by Hannah Packard

On the night before Jesus’ death, He has much on His mind. He thinks of betrayal, humility, hope, and love. He is preoccupied with all that is to come, and with all that He still longs for His disciples to understand—though they will not truly comprehend much of it until later.

There are two moments that bookend this night. Jesus reveals one of the most vital truths about Himself—one that His disciples, both past and present, have so often misunderstood. It is this: that He is God, whose power and glory are unending, whose very name causes the earth to shake, and that this astonishing power and glory are perhaps displayed most fully in His humility, His sacrifice, His submission.

Jesus begins by washing His disciples’ feet. This is a servant’s job, an unclean task. Peter is horrified to see such behavior from the Man he calls Lord. Yet Jesus insists, washing each of their feet—including Judas, His betrayer; Peter, His denier; Thomas, His doubter. There is a pointed lesson in His actions, a command to take on His mindset and follow in His ways: to be humble, as He is humble.

As the night wears on, His betrayal already set in motion, Jesus teaches with urgency. He provides comfort for the fear and grief that they do not yet carry. He prays for them, and for us. Again and again, He returns to His new command: that they love one another as He has loved them. That they remain in His love, which binds all things together.

At last, Jesus leads them to the Garden of Gethsemane. In his Gospel, John doesn’t tell of the weeping or the sleeping. There is no sweat like drops of blood. Instead, Jesus walks straight into His own arrest, as if He Himself had set the appointment.

This is the second bookend, this strange and holy moment. “Who are you looking for?” Jesus asks the soldiers.

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they reply.

“I am he,” Jesus says.

Jesus Christ, God made flesh, says His name—I AM. The soldiers stumble back, falling to the ground, as if the earth beneath their feet had begun to quake.

Again, He asks, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they say.

“I told you that I am he.”

As they bind Him and lead Him away, it is clear: the Alpha and the Omega, the utterly Almighty God, the King of Kings, Life incarnate, is submitting Himself to death.

All of creation holds its breath.