A meal to celebrate deliverance - but prepared and eaten before the liberation has taken place. For it was the blood of the lamb that was at the centre of the meal that was to ensure that the Hebrew people were passed over when the angel of death visited Egypt.

What emotions went through the hearts of the people as they followed Moses' instructions? Excitement?  Fear? Bewilderment? And what did they feel when they heard the cries of their Egyptian neighbours as the warning became reality?

The Passover - a meal of celebration - but not a meal to relax over. A meal to remember - to sear an event into the collective consciousness of a people. A meal to remind them how dearly their freedom was bought.

Jesus' last meal was part of the Passover celebrations. What mix of emotions went around the Table that night? What were the emotions when the disciples returned to the Upper Room - and remembered the events of the night before and the day? How did they approach the Festival of Passover which began as night fell on the first Good Friday?

Reflect on the feelings that surrounded the first Passover - and the Passover around the time of Jesus' death.
When have you experienced festivals where sorrow and joy - anticipation and apprehension - have been inextricably bound?
Where was God?