蜜芽传媒

Tonight in churches around the world, Christians will gather to tell again the story of what Jesus did, as we say 鈥渢he night before he died鈥�. Tomorrow, Good Friday, the macabre Roman spectacle of crucifixion will dominate the skyline, but tonight, Maundy Thursday, the night before he dies, Jesus has a party 鈥� there鈥檚 singing and eating and drinking and heady conversation. Tonight, Judas makes up his mind to betray his friend, Peter makes a promise of loyalty it turns out he can鈥檛 keep; and the others 鈥� well they fall asleep when Jesus asks them, begs them to stay awake with him in his last hours.

The conversations we have with people who know they are close to death are conversations we don鈥檛 forget. Sometimes they have that sense of purpose that comes across in the gospel accounts of the last supper. But sometimes, and maybe more often, they鈥檙e confused, much less certain. It takes almost more courage than we have, to acknowledge what鈥檚 happening when a person is about to die.

A remarkable 蜜芽传媒 documentary recently showed the footballer Rio Ferdinand talking about the death of his wife Rebecca. In the short weeks between her diagnosis and her death, he said he thought she was trying to tell him things, trying to help him prepare for the task of, as the documentary described, being Mum and Dad for their young children. But, he said, he hadn鈥檛 wanted to talk about it. His honesty tore through the TV screen as he crumpled into tears describing his resistance to talking to her when she wanted to, refusing, as he said, to face the reality of losing her. Now he is ready to talk and he鈥檚 found other young widowers who know what that鈥檚 like.

On the night before he died, Jesus had important things to say; he was trying to prepare his friends for what was about to happen, and what was to come after. But like many of the rest of us, they just couldn鈥檛 hear him. It鈥檚 not going to happen they say, what are you talking about? And so he abandons words; gets up from the meal, and washes their feet to show them the life of service he is teaching them to live. By this action, he gives them the new commandment; Love one another. As I have loved you, love one another.

Every one of us will live through the night before we die. For some of us, we won鈥檛 know it. For others of us, we will know - and if we鈥檙e brave, we might be able to face it and say what we have to say. And I hope that when that night comes for me, as I remember my life, and look ahead to what is to come, the words on my lips, can be of love.

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