youth meeting - cluj, the 31 of march, 2007

this Saturday, we gathered at my place. there were only five of us: paul, ioana, diana, mihai and me. nevertheless, the meeting was ok. we sang hymns at the beginning and at the end. paul and ioana played the guitar; they performed well. as passover drew near, we decided to discuss the facts that occurred in Jesus' last days on earth. we focused mainly on placing in time the events that took place on what is generally considered to be Jesus' last week. so we found out that in the 8th day of Nissan the Jewish Sabbath begins. in the 9th day Jesus has supper in the house of Simon the leper; it is then when Mary breaks the alabaster box and anoints Jesus; on this very day Judas makes an arrangement with the Chief Priests. later on, Jesus goes to the Mountain of Olives and sends his disciples to Betphage on a quest: to search a donkey. in the beginning of the 10th day, Jesus rides into Jerusalem, as a king, having the people shouting "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!"; the people... the same people who just three days later would criy out "Crucify him!". later on, Jesus curses the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple is presented as his first kingly act. he spends the nights in the Mountain of Olives, as it is written to us. in the 11th day Jesus pronounces the sentence against the Nation of Israel. day 12: discourse on the Mountain of Olives; the Chief Priests conspire to Jesus' death. later on, He goes to Bethany and spends the day there. in the 13th day, Jesus sends his disciples to prepare the upper room. the 14th day is the most important, as all the important events take place accordingly: Jesus and his 12 disciples have the Passover Supper; Judas leaves, followed by the institution of the Memorial; Gethsemane experiences; the betrayal of Judas, the trials. in the morning, He is judged by Pilate; crucified after that and entombed; all these happened before 6pm, friday. the 15th day was The Jewish Sabbath, when the Jews celebrate the Passover feast; the Chief Priests seek guards for the tomb and seal it. on the 16th day, after spending about 37 hours in the tomb, Jesus is raised by our Heavenly Father, so the women do not find his body in the tomb where it was placed. i believe that this chatting was constructive for us all, as we managed to obtain a clear picture of the events preceding Jesus' resurrection. i'm sure that the significance of these event is undoubtedly more important, significance which we failed to debate. maybe next time, who knows? after all... time is all we've got.

signed by sorin