Caught off Guard

   Christ, throughout his ministry, is always prepared and ready in many of the situations he is faced with. However, Christ knows and relates to everything we go through, so even Christ was taken by surprise during his life. This happened at the worst possible moment, when he was suffering on the cross. Christ's foreknowledge is seen when he says: "the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me." (John 16: 32) So, it would seem that Christ was unaware of what would happen while he was suffering on the cross. He thought he would always have God with him but its obvious that's not true in the following verse: "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying ... My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"(Mathew 27: 46) In Christ's most desperate time of need he found himself without the company of someone whom he though would always be with him. God knew that as part of the atonement he too needed to withdraw from Christ, however, God was undoubtedly more aware of his son in that moment than in any other. Despite Christ's perfection he went through many of life's perfectly terrible experiences. He truly can relate to each and every one of us no matter what were going through. 

Barabbas

The betrayal of Jesus is filled with heartbreak and for me especially frustration. Although I know that Christ's death was part of the plan it's still frustrating to see how unjust everything was. I want to focus especially on the moment when Christ is judged of Pilate and is brought before the people. Pilate had found no fault in Christ but he knew that many Jewish leaders wanted him dead. So, he sought any way possible to let Christ go. At the time of the Passover the Roman governor would let one prisoner go. Pilate saw this as his chance to let Christ go. In the book of Mathew the situation is made clear: "And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?" (Mathew 27:16 -17) Pilate, in his eyes, presented an obvious choice between a guilty man and an innocent man. One man was Barabbas, whose name means the son of the father, who was guilty of murder, robbery and other horrible crimes. The second man was Jesus Christ, the literal son of the Father, who was completely innocent of any crime. To Pilate's astonishment the crowd chose Barabbas to be released. Instead, of Barabbas suffering for his own crimes Christ suffers in his place. The injustice of the situation caused me frustration each time I read it. Nevertheless, I came to realize that Barabbas is a lot closer to me than I thought, because I am just like Barabbas. Instead of suffering for my own sins, I let Christ suffer for them. My frustration turns to gratitude as I realize that Christ suffered so that I wouldn't have to suffer. 

Dirty Feet

    The last supper with Jesus was an eventful meal. The meal itself was unique as it happened during the Passover, which is a special meal eaten every spring by the Jews. However, one of the most interesting details is that Christ washed his apostles feet. Now, to truly understand what that means it's important to know that in their time they didn't have socks, they didn't even have shoes! Instead they mostly walked around in thin sandals on dusty and dirty roads. Needless to say, their feet would have been the dirtiest part of their body. Moreover, their feet were likely the part of their body that they cleaned the least, because they're hard to reach and nobody pays attention to them. However, more is at play here than merely washing feet. 
   The most important aspect of this act is found with Peter's response which reads: "Peter saith unto him, Thou needest not to wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me."(John 13: 8) Peter likely saw the washing of the feet as demeaning, and as their leader Peter didn't want Christ to stoop down to that level Nonetheless, Christ points out that it must be done, otherwise Peter would not have been clean and would have had no part with himself, Christ. This event relates perfectly to what Christ is able to do with each of us, if we allow him. Christ can spiritually cleanse the dirtiest parts of our soul.. By denying him access to our hardest to reach sins we deny ourselves the ability to be apart of Christ. Although it can be hard and even awkward, repentance is essential and by repenting Christ can truly purify us so that we can be worthy of the Spirit and be worthy of heaven.