On Your Last Day
If you knew tomorrow would be your last day, what would you do tonight? Jesus spent His final night loving and preparing His friends.
That last night, Jesus and his disciples observed the Passover. It was, and is, a somber remembrance of how God miraculously saved Israel from their years of slavery in Egypt. It was a time for them as friends to connect; to remember all the ways God had provided deliverance not just for the nation but for themselves as individuals.
What would you do tonight if you knew that tomorrow you would be dead?
Oh, morbid! Yet, how many things are left undone? How many apologies need to be made? But there’s no time to travel; phone calls can seem impersonal.
Maybe you’re tempted to go on a binge of some sort, or to do something that you’ve been afraid to do, like bungy jump off a bridge, or just get away and stew over your bad misfortunes. What would you do?
I picture the disciples reflecting on moments of deliverance they had shared.
“Hey,” one said, “Remember that time in Nazareth they tried to throw Jesus off a cliff?”
“Yeah,” replied another, “but Jesus walked right through the crowds, and no one touched him!” (Luke 4:28-30).
“Or that time,” a third paused, looking at Jesus, “when you made the religious leaders so flustered and angry because you healed a guy…”
“Ah, how many times was that?” another interrupted. Everyone laughed.
“Well, how about at the pool of Bethesda? You simply said, ‘My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.’ (John 5:17). They really wanted to kill you that time!” Subdued laughter, heads nodded.
“But look how God delivered you each time, right Jesus?” That was probably Peter. Everyone brightened up.
Then, as recorded in Luke 22:24, the disciples, completely oblivious to what Jesus had told them about his impending death, started fighting over “who among them was the greatest!”
Patiently, Jesus said, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).
Stop and reflect upon this simple statement. Can you feel the love and warmth Jesus felt for these thick-headed men? Can you hear his sorrow? He would be leaving them. Were they ready to become bold evangelists of a New Covenant?
Moses was used by God to deliver a nation; Jesus was to be the sacrifice God accepted that would save everyone who believes in him! But uppermost in his thoughts that last night was for his beloved friends. He prayed later that night, “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me”(John 17:11).
What will you do today, or tonight—you don’t know what tomorrow brings. Will you be in Paradise?
Today, take time to connect with loved ones and remember how God has delivered you through Christ Jesus.
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