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Matthew 26:30: And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus and His disciples ended the last supper with a hymn. What did they sing? The texts in the gospels don't tell us, but we can surmise from Jewish tradition that they sang the hymn that all Jews sang at their Passover meal, the Hallel, which culminates with Psalm 118.
Whether they sang it or not, this would have been a most appropriate hymn. As we saw in the sermon, the crowds sing this Psalm as Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, but Jesus also cites the Psalm in His lament over Jerusalem: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! From now on you shall not see Me until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.'" Jesus arrives in Jerusalem as the triumphant King who comes in the Name of Yahweh; He also says He will return to Jerusalem, to the desolate house of the temple, to destroy the builders who rejected the chosen stone.
But the Psalm doesn't just point to temple destruction. It points to a temple construction. Among other things, the Psalm points ahead to the coming of Yahweh's servant in victory to build His temple. The Psalm announces the coming of Yahweh’s king to destroy and judge, but also to build and to plant.
All this we celebrate at this table, where Jesus and His disciples eat and drink and sing. At this table, we celebrate the coming of the Lord, His victory, His judgment. At this table, we anticipate His coming again, to judge all things and bring in the new heaven and new earth in fullness. In this meal, we celebrate all that Jesus has done, and anticipate in faith all that He has yet to do.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, April 01, 2007 at 08:30 AM
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