Post by Admin on Jan 26, 2017 6:02:22 GMT
While last week we tried putting ourselves into the shoes (or sandals!) of Pontius Pilate, tonight we imagined being one of the disciples, reclining with Jesus for an intimate conversation during the Passover meal. One of the things that Mark records is that when Jesus said one person would betray him, all the disciples were unsure in their own minds about who the betrayer would be. There were a number of interesting observations about this: for example, Peter made a number of mistakes and betrayals, but didn’t believe those would happen even when predicted by Jesus – not until the damage was done. He also was forgiven by Jesus, asked and accepted. We largely concurred that if Judas had come to the Lord for forgiveness, Jesus would have forgiven him.
While Jesus did not show any of the usual human reactions to eminent death (for example, he did not need to reconcile with anyone because he had never injured anyone), he did set up an important memorial activity – what we call Holy Communion. The bread was broken like His body would soon be, to pay for our sins, and his blood was shared to seal a new covenant between God and us. He did this in connection with the Passover traditions, which we read also from Exodus. Whether they understood the parallels or not (we rather thought they were still not clear), the disciples still ate and drank the bread and wine, accepting the body and blood inside them.
The Youth added an innovative game to their discussion session. Each person in the group received a card with either no instructions or a direction to scratch his or her nose throughout the discussion – the
“nose scratcher” standing in for Judas. The objective was to experience a situation in which everyone knows that one person is doing something different – some were distracted wondering who “it” was, others stopped thinking about catching the “nose scratcher” quickly. Wrapping up, everyone could compare their simple experience with the feelings of the disciples, some confused about who would be the betrayer, or wondering if they were going to make a fatal mistake, others not worrying about it.
While Jesus did not show any of the usual human reactions to eminent death (for example, he did not need to reconcile with anyone because he had never injured anyone), he did set up an important memorial activity – what we call Holy Communion. The bread was broken like His body would soon be, to pay for our sins, and his blood was shared to seal a new covenant between God and us. He did this in connection with the Passover traditions, which we read also from Exodus. Whether they understood the parallels or not (we rather thought they were still not clear), the disciples still ate and drank the bread and wine, accepting the body and blood inside them.
The Youth added an innovative game to their discussion session. Each person in the group received a card with either no instructions or a direction to scratch his or her nose throughout the discussion – the
“nose scratcher” standing in for Judas. The objective was to experience a situation in which everyone knows that one person is doing something different – some were distracted wondering who “it” was, others stopped thinking about catching the “nose scratcher” quickly. Wrapping up, everyone could compare their simple experience with the feelings of the disciples, some confused about who would be the betrayer, or wondering if they were going to make a fatal mistake, others not worrying about it.