Can you imagine that meal?!

“He sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, ‘Where is my guest room where may I eat the Passover with my disciples?’  He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready.  Make preparations for us there.”  So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.  When it was evening, he came with the twelve.  And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.’  They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, ‘Surely, not I?’”  - Mark 14:13-19

Finally the day of the Passover meal had arrived.  How would you feel if you were Jesus?  That seems like kinda a weird question to ask, but I think we forget, all too often, that Jesus was fully human.  He experienced similar emotions that we do today.  So how do you suppose He felt?  Knowing that He was well aware of the fate that awaited Him and the events that would lead up to His death, that the next few days would be full of betrayal, pain, and suffering, I would guess He saw this night as sort of the calm before the storm.  He chooses to spend it with His closes friends, in celebration.
How do you think the disciples felt?  First, the two that were directed to make the preparations according to His very detailed instructions.  How would you feel having heard Jesus say these things and go into the city, and have it happen just so?  The disciples believed that Jesus was the Son of God, just as we do, but how often are we taken by surprise when we encounter His miracles?  What about during the dinner?  What do you and your family or friends talk about at dinner?  What if you were at the table and the Lord of lords all the sudden broke the casual conversation by announcing that someone at that very table, one of His closest companions, would betray Him?  Would you be able to consider it a possibility that it could be YOU?  How have you betrayed God or disappointed Him?
Notice that even though Jesus knew the horrific content of His near future, He still went through with it.  He did not choose to manipulate it or change it in any way.  He embraced it and endured it all out of love for you and me and the world...
Prayer:  Dear Father God, Thank you for never giving up on us.  Thank you for enduring the worst of the worst for us.  Thank you for saving us.  Be with us the rest of the week.  Amen!