Minister's Letter - March 2008
When the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, 'I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer'. Luke 22:14,15
The disciples followed Jesus into Jerusalem, through the excitement of the Palm Sunday crowds and then, finally, up the stairs to the upper room. Jesus had once asked them, 'You don't want to leave, do you?' Peter had replied, 'Lord, who can we go to? You have the words of eternal life'.
So there was nowhere else for them to go, but with him, at this turning point in time; this one weekend in millions of years of human history - disciples in the upper room with Jesus, disciples who a few weeks later would begin to turn the world upside down, so that millions of us would be celebrating Easter in 2008.
There was nowhere else for them to be, but in this quiet upper room before the storm, as bread and wine take on a new and powerful significance, echoing the traditional Passover meal.
There was nowhere else for them to be, even though these puzzled men, totally out of their depth, were already beginning to fail him, the seeds of betrayal and denial, of turning tail in fear, already sown.
There is nowhere else for us to be, but to walk with him through these events once again. The Lord of the universe gives himself up to baying crowds, to the compromises of government and politics, to unjust trials, to taunt and torture, so that we may walk in his eternal love and life for ever.
Remember today Christians who are in hard and difficult places, facing the same kind of violence, injustice and hostility that he faced, and pray that they may know the assurance of his love and his resurrection life.
In Christ,
Christopher White
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