The Highest Price
Each year in my home my family celebrated Easter Sunday. My brother, sister and I would wait in anticipation for the Easter Bunny to come in the night, so he could hide the beautiful eggs we had decorated with Mom and Dad. He would even put some extras in our yard with chocolate treasure inside. When you are the eldest sibling, you naturally go out a few hours before everyone else gets up, when it is still dark, to scope out each hiding spot. That way you can find the most difficult eggs first in the morning. I admit, I was a bit of a cheater, but it was hard work competing with my adorable younger siblings. Everyone in my family still laughs at the recorded video memories we have of our Easter egg hunts. They are some of my most joyful childhood memories.
Even though I did not always understand that Easter was a celebration of Jesus defeating death, I always loved that Easter seemed to represent the coming of spring. The flowers would come out and rain would come. As a little girl, I could finally wear my dresses. In school, the countdowns toward summer could begin. Now, I can celebrate taxes being finished.
Japanese culture separates the celebration of Easter from its meaning. Pastel colored candy lines the shelves, and cute bunny decorations appear in the store windows, but there are no egg hunts or Easter picnics. In contrast, at the YWAM Tokyo base, we make it our goal to honor Christ in all that we do. We continually remind ourselves of what Jesus has done, and it is our joy to share him with each person we come into contact with. For me, with my focus constantly being directed toward Jesus, Easter Sunday is easily forgotten in the flurry of missionary activity in Japan.
This year, Passover and Easter fell on the same weekend. I never celebrated Passover before I came to Japan last year. Because these two holidays fall on the same weekend, I had a four day line-up of celebrations: Jesus' last dinner (also known as Maundy Thursday), Good Friday, Passover dinner on Saturday, and then Easter Sunday. All of these events put together God's great story of redemption. Because of this alignment of celebrations, I took part in communion four times in four days. I ate two Passover meals, and I was a part of two Easter Sunday services, remembering the sacrifice that Jesus made for you and for me and thanking him. I reviewed the Passover story in Exodus three times and then read various stories from Jesus' life. Everything was enjoyable and beautiful. But on Sunday night, during the final stage of the weekend celebration, my church looked through a verse that I have heard thousands of times. I was not prepared for God to speak to me like he did through this verse. It was Luke 22:41-44: And he [Jesus] withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
We began talking about marriage. For anyone interested in revelation of Jesus being the Bridegroom, I recommend studying ancient Jewish wedding and betrothal ceremonies. When we study this verse (and much of the Bible), we mistakenly derive our understanding from what it means in our culture. But this is an ancient text, and understanding what it meant to an ancient culture will help our understanding as well.
Mohar was the price paid by the father of the groom to the father of the bride, and it was either paid in cash or service to the bride's father. The mohar was originally the purchase price of the bride. In ancient days, marriage was not an agreement between two individuals but between two families.
The newly married man usually did not found a new home for himself but occupied a nook in his father’s house. The family of the groom gained, and the family of the bride lost, a valuable member who helped with all household tasks. It was reasonable, therefore, that the father of the groom should pay the father of the bride the equivalent of her value as a useful member of the family.
I believe that a Jewish person from Jesus' day would have seen the exchange from Luke 22 as an agreement on a bridal price between the Father and Jesus, the groom. Jesus came willing to purchase his bride to-be. The Father gave the highest price he could ask for: Jesus' life. This was the only worthy and acceptable payment, and Jesus agreed with the Father's decision by taking the cup. Jesus was the only one who could pay this high price, and he paid it on the cross for the joy set before him (Hebrews 12:2).
Meditating on this when I took communion that fourth time on the night of Easter Sunday, I chose to agree with what God said I am worth. I received Jesus' payment as the eternal value over my life. Value is determined by how much someone is willing to pay. My Loves, he paid it all for us. I cannot even begin to tell you how valuable you are. Heaven risked everything for you. When you take communion, remember what his blood says about you. He is your Bridegroom, your Betrothed, your Beloved. And you are his. These days I do not spend the night before Easter anxiously awaiting hidden treasure in the yard. I do not peek out the window to see white bunny ears in the lawn. But I am positioning my heart to wait for my Beloved, Jesus, to return with the morning on his white horse of victory. I am a bride excitedly awaiting her wedding day. The price has been paid, and I am free to be with my Love.
