The Chosen: Last Supper

John, will you begin the Dayenu for us?

Yes.

Of course, Rabbi.

If he had brought us out from Egypt,

and not carried out judgments against them...

It would have been enough.

If he had carried out judgments against them,

and not destroyed their idols...

It would have been enough.

If he had destroyed their idols, and not killed their firstborn...

It would have been enough.

If he had killed their firstborn, and had not given us their wealth...

It would have been enough.

If he had given us their wealth, and not split the sea for us...

It would have been enough.

If he had split the sea for us, and not taken us through it on dry land...

It would have been enough.

If he had taken us through it on dry land, and not drowned our enemies in it...

It would have been enough.

If he had drowned our enemies in it,

and then not supplied our needs in the desert for 40 years...

It would have been enough.

If he had supplied us in the desert for 40 years,

and not fed us the manna...

It would have been enough.

If he had fed us the manna, and had not given us the Shabbat...

It would have been enough.

If he had given us the Shabbat, and not brought us before Mount Sinai...

It would have been enough.

If he had brought us before Mount Sinai, and not given us the Torah...

It would have been enough.

If he had given us the Torah, but not brought us to the land of Israel...

It would have been enough.

And if he had brought us to the land of Israel,

and not built for us the Holy Temple...

It would have been enough.

Amen.

And now...

the bitter herbs.

Wait.

I have something to add.

If he had built for us the holy temple,

and not sent the Messiah in our lifetimes...

It would have been enough.

We would have waited.

But you chose us.

You chose now.

And it is enough.

James, why are you crying?

If you don't know by now, then...

Thank you, Big James.

Peter is right. We move on to the bitter herbs.

A reminder of the bitterness of slavery.

Salt water, a reminder of the tears of our people.

Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe,

who has sanctified us in his commandments to eat bitter herbs.

Lord, who is it?

Is it Thomas?

You do not have to stay anymore.

Judas.

He has you now.

Who?

Not God.

It didn't have to be this way.

But you can still stop things from ending badly.

What you are going to do...

do it quickly.

- Philip, where did Judas go? - Hmm.

Passover tradition. Give alms to the poor.

He is keeper of the purse.

But in the middle of dinner?

Maybe he forgot.

Maybe to get more food too. It'll run out quick.

Probably because you're eating too fast.

I'm starving.

Honestly, it's ironic to call Passover a feast.

My friends...

I am with you just a little while longer.

And where I am going...

you cannot come.

And so...

a new commandment I give to you.

That you love one another.

Just as I have loved you...

you also are to love one another.

By this, all people will know that you are my disciples,

if you have love for one another.

The commandment to love isn't new.

But the commandment to love one another

in the truly sacrificial way that I am showing you...

it will transform you...

and others.

Lord, where...

Where exactly are you going?

We must seize this opportunity. We should go.

Go out to find others.

See who more we can find.

First the market, and now an endorsement of Rome's taxation.

He will not recover from this.

Be assured, you will see justice for your lambs,

and your livelihood.

You look worried.

They were so obviously trying to get him to say the wrong thing.

But he is not capable of saying the wrong thing.

Not in their eyes.

And not in the eyes of those expecting a different kind of Messiah.

They want someone who will destroy Caesar, not tell us to give him money.

What is going to happen?

Excuse me, could you tell me where I could find the...

You. It's Shmuel, right?

From Capernaum?

You were in Bethany at the house of Lazarus three days ago

with your friend, Yussif.

Friend?

Colleague?

From our time in Capernaum,

you and another came to question Jesus.

You mean the defiled home where the woman debased herself, and the rest of us?

Think whatever you want about her. Just tell me where I can find Yussif.

You think he can help your cause?

This woman is from the Red Quarter in Capernaum, possessed by seven demons.

I'm from Magdala by the Sea, possessed by the creator of the universe.

And what do you practice now?

Allegiance to a man who just preached his own death sentence

to a crowd of a thousand witnesses?

- Death sentence? - He has given us no choice.

He will be silenced, shamed, and censured.

And when people hear who stood by his heresies,

you'd be better off in a leper colony.

A leper colony, he would heal and redeem.

The truth is, there is nowhere you can send us where Jesus is not Lord.

I think what he said means something terrible for you.

And I think you know it.

They may not, but you do, and it drives you mad.

What is going on here?

- Were you in the crowd for all that? - I...

Of course you were. You're enamored with him.

The whole Sanhedrin knows by now.

- Yussif, I need to speak with you. - Of course.

By all means, Yussif, be seen with a woman from the Red Quarter.

Have you no decency at all?

You saw what that woman in Bethany did with the ointment.

And her hair, and his feet, and you said nothing.

Now you have the gall to accuse me of indecency?

We have to get word of what happened to the High Priest.

Ignore them. Are you all right?

He just confirms my worst fears.

Mary, things are getting out of control.

That's why I need your help.

- They're trying to kill Jesus, Yussif. - Nothing is official yet.

Shmuel just told me he preached his own death sentence.

Yussif, they're calling an emergency meeting first thing in the morning.

We must go back to Shimon's office and make a plan.

We need you now, Yussif. Come!

I'm sorry, Mary, this is urgent.

Wait, just a brief moment.

Peter.

Did he say anything more?

- Shalom to you too, Judas. - He needs to explain his speech.

He'll never unify the people

if he's sounds like he's validating Rome's authority.

I didn't hear any validation.

He legitimized their taxation by saying it...

It's funding roads and protection.

What is your point?

They are the foreign invaders.

Yeah, the latest in a succession of many.

The Babylonians, the Persians, the Macedonians.

He's the Messiah. He's supposed to give us Israel back.

- How would you prefer he answer? - By denouncing the tax.

Calling Caesar's claim to be the Son of God blasphemous.

Declaring that the income that God has given us

should not go to the oppressors of our land, that God has given us.

And reminding us that he is here to dethrone Caesar,

become the King of Israel.

For starters.

- Then what would've happened? - He walked on water, Peter!

- You don't have to remind me. - Are you sure?

I was with you for weeks as we experienced his power for ourselves,

but it seems you've forgotten.

We watched as he brought Lazarus out of a tomb.

Loaves and fish appeared in the hands of the hungry.

You're telling me that he couldn't snap his fingers

and make swords appear in the hands of every person in that temple?

Of course he could, but he didn't.

You understand? They set him a rhetorical trap.

He evaded it, like David from the tip of Saul's spear.

Those men went straight to Caiaphas and Herod. Maybe even Pilate.

Pilate would be delighted with the bit about the taxes.

As long as they don't mention that Rome is just living in God's world,

inscribing empty phrases on their coins.

You're a walking contradiction, Judas, you know that?

You believe he could make swords magically appear