"Only Jesus Knew the Score"
"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.' "Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom.' "When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." (Matthew 26: 26-30)
....
;)
"The Last Supper", Rembrandt, 1635
....
Scholars today can tell us with great assurance what hymn was sung that evening in the Upper Room at the conclusion of this final Passover fellowship meal ("The Last Supper"). The disciples and the Lord surely sang the Hallel Psalms as was the customary Jewish Passover tradition. Accordingly, the last hymn that they would have sung would have been Psalm 118.
As Jesus sat with his disciples, He knew that within a few short hours He would be surrounded by an angry mob demanding his death. He knew what lay before him. He knew that he would become God's true sacrificial Lamb. He knew that he would become the true Unleavened Bread to be broken. And in the unfathomable wisdom of God, the Jewish Passover Hallel tradition would dictate the awesome prophetic script for Jesus and his disciples at this Last Supper.
Within just a few hours, two thousand years of prophetic "shadow" would 'kiss' the Truth that had providentially and prophetically cast it. The pivot point of all history was about to occur. The words of Israel's prophets concerning Messiah were about to be fulfilled. And that evening...in that Upper Room... Jesus alone knew it.
Before leaving Jerusalem to go to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ, Israel's long-promised Prophet, Priest and King, surrounded for the last time by his disciples, lifted his voice,.... with gladness and rejoicing....,and sang about himself and about "this day" that at sunset had just begun to unfold:
"Open for me the gates of
righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the
LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD
through which the righteous may
enter.
I will give thanks, for you
answered me;
you have become my salvation.
The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it."
(Psalm 118: 19-24)
Jesus knew.
The time had come. This was...at last... The Day!
"The Last Supper", Leonardo da Vinci, Milan,Italy
"Only Jesus Knew the Score"
When they sang the Hymn that evening,
Only Jesus knew the score...
Yes, those glad and joyful verses,
Hid the pain that was in store.
Jesus saw the torture coming...
Crown of thorns pressed on his head,
Bloody scourging, cruel mocking,
Even as He broke the Bread.
Yes, He saw The Cross and soldiers;
He knew all the painful signs
That the Prophets had once spoken...
Even as He poured the wine.
He knew well there at The Table,
Of the wicked heart of man....
He saw clearly Calv'ry's bloodshed,
He saw nails go through His hands.
He saw spit and blood and anger...
And He saw his punctured side...;
He knew death by crucifixion,
Was the way He had to die.
Yes, The Stone to be rejected,
Saw the writing on the wall.
He knew soon that He would suffer...
To obey The Father's Call.
....
But Christ saw beyond the torture,
Past the insult and the pain...
Past the taunts and past the jeering...,
Wicked hearts of men insane.
So, He sang this Hymn with gladness...
Soon the ransom would be paid!
God's Unleavened Bread provided...
On this day the LORD had made!
Yes, The Covenant long promised...
Hope of Blessing long foretold...
Would be "cut" in bloody crimson,
Now, at last...., it would unfold!
And so Death would now Passover
Those whose Faith lies in The Lamb.
Ancient Promise made to Abram...
Would destroy the Devil's Scam.
So the Gate to Life and Glory
Would swing open now for all...
And through Faith all men might enter
God the Father's Banquet Hall!
Christ knew death could never keep Him...
Though He knew it lay ahead.
Resurrection frees the captives;
Taste this Wine and Broken Bread.
Friend, please come now to His Table...
On this Day the Lord has made!
Sing Hosannah in the highest!
For the debt we owe...He paid!
;)
"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives he lives to God.
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6: 8-11)