Tags
burdens, busy schedule, Easter, Last Supper, Passover, sacrifice
Today we commemorate Passover Thursday. This is the day when the apostles secured an upper room, expecting a Passover Supper. And there, the Savior taught them about serving others by taking the basin himself and washing their feet. He established the Lord’s Sacrament, prelude to becoming the ultimate and final sacrificial lamb. He promised them that the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, would come and guide them.
At the end of the lengthy supper, Jesus led them through the city and across the valley to the garden for a secluded place to pray. At the gate, in the stillness of the gathering night, and upon the threshold of what was to become sacred ground before he left, Jesus paused. He taught them more, and then said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33), speaking as if the events were completed, for the outcome had been determined long ago.
And then he entered the depths alone, and in the great intercessory prayer, prayed and sacrificed for us all.
My days have been very busy. From endless and bewildering homework, to proofing sections of my book as my editor sends them to me, to commuting, tutoring, and all the other odd tasks of life, my days are ending increasingly closer to the next approaching day. At such times it is easy to become weary.
Then this week of humble remembering, thankfulness and joyful celebration came. Once again, my thoughts are centered on that which matters most. I am thankful that with spring comes this celebration of the greatest of all days.
Because of the events that happened in that long-ago garden and on the dismal hill, even my self-imposed burdens of overwhelming tasks can be cast at His feet. And while on my knees, I am lifted up: each time foreshadowing the final lifting.
“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee,” (Psalms 55:22).