I'm so excited
These are not the words we think of as we head into Holy Week. These words are also not exactly a quote from scripture. But in the passion narrative that we read this weekend, Jesus tells His apostles, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
Eagerly means excited, enthusiastic, anxious. How many of us would look forward to our last meal before our execution with eager anticipation?
People don’t look forward to saying goodbye to their loved ones, we tend to dread goodbyes. Jesus is excited to say goodbye to His best friends especially when His goodbye will end in suffering. So much suffering in fact that shortly after this last supper Jesus is in the garden sweating blood.
But Jesus is excited, not because He is saying goodbye, but because He will be with His apostles a different way.
Jesus the Word made flesh had been looking forward to this moment ever since the fall in the garden, ever since the protoevangelium was proclaimed. The protoevangelium means the first gospel (the good news) and it was proclaimed by God, in the garden, to Adam and Eve. God says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel. Gen 3:15
Jesus is excited because He desires to give Himself to us in the Eucharist.
The Passover meal that Jesus shares with His apostles, the Last Supper, is the culmination of the ministry of Jesus. After the fall in the garden God had a plan to bring us life by eating the fruit of the new tree of life, the tree of the cross. Jesus wants to have this meal with His apostles because it is part of God’s plan.
The Last Supper is the institution of the Eucharist. If it is not, then it is a really tragic event. Saying goodbye to His apostles would be sudden and tragic, and the excitement of Jesus, to eat this meal with His impending death looming just a few days away, would be a puzzling emotion.
If the Last Supper is the Institution of the Eucharist, then it is an exciting event! It would be a great night that Jesus would be excited to share with His apostles, even if He knows what terrible events are in store for Him in the days ahead.
Today, Palm Sunday, Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem to face His crucifixion head-on. This coming Thursday we will celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper where Jesus gave us the gift of Himself in the Eucharistic. A gift that transcends time and space.
The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday begins the Sacred Triduum. The Triduum liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday allow us to accompany Jesus, during His passion and death, and express to Him our love. Try to attend as many of these liturgies as your schedule allows and enter fully into Jesus’ experience of Holy Week.
May God give you peace.
Deacon Michael Braun