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Hi everyone! As always, I hope your week is going well. With Easter now just over a week away, I also hope that you are finding ways to engage the Easter season with heart, mind, emotions, and imagination. As I mentioned last Sunday, I find that Easter can easily sneak up and then slip past without having the impact it should on me. So I’m trying to practice what I preach, taking steps to remind myself just how special this season is and how grateful I am for all the things it means.

 On that note, if you were with us in church last Sunday, you’ll remember that I suggested a little homework assignment. Following the example of Mary, who anointed Jesus with precious perfume, I invited us all to do a little spiritual assessment exercise. Specifically, I suggested asking the question: how would my life be different if it didn’t include Jesus? It’s a useful question, not because there is any danger of losing Jesus when we belong to Him, but because it helps remind me just how precious He is and how many blessings He brings.

 For me, that exercise intersected with my daily reading in an interesting way. Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the Psalms again, and earlier this week I was pondering Psalm 103. It’s a fairly familiar psalm. It starts like this:

 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits—

Who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

Who satisfies you with good as long as you live,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

 The Psalm adds other blessings. God brings justice for the oppressed. He is merciful and forgiving. He is a compassionate Father to His children, remembering our weakness. His steadfast love is everlasting on us and on our descendants.

 I’m always encouraged by this psalm. This week it took on a new dimension for me, as I reflected on the wonderful gifts and blessings God pours out on me, one on top of another—and how huge a gap would be created if I didn’t have these. After all, God’s goodness to me is made possible by what Jesus has done. Without Him, I would not enjoy and appreciate all these benefits. I would not be assured of forgiveness. I would not enjoy some of the well-being I have now, and certainly would have no hope of ultimate deliverance from disease and sickness. I would have no reason to hope for life beyond the grave, and would not experience so much of God’s love and mercy. I would have no reason to believe justice will prevail. I would have no faithful Father, and little understanding of enduring love. My life would be so different, and so sad.

But … but I do have Jesus, and through Him, the blessings of God as my Father. So I can come back to this psalm and celebrate and sing praise in a way that I could never do otherwise. How precious my Lord is, and how blessed I am! And how glad I am for Easter.

It’s been a good exercise. If you haven’t taken it on, I encourage you to try it. 

This week, we’re looking at another of the “dinners with Jesus” that cluster around Easter. This time we’ll reflect on the “last supper” Jesus shared with the disciples at Passover. It’s the most familiar of these meals, since we remember it every time, we have Communion together. But we’re going to look at it in a slightly different way than usual. The last supper is described in all 4 gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—with slightly different emphases in each, and in some cases following a slightly different order as each writer recounts the story around the themes he wants to highlight. Rather than just reading the story in one of the gospels, I’m going to invite us to walk through a combined summary of what we find in all of them. In the process, I hope we’ll get some further insights to help us prepare for Easter.

So, if you’re planning to read ahead this week, you’ll have to decide which strategy to follow. The events of this supper can be found in Matthew 26:17-35, Mark 14:12-31, Luke 22:1-38, and John 13:1-38. (Jesus’ words in John 14 are also part of His upper room teaching before they left for the garden, though we’re not going to go there.)  One option is to read all four passages, though that’s a lot of reading with a lot of overlap. Matthew and Mark are almost identical, so a slightly shorter version would include only 1 of them. The shortest option would be to read the account just from Luke. And a slightly longer one would be to read Luke 22 and add John 13.

The last option would be my suggestion, unless you’re really wanting to dig in and study. But any of these will get you thinking about the passage, and that’s the main thing!

Whether you read ahead or not, thank you for your prayers for me and for all of us as we approach Easter. May the season have renewed meaning for you, and may you have multiplied opportunities to share the joy of the Lord with family, friends and neighbours. (By all means, invite them to church for Easter, too, if you get the chance. We’ll aim to make Easter Sunday visitor-friendly.) Have a wonderful week, and God bless you richly!

 —Pastor Ken