure.
About the Artist:
Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890) was a Danish painter who studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Art. He traveled through the Netherlands, where he became acquainted with the work of Rembrandt, which became a major influence on his work. From 1859 to 1866, Bloch lived in Italy, where he developed his historical style. His first great success was the exhibition of his Prometheus Unbound in Copenhagen in 1865. He was commissioned to produce 23 paintings from the life of Christ for the Chapel at Frederiksborg Palace. The originals, painted between 1865 and 1879, are still at Frederiksborg Palace. Many of his pieces are in the collections of museums throughout the world
About the Music:
“Them” from the album Music for the Motion Picture Victoria
About the Composer/Performer:
Nils Frahm (b. 1982) is a German musician, composer, and record producer based in Berlin, Germany. He is known for combining classical and electronic music, and for his unconventional approach to the piano in which he mixes a grand piano, upright piano, Roland Juno-60, Rhodes piano, drum machines, and Moog Taurus. Frahm had an early introduction to music, as his father, Klaus Frahm, was a photographer who also designed covers for ECM Records. He grew up near Hamburg, where he learned the musical styles of the classical pianists as well as contemporary composers. As well as his solo work, Frahm has released collaborations with such notable performers as Anne Müller, Ólafur Arnalds, F. S. Blumm, and Woodkid. Together with Frederic Gmeiner and Sebastian Singwald, he records and performs as Nonkeen.
About the Poet:
Tadeusz Rózewicz (1921–2014) was a Polish poet, dramatist, writer, and translator. Rózewicz belonged to the first generation of Polish writers born after Poland regained its independence in 1918. During the Second World War, like his brother Janusz (also a poet), he was a soldier of the Polish underground Home Army. His literary debut as a highly innovative playwright began in 1960 with The Card Index (Kartoteka), by which time he was already the author of fifteen acclaimed volumes of poetry. His New Poems collection was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2008. Rózewicz is regarded as "one of the most versatile and creative continuators of the Polish and international avant-garde." He was a member of the Polish Writers' Union and was nominated a number of times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
About the Devotional Writer:
Greg Peters is a native Virginian who loves to travel (especially in Europe) and read. When not reading for work, Greg reads for fun. He enjoys the fiction of Paul Auster, Bernard Malamud, Chinua Achebe and the nineteenth century Russian novelists. In addition, Greg loves the poetry of John Donne and George Herbert. When it comes to non-fiction, he enjoys reading anything that has to do with theology, monasticism or the history of the Christian church. When not working or reading Greg enjoys spending time with his wife Christina and their two sons: Brendan and Nathanael. In addition to being a professor at Torrey Honors Institute, Greg is an ordained pastor in the Anglican tradition, serving regularly in his local parish.