Maundy Thursday
Azriel
2 April – 33 AD
54-year-old Azriel ben Timaeus busied himself around the large upper room that lay atop his spacious home below. His relatively opulent neighborhood was located on the escarpments of Mount Zion in Jerusalem, not far from the Temple. Azriel, a wealthy businessman as well as a deeply devout follower of God, was well known for his piety and generosity to the poor.
It was the day of Passover, and the evening before, he had rented out this very popular room to the Jewish High Priest for a meeting of the Sanhedrin, the high Jewish council that led the Jewish people.
As Azriel swept the floor and tidied the ritual space – a responsibility that he dared not trust to his servants and reserved for himself only – he reminisced over his life and the bountiful blessings that God had bestowed on him and his large family. Yet he had some regrets, especially how the dissolution of his family unfolded after the untimely death of his father while Azriel was still a young man. Rifts had developed between him and his younger brothers in the settlement of his father’s estate. Though that was their history, he missed his brothers terribly and wished that somehow they could reconcile despite the complex, apparently irreconcilable issues that brought him so much pain.
Lost in his thoughts, he turned and was startled by the unexpected presence of a figure standing in the center of the large room when he had not heard anyone enter. His gaze shot to the door, but he could see that it was still bolted.
Further, the man was certainly not a Jew. He was clean shaven and dressed most oddly in a white, closely fitted outfit that almost resembled a uniform.
The man took two steps toward him, and Azriel was surprised by the stranger’s projection of power. He noticed that the flawless skin of his face was distinctly glowing around its edges, and his clear eyes were wide, heroic, and confident. Azriel’s memory suddenly flashed to a time when he had seen a being like this as a young man tending sheep with his brothers on a hillside south of Bethlehem one cold night 33 years before.
“Azriel, it is good to see you once again,” the angel spoke sincerely with a slight smile.
Azriel fell to his knees before him. “My Lord,” he rasped in fear.
The angel touched his head with his fingers. “Get up and do not worship me. Save your worship for the One Who will be here tonight in this room.”
Azriel rose to his feet, still trembling. “Who, my lord? Whom shall I expect?”
“Jesus. The one you met as a babe in the manger, just as I told you.”
Azriel’s mind was immediately caught up in a torrent of thoughts. He had always strongly suspected that the Jesus Who appeared in Jerusalem three years ago, the One Who he had listened to on many occasions in the Synagogue and on the surrounding hillsides, was the same Babe from the manger. But this Jesus was also the One Who the Jewish officials in this very room last evening were plotting against to have put to death. How could He be their long-awaited Messiah?
And yet, he had heard the heavenly choir, he had witnessed Jesus healing the blind and sick. How could the very leaders of God’s chosen people then be plotting to have Him executed? Azriel had worried over these questions for many months and had not been able to even begin to reconcile them.
The angel clearly sensed and understood his anxious thoughts.
“My friend,” he said compassionately, “you bowed your knee to me just a moment ago, did you not?
Azriel nodded.
“Because you believe I am sent by God?”
“Yes.”
“You believe well, my friend. Then you must listen to what I am about to tell you. As I have already confirmed, Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of this world. Forget everything else. Now you must serve Him by allowing His followers entry to this room today, this very hour.”
Azriel blinked with amazement at this instruction, for now, at this moment, his confusion and ambiguous uncertainty about Jesus was utterly gone. Now, it absolutely did not matter if the recent occupants of this room would toss him out of the synagogue tomorrow. One far greater than they would stand here in this place in but a few hours hence! He was just as amazed as he had been on that field in the cold night tending his father’s sheep 33 years before.
Azriel looked back into the powerful eyes of the angelic messenger. “Of course, my lord. Of course!” he replied with a widening smile.
“One more thing, Azriel,” the angel said, staring into his eyes.
“My lord…”
“You and your brothers will come together soon. Part as brothers once more. You are the oldest, Azriel. Make it happen.”
Azriel gasped and closed his eyes. “Can it be that the Lord has intervened by answering my most heartfelt prayer? Can it be that my impossible dream of reconciliation can actually come to pass?” Azriel asked and shivered once more.
He opened his eyes to ask more questions, but the heavenly visitor was no longer there. Looking carefully about the room confirmed that the visitor had left without using the still-locked door… fading away once again as had happened on that miraculous holy night outside of Bethlehem more than three decades before.
Shaking his head and wondering if he had truly experienced this supernatural meeting or whether he was losing his mind, Azriel paced to the portal, slipped the locking bar out of its place, opened the door, and descended the external staircase from the upper room to his comfortable residence below. When he reached the bottom, one of his servants arrived carrying a pitcher of water and entered the home.
Distracted from his recent angelic encounter, Azriel reflexively glanced up and immediately noticed two Jewish men standing nearby, casting him furtive glances with their heads together as they discussed something. He almost dismissed them when he suddenly realized that he had seen them several times before – always close to Jesus.
When their eyes met, the men approached Azriel, and one of these disciples of Jesus spoke immediately, saying, “The Teacher says to you, ‘Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’”
Without a word, Azriel merely stepped back, motioned toward his upper room, and spread his arms wide. “Tell the Teacher that His room is available… and all that I own is His for the asking,” he added as a surprising afterthought.
“Where did that come from?” he asked himself calmly, knowing that in his deepest heart, his sincerity was real. “I am Azriel,” he introduced himself.
“I am Simon bar Jonah, called Peter,” replied one.
The other added, “I am John bar Zebedee.”
“I have seen you both before… serving Jesus… Whom I met as a babe in His mother’s arms!” Azriel added with an incredulous laugh.
Both disciples appeared taken aback at this revelation and peered at each other quizzically. But after a moment of stunned silence, John continued, “And I recognize you,” he said to Azriel. “I have seen you as well. Are you a close acquaintance of Jesus’ family?”
Azriel felt a wellspring of kinship with them, and he said, “Well, I guess you could say that I am… me and my three brothers!” Having said that, his voice quivered for a moment as the wellspring of love he felt for his lost brothers flooded his heart anew. Then he said to the disciples, “All that I have is at your disposal. How may I help?”
He was so completely overwhelmed with love for his shepherd brothers, and even with love for this new pair of spiritual brothers he had just welcomed into his home, that a tear slipped over his cheek and onto his beard.
John saw the tear, searched his eyes deeply, and then embraced Azriel fully, knowing well the love that was surging through his heart. Around Jesus, this was a very common response.
Finally, Azriel pulled away from John and offered sincerely, “Allow me to prepare the Passover meal. I beg you.”
John nodded and replied, “Of course.”
—
Azriel set about to prepare the Passover meal for Jesus and His disciples with deep fervor and an energy he had never experienced before. He sent his servants to procure the lamb, the very best wine, and the other foods that would adorn Jesus’ table during the meal. He sent another servant down to bring the very best dining implements from his own table – the brass candle stands, the finest linen tablecloths, and his own large, special brass goblet engraved with spectacular, intricate scrollwork around its lip.
On the long table was set the Passover foods of wine, lamb, the matzah – or the large, flat squares of unleavened bread of affliction – the bitter herbs, plates of the best, fattest, fresh olives, and the tasty fruit salad called Charoset – a sweet, dark-colored mixture of fruits, nuts, and wine. Azriel poured himself into arranging this setting for Jesus, sparing nothing, creating the finest Passover meal he had personally ever seen set in Jerusalem. And yet, he kept it elegantly simple, serving only the traditional foods and adding nothing else.
When the busy servants had completed their work, he sent them to their own homes to prepare the meals for their families. Thus, as the hour drew near, Azriel nervously swept the floor once more. Finally, he withdrew to the closet and changed into the dress of a common servant. On this Passover night, he was about to serve Him Whom the angel described as the Savior, Christ the Lord. He trembled at the thought when the door swung wide and John entered, followed by Peter, Jesus, and 10 other men. Jesus walked in and stopped directly in front of Azriel.
Azriel was stunned and could not speak. He froze in place and even held his breath.
Jesus looked about the immaculate room prepared as if for Jewish royalty. His commanding yet compassionate gaze fixed on Azriel, and He smiled gently and offered him a gentle nod. In Jesus’ eyes, Azriel discovered a love deeper than he had ever known existed that engulfed and covered him.
But with their eyes still locked, Jesus’ smile faded, and His unwavering gaze was filled with profound and deep sorrow laced with conviction. Recalling the faces of his three brothers, Azriel instantly knew what was missing in this reunion. The last time he faced Jesus directly, he and his brothers were standing together as an inseparable family.
At that memory, Azriel knew that he had a duty ahead that was nearly as great as the duty he had just performed for Jesus in preparing the Passover meal – bringing together his brothers once more. The selfless love he had just received from the Master was so great, he could never contain it – and he longed to share it with them.
Jesus reached up and placed His hand on Azriel’s shoulder, almost imperceptibly nodding and smiling once more. It was that touch that Azriel knew was the touch of redemption and reconciliation – with his brothers and with everyone else.
Jesus did not speak a single word to him, and yet He changed Azriel, not just for the rest of his life, but for eternity.
—
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