Remembrance of this event had to be a painful thing for the Lord. “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered unto you.” 1 Corinthians 11:23 Often, revisiting an event or incident brings with it new and better insight to the event and affect it had on your life. What mental state would the Lord be in to re-visit this night? What tone of voice did He use to speak to the only apostle of the twelve that had no memory of this most famous happening? In grave tones, deep and mellow, or in exuberant tones with the brightness and clarity only the Lord could have spoken? What whirlwind of remembrance did all the events of that one night flood the Lord’s mind? 5,000 or 6,000 years of development had gone into this one evening. Every event had to have been played over and over again as the Prince of Heaven had for a million times visited every moment before He actually lived them. He would know every expression on the faces of every disciple, every breath each would live, and every utterance each had made though we have not the record given. This was the night!!
Six thousand years of struggle, dedication, and sacrifice had made this night possible. Each hero of God had brought this moment into existence. Each soldier of an unseen army had rendered this event possible by their sacrifice and then men of today think Christ was caught off guard, by surprise, and failed the test when taken?? Even humanity with the precise knowledge and perfect information about the events of this night would have prepared themselves to pass this test!! From the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Gethsemane was a great distance, but each step had been totally planned for and prepared. The Creator of the Universe, mankind, and everything in between with a history of perfection in every detail He performed would dictate in this night the type of perfection before seen in all His works, continued. There were no surprises, no lapses, nor any unforseens unprepared for or not considered. The trophy designed from before time that would be laid at the feet of His Redeemed was being made this night and the entire perfection of Deity was on display!! No mistakes!! No surprises!! No circumstances that Satan nor all the imps of Hell might devise had not been rendered empty, for the Son of God was going to sacrifice His life’s blood for payment that had now come due, He was going to die!!
It is easy to understand why the Lord of Glory had not destroyed Judas, why the tree on which He was to be impaled had not been destroyed, and why the Roman soldier that was to pierce His side had been allowed life to remain in his body from the womb of his mother. All of these were for the “glory that would await Him.” This was not selfishness seen to the point of ridiculousness, this was selflessness to the point of perfection!! This was God at His finest expression, something man has had a lot of trouble comprehending. No dark, doomsday theories, no disappointments, no challenges to His nature had produced in Him anything that would at any time give thought to not “doing the will of My Father, in Heaven.” Christ Jesus our Lord was moving on to a job greater than sacrifice, greater than His triumphant journey to the Hadean world, and greater than His return to the Ancient of Days; and nothing nor no one would or could stop Him. Christ was moving on to the greatest work of His gift to His bride; He was going to become her High Priest in Heaven, Her means of making it safely to the abode of righteousness, and Her acclimation announced before Her purchase; “Come ye blessed of My Father and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” How could He ever have envisioned such a delightful address IF He would not have died on Calvary’s stake??
How many nights had He spent in prayer with His Father? How often had He predicted through His prophets His death, and how much had He put into making this moment a truth to have given up in face of predictable odds?? Yes, He could predict what was to happen!! So, in what tones did He give this message to Paul, the apostle? Answer: VICTORIOUS!! Having now been reigning at the right hand of the Father for about forty years, Christ would be riddled with joy, enthusiasm, and finality. Only they who have lived moments can fully express them, and such would be the case with the Lord of Glory.
What a thrill this must have been to His courageous apostle! To hear this eloquence and feel this tenderness must have been unearthly!! To have been thought worthy to have shared with Christ this most touching of moments must have been beyond understanding, yet He shares this thrill with us!!
