From the old to the new

by Letters Editor · April 12, 2012

From Yolande Trainor, Cape Town

The traditional Seder plate

The Jewish Passover this year, was a wonderful way �in� to John�s account of the Passion. At the same time that Christians celebrated Easter, our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrated the Passover. This year, the Jewish Passover started on Holy Saturday, which means that the Passover Seder meal was on Friday night…Good Friday night!

�Good heavens!�, you might exclaim, �we couldn�t imagine a Passover meal on Good Friday night!� Well, that is exactly what John�s gospel invites us to do. In John�s gospel, the Friday on which Jesus dies is the �Day of Preparation� for both the Passover and also the Sabbath. (Jn 19:14,31,42).

John, with a great sense of symbolism, shows us the significance of Jesus� death by placing it at the time that the Paschal lambs were being slaughtered for the Passover rituals in the Temple.

However, that is not all that was happening on the Day of Preparation: it was for the Passover meal that night and preparation for the Sabbath when no further cooking could take place on the following day. There would have been much activity in the homes of all the Jewish people, especially for the Passover meal on that Sabbath eve. So, if you wanted to imagine your way into John�s gospel, imagine yourself as one of Jesus� followers (who were Jewish, after all)�man or woman�who was not brave enough to stay with him for his crucifixion. Imagine that you have spent the day preparing for the Passover meal, and the Sabbath, and the others have come back to tell you of his death.

Can you imagine the quandry, their questions? �How will we manage the Passover and Sabbath meal tonight just after our beloved Jesus has died?�

Easter, according to John, offers a rich possibility for prayer. And may we delight in God who through the generations has nourished his people.