Rebekah Redeemed (9 page)

Jesus spent a joyful reunion with Lazarus and his friends in
Bethany
. Everyone wanted to come and see Lazarus, the man who had been raised from the dead. Word of the miracle spread across the countryside and throughout
Judea
. Instead of teaching in the hills around the village or going into
Jerusalem
to teach at the
Temple
, Jesus stayed with Lazarus for a few quiet days. Jesus went off alone sometimes.

Jesus seemed almost melancholy to Rebekah. He smiled when he talked to Lazarus, the friend that he so dearly loved, but he was somehow distracted.

Rebekah wondered.
I’ve heard that the Pharisees and the priests want to trap Jesus. I remember when they questioned him and said that he blasphemed. Why can’t they see who he really is?

Jesus came back from the fields and said, “Lazarus, I have celebrated the Passover with you and your sisters, but this will be the last one I will eat with you until I come again.”

Rebekah thought,
I have not had Passover seder since I was a child. I know our neighbors celebrated it, but Mara forbade it in Benjamin’s home. Jesus says he will be coming back, so this will be our first to celebrate with him and my new family.

Mary and Martha had been preparing and teaching Rebekah about the Passover celebration for weeks. She was as excited as a small child. Since Jesus and his closest disciples would share the meal with them, she would be the youngest in the group besides John, one of Jesus’ closest friends.

Passover and the Festival of the Unleavened Bread were coming in a few days. Rebekah helped scour every inch of the house, cleaning and ridding it of all leaven.

Mary explained, “We must get rid of all the yeast and only eat unleavened bread for seven days.”

Rebekah asked, “I have heard others talk about making their homes clean for the festival, but I do not really understand.”

Mary took great patience with Rebekah to bring her along spiritually and physically. “The yeast represents our sins. We can offer sacrifices to God and pray for forgiveness. Cleaning the house is like cleansing ourselves of our past sins and beginning again.”

Rebekah broke out in a joyous grin. “Clean like how I feel since Jesus forgave me the day he raised Lazarus. I feel like a little girl when my abba walked with me among the lambs.”

Mary hugged her and the two shared a joyful laugh together. They had much to be thankful for.

She helped Martha and Mary prepare the
sabbat
meal. They lit the oil lamps, and Martha, as the oldest woman in the household, lit the menorah candles at sundown. They repeated a prayer and began the twenty-four hour Sabbath.

The family and friends celebrated the seder meal together, but Jesus seemed preoccupied at times.

After the meal, Jesus seemed intent on imparting lessons to Peter, James, and John in quiet moments. He also talked earnestly with Lazarus as if he only had a short time to share.

The next day Jesus said, “Lazarus, I have enjoyed my time with you and your sisters, but my time has come to go into
Jerusalem
today.”

“Lord, the Pharisees have threatened your life, and the Roman’s are always looking for an excuse to round up anyone they think is a trouble maker,” Lazarus warned. “Stay with us. You can celebrate a quiet Passover and Feast of the Unleavened Bread with us and then return to
Capernaum
.”

Jesus said, “Lazarus, I must finish what I came here for. I was glad to share a Passover seder with you and your sisters, but my Father has yet something I must do to redeem my people.”

Lazarus bowed his head in recognition that Jesus would not take his advice to stay out of
Jerusalem
.

 
Jesus hugged his good friend and then turned to the sisters. “Martha, I thank you for always offering respite and hospitality to me. You will be rewarded.”

“It is always my pleasure, Lord. Did my brother ask you to stay?”

“Yes, Martha, but my time has come. We will return tonight for a last meal together.”

Jesus said, “Mary, you have a willing heart and compassion. Jehovah holds you close in his heart.”

Then he looked into Rebekah’s eyes. “You, little one, can live a joyful life and enjoy a peace that few will know.”

Jesus lifted his head in a silent prayer over them all and then left with an air of resolution.

Rebekah thought that Jesus sounded somehow sad, not like he usually was.
He means his last meal with us until he returns from
Capernaum
again.
She noticed that his disciples seemed excited about Jesus entering the city.

She’d heard people talking with her neighbors in
Bethany
. “Jesus will be our King and the Roman’s will be pushed out of
Judea
. Our people will be free.”

The roads in and around
Bethany
and
Jerusalem
were crowded with people. Passover was one of the times during the year that the Jews were to gather in
Jerusalem
to make atonement sacrifices at the
Temple
.

As in years past, Lazarus planned to go with Jesus to the
Temple
to make the yearly sacrifices required of each family. There seemed to be even more excitement this year than usual. Much speculation was heard about Jesus and his differences with the Pharisees. Rumors were rampant.

As Jesus left
Bethany
, Lazarus and his sisters joined the other followers. The passed people camped along the roads and across the hills. As they walked, more and more people joined Jesus and the disciples. After a short walk to Bethphage on the eastern side of the
Mount of Olives
, Jesus said, “Go find a man with a colt in the village. Tell him that the Lord has need of it.”

Rebekah felt caught up in the excitement. She wondered why Jesus sent for a colt. Usually he walked into
Jerusalem
like everyone else. Before long, the two disciples returned with the colt. Jesus stepped into a rock and then sat on the animal’s back. He rode over the
Mount of Olives
on a small path. As the growing group came over the hilltop, they could see the sacrificial lambs being herded down the winding road toward the Eastern Gate. It would take them almost straight to the
Temple
. They would be there for those to purchase in the outer court to be sacrificed.

Walking near the disciples, Mary and Rebekah linked arms. They laughed with delight and joined in with the praise that people began shouting.

Rebekah felt like she walked on air. She wasn’t sure she really understood everything that Jesus had said to them before leaving for
Jerusalem
, but she felt deeply comforted nonetheless. She’d heard John and his brother James talking about being given great positions of power and prestige when Jesus declared himself king, but that seemed to be long into the future.

The disciples were jubilant and almost dancing. Joanna, one of the women traveling with the disciples, came alongside Rebekah. She smiled broadly.

Rebekah asked “Why did Jesus call for the colt? I have only seen him walk before.”

“Matthew says it is a sign of nobility and kingship. Jesus must be planning to declare himself king.”

“I don’t understand,” said Rebekah.

“Kings always enter the city in triumph riding a colt. It is written in the scriptures and it is the custom.”

Rebekah nodded. She looked around her .

Jesus stopped at the crest of the mount and took a long look at the city. Tears spilled from his eyes and he said, “Oh,
Jerusalem
the time will come when you will be destroyed because you did not humble yourselves before God. You did not recognize when the Lord visited you.”

Only those closest to him heard what he said. “What does he mean?” asked Rebekah of Mary.

“I do not always understand what Jesus means. We can ask him later or ask Lazarus,” said Mary.

The crowds kept growing. Even more people joined in from the
Mount of Olives
. Hundreds of people camped there and in the surrounding valleys and hills during Passover. Each head of the household was required to make a sacrifice for his family at the
Temple
.

Jesus rode through the
Kidron
Valley
and toward the Eastern Gate where the sacrificial lambs had gone. Even before they reached the city gate, people gathered palm branches and took off their cloaks, laying them down before him to ride over. It was tradition to do this for a king. The people were wild with excitement. They called to Jesus and chanted, “Hosanna! Hosanna to the son of David!”

As he rode through the narrow streets near the
Temple
, Rebekah noticed that the Pharisees and members of the Sanhedrin watched from rooftops. Soldiers were everywhere. It made her wary, but she was caught up in the excitement of the people cheering and praising Jesus.

She knew that the Romans always increased their presence in
Jerusalem
for Jewish holidays to keep the prospect of rioting or an uprising at a minimum. They were present throughout the city and could overlook the
Temple
and the city from the Antonia fortress.

Rebekah took everything in. She followed the crowds who crushed around Jesus. It was hard to not get separated from the disciples and her family. She felt like dancing and singing. She’d felt light of heart ever since Lazarus had been raised from the grave, and she’d surrendered all of her sorrow and anger to a Lord who could forgive her and free her from her past. For today, she put thoughts of the Romans or those who wanted to make an end of the Nazarene away. Today, the crowds praised Jesus.

“Hosanna! The Lord has come!”

The pushing crowd separated Rebekah, Martha and Mary from Jesus. It swept them along to the
Temple
. Many pushed into the outer courtyards or had to wait outside. Suddenly, merchants and others began pushing and running from the temple. Doves flew out and sacrificial lambs bleated throughout the crowd. Some ran with the escaping people into the streets.

“Martha, what is happening?” asked Rebekah.

“I don’t know.”

Then the women heard a couple of merchants. “Jesus will regret this day!”

The second merchant said, “He cannot come into the
Temple
and throw us out! We have a right to sell lambs and doves to the people for sacrifice. God commands the lambs and doves must be unblemished.”

“He even dumped over the money exchange tables.”

“He will pay for this!”

The women could not believe their ears. They had never seen Jesus angry. Martha pulled Mary and Rebekah out of the path of running and angry men emerging from the
Temple
. “Come, sisters. We must leave. If the Roman soldiers think there is a riot, they will sweep up everyone here,” said Martha.

Clinging to each other they made their way home.

Rebekah’s intense joy was now overshadowed with what had happened at the
Temple
.
Within what seemed like minutes, people in the crowd had gone from praising Jesus as the King to cursing him and threatening him for what he did in the
Temple
courtyard. He must have had a reason. Why would he be so angry? Had Lazarus witnessed Jesus’ fury?

Jesus’ actions only made the priests and
Temple
leaders angrier than ever.

After returning home, Lazarus told Martha, “We will share the Passover Seder with Jesus tonight.”

The sisters used special utensils, dishes, and cooking pots that Mary explained were only for the Passover meal.

Three matzah, unleavened bread, were stacked on a plate and then covered with a special linen cloth. They had roasted the shank bone of lamb. Rebekah ground horseradish and chopped parsley. Mary mixed the
charoses—
chopped nuts, apple and cinnamon with a small amount of wine.”

Martha said. “You know the story of our people’s exodus. Each one of the foods we prepare for Seder is to help us remember our redemption from
Egypt
.”

Rebekah continued her work.
This is a celebration of my people’s redemption from slavery. It feels like a celebration of my own.

When time came for the Passover meal, Lazarus spoke “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who hast kept us in life, Who hast preserved us, and hast enabled us to reach this season.”

Rebekah thought,
I am truly blessed by the Lord my God. He is my God.
She’d never thought of Jehovah this way before.

Then they all washed their hands as a symbol of purification for the Seder and celebration of the Passover.

Everyone recited together, “We give thanks to God for all His bounties. We also recall that our forefathers were tillers of the soil.”

They dipped their green vegetable – hyssop – into the salt water and ate it.

Lazarus said, “In tasting of the salt water, we are asked to remember the tears our people shed while suffering the tortures of slavery. May our gratitude for the blessings which we enjoy help to soften the pain of sorrow and convert tears to joy.”

Rebekah had to smile. She couldn’t stop.
How many bitter tears have I cried?

Martha placed the plate of three Matzoh in front of her brother.

Lazarus spoke of the exodus and broke the middle piece of Matzoh in two. He then took one of the halves and wrapped it in a linen cloth; and John, Jesus disciple, hid it. “Lo! This is the bread of affliction, the humble and simple bread that our ancestors ate.”

Rebekah thought about her own time of affliction at the hands of family and strangers.
I think I know how the people felt when they were set free from slavery.

Lazarus appointed Rebekah to ask the questions for this her first Passover Seder. She felt a little self-conscious, but Mary helped her.

“Why is this night different from all other nights of the year?”

The others said, “Once we were slaves to Pharaoh in
Egypt
, and the Lord, in His goodness and mercy, brought us out from that land with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.”

This night is different for me, I have left my own slavery and bondage behind. I can forgive others whom I thought I would hate forever. But now I am changed,
Rebekah thought.

“Why do we eat either Choaytz or Matzoh, but on this night we only eat Matzoh?” repeated Rebekah with a little prompting from Mary.

Jesus and the others answered, “We eat unleavened bread to remember that our ancestors could not wait for the bread to rise because they left
Egypt
in haste.”

Rebekah had left the villa in a hurry in order to leave danger and servitude behind.

Then Rebekah asked, “Why do we only eat bitter herbs on this night?”

“We eat bitter herbs to remind us through the bitter taste that the grip of slavery is bitter.”

Even though Jesus had forgiven Rebekah and cleansed her spirit of bitterness, she still remembered the things she’d experienced since childhood.

“Why on this night do we dip twice in the salt water?”

“We dip twice in the salt water; once with the greens to replace tears with gratefulness. The second time we dip the bitter herbs in Charoses to sweeten bitterness and suffering.”

Rebekah’s eyes welled up with tears of joy and gratitude for Jesus and her changed life, and she remembered all the times she had cried over the years from fear or injury.

Rebekah recited the final question. “On all other nights, we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat reclining.”

“We eat in a reclining position because it is a sign that we are free men and demonstrate our complete freedom.”

Everyone smiled and nodded approval to Rebekah. She grinned back and felt the joy rising again within her.

The meal took several hours during that evening. They told the story of the ten plagues in
Egypt
before the Pharaoh let them go. They prayed and sang songs.

They ate the lamb and said another prayer. Then they drank another goblet of wine.

Everyone said, “The Lord will never forsake the righteous, nor shall their children ever hunger for bread. May the Lord give strength unto His people; may He bless them with peace.”

Jesus, her true redeemer, had blessed her with a peace she did not think was possible before her transformation through him.

At the end of the Passover meal, Lazarus took the half of the Matzoh he had broken off earlier and then broke it into small pieces, one for each person at the table.

After drinking the last goblet of wine, they sang songs until late into the night. But Rebekah had watched Jesus, and he seemed even more distracted than he had before he went to
Jerusalem
.

Tears of joy ran down her cheeks. Her eyes shone. Her steps were as light as her heart. Jesus had come, and nothing would ever be the same again.