the week started out so well

The week started out so well.

We had all come into Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Our rabbi told us to go to a certain man and borrow his donkey. We walked into the city and the people came out of nowhere! They began shouting and singing and waving palm branches. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. …I’m sorry. How rude of me, my name is Peter and I was one of the disciples of Jesus.

You haven’t heard about Jesus? You must be new to these parts. Let me tell you all about him.

Like I said the week started out to be wonderful. We walked behind Jesus as he rode in on the donkey. The people were singing and shouting and were so happy to see him. I learned from Jesus for almost three years now, I have never seen anyone respond to him the way the people did. No one threw him a parade when he healed the lame and blind. No one cheered when he touched the lepers or ate with tax collectors. And they certainly didn’t lay down palm branches and coats along his path when he told the crowds that following him was to follow Yahweh, and that following would be hard. In fact many left him when he did that. But I stuck around. I would never betray Jesus. Well that isn’t completely true…

So the week went pretty normal from that point on. Well normal when you spend time with Jesus. He spent a lot of time teaching. Saying things that I wasn’t really sure what they meant. But so much of what Jesus said didn’t always make since to me.

But it was the night we had our Seder Meal where things got really confusing. We were all around the table. The meal is about to begin, and Jesus stands up and goes to a corner of the room. He grabs a bowl and a towel. Then takes off his outer cloak and fills the bowl with water. He returns to the table and without a word begins to wash our feet! Our Rabbi was washing our feet! The man who only days before had been welcomed into the city with singing and celebration, was now dressed in a towel and washing our gross smell disgusting feet! The one who I thought was the one. The one we had been waiting for. The one promised to his people by The LORD was now on his hands and knees like a common lowly servant. I sat in awe as he made his way around the table.

I decided I was going to have no part in this tomfoolery. I was going to have no part in this ridiculous behavior! Wash my feet! I don’t think so! And I told him sold! No way my Lord! There is no way you are touching these gross feet of mine, that is beneath you.

Then Jesus looked me straight in the eye. There was a little smirk at the corner of his mouth. It is the same look he always gave me when I was close to what he wanted to teach us, but not really getting the point. It was the look that I knew meant, I love your enthusiasm Peter, but you are missing the point. It was his look that told me to Stop. Wait. Listen to what I am about to say.

“Unless I wash your feet then you have no part of me.” That is what Jesus said to me. Well if washing the feet is good then washing the head and the hands must be even better. No one loved Jesus more than I did. No one understood me like he did. And I understood him better than anyone else. “Wash my head and my hands as well then!” “You are already clean, you need only have your feet washed.”

From there the meal was pretty normal. That is until the end of the meal. As we were finishing the Seder meal, Jesus took some of the bread and said, “This is my body broken for you.” I will be honest here; I thought that was a really odd thing to say.

Jesus took the cup and said, “This is my blood shed for you.” No it isn’t I can see it from here, its wine. (Really good wine too, but not as good as the wine we had at Canaan that one time).

I really truly didn’t understand what Jesus was trying to say. Why was he using bread and wine to describe a broken body and spilled blood? Then it dawned on me….All last week he kept saying things about going away, and rebuilding temples. Did Jesus plan to die?

We left the upper room where had had our meal and walked outside the city to a hill known as the Mount of Olives. There is a garden there that Jesus loved. He took us all there, but told the others to stay as he went on. He brought James and John along with myself a little further into the garden. (By the way, John always claimed that he was Jesus’ favorite, but I know it was me, and I was ready to prove it.)

Jesus went further in and prayed. He told us to watch and pray. We all fell asleep. It was really late. When I woke up, Jesus walked by us, mentioned something about our inability to stay awake for even a little while and said that the time was soon.

When we came back to where the others were I could see torches being carried in the distance. As they got closer I could see that it was Judas (he had left earlier) along with some of the religious leaders and small group of Roman soldiers. I don’t know what Judas thought he was trying to prove with this little stunt, but I had come prepared. I was packin.

I drew out my sword and swung it at one of the Roman guards. He moved, but I still sliced off his ear. No one was going to take my Jesus away from me.

Then Jesus bent down, grabbed the man’s ear, placed it back on his head, and the ear was healed. Reattached and working just fine. I was confused. And hurt. Jesus didn’t seem to be impressed by my courage or my swordsmanship. He gave me a different look. One I had seen many times before. It was the look Jesus gave me when I had gone too far. He didn’t need his words to tell me it was time to put away the sword. Then Jesus did the one thing that made absolutely no sense in that whole confusing night. He walked away with the leaders, the soliders, and that traitorous little snake Judas. He went with them. He let them arrest him!

The week started out so well.