On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’s disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.
When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”
While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:12-26
Music is essential to my life and the life of my family. I grew up singing around the table after dinner, and have spent much of my life singing to my children. I often sing at the end of sermons, which helps me and the congregation remember the love and promises we have been given. After a surgery, my husband woke up singing, and it took me a good while to hear that song without crying. Music touches us deeply and speaks to our soul.
The Gospel brings us present to the last supper in the simplest telling. There is a Passover meal and the truth of betrayal, and then the familiar words we know as communion. Then they go out after a song. We never are told what the song was. Yet we do know that they must have sung, they must have been touched by the music of their lives. Like all humans, music touched their hearts and spoke to their souls. We are invited to remember to share the music we have. In the midst of pain and heartache, music can lift us and get us on our way.
Today, I ask God to help me use the gifts of music that I have for the love of others. May we inspire and encourage folks in their darkest days. May we be the music that people need to hear.
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