The Passover Supper

<p>THE PASSOVER SUPPER</p> <p>Passover was the busiest time of the year in Jerusalem when crowds of Jews from all over the Empire were gathering for the feast. Jesus had arrived triumphally seated on a donkey into Jerusalem earlier in the week and the crowds had welcomed him as their prophet, miracle worker and King to be, shouting Hosannah and casting palm leaves on the ground before him. People were amazed and awestruck at his commanding presence when he tipped over the tables of the greedy money changers in the temple, and all of this brought Jesus under fiercer and more intense scrutiny from the temple leaders than ever before. Questions were hurled at him to entice him into confrontation regarding moral and legal issues of their temple religion. But Jesus was not about to be baited like an animal of prey. He fielded their questions with a calm authority, and it was the tormentors who became enraged by the superior wisdom and integrity of their victim to be. Crowds of Jews looked on in expectation. Many wanted a show of power and strength to come from Jesus after these thrusts and parries, for surely this was the time for him to start his kingdom, but they were to be disappointed. Jesus was on a path that would lead to a far greater demonstration of such power that the whole cosmos would be shaken by it, and he knew that even though the time was short, it was still not yet.</p> <p>After three days of this exhausting exchange with the leaders and the constant attention from the crowds Jesus took the twelve aside and told them that he wanted to go and spend some time in prayer with his Father. He told them he wanted to share the Passover feast with them that evening. Jesus told them he had organized somewhere for them to have the meal. “Where will it be Master?” asked Peter. “In about three hours I want you and John to go to the city square where you will find a water carrier with a pitcher of water on his shoulder. He will be looking out for you. You are to follow him to the place he leads you to and go in an