Tabitha was an 11-year-old girl who lived in the great city of Jerusalem. She lived in a small mud hut on the edge of town where all the poor peasants lived. For a living, she worked as a servant girl for a rich old lady named Rachel who lived on the other side of Jerusalem. Tabitha was running down the main street in Jerusalem, on the way back from work. She saw her merchant friends’ wave at her and motion for her to come to visit their stalls, but there was no time for visiting for she had to get home!

    It was Friday night, and since her entire family was Jews, Sabbath was only a few minutes away. She had to get home and tell them what she had seen and explain to her family why she was late. Tabitha finally reached her house and burst through the doors. Her father was sitting by the firepit about to kill the little lamb that she had cared for so tenderly. She knew they had to kill a lamb every Passover to be forgiven for their sins, but this Passover was different.

    “Father, father, stop!” she screamed right before the knife went through the small lamb.

             Her father’s hand stopped in midair and he turned to stare at her. Tabitha’s mother stopped setting the table, and even her little energetic sister stopped bouncing in her chair. 

            “Tabitha!” her father scolded, “You know very well that we need to kill the lamb to be forgiven of our sins! God could strike you down for stopping His will!” Her father raised his knife again to sacrifice the lamb.     

    Again, Tabitha yelled, “Stop!” but continued speaking. “We don’t need to kill a lamb anymore for the real Lamb has been killed!” 

            Her mother spoke, “This is a real lamb Tabitha, now stop your jokes and sit down!” 

            “Not this lamb,” Tabitha said starting to sit down, “But the Lamb of God, you know, the Messiah! He has died for us.”

          Her parents just looked at each other and asked Tabitha to explain. This is the story Tabitha told them. 

    “Do you remember watching the man named Jesus healing the leper the other day? Well, that same Jesus is the Messiah!!” 

            “What are you talking about?” Tabitha’s dad asked. 

            “Well,” Tabitha continued excitedly, “Yesterday, as I was walking back to work with Miss Rachel’s servant boy, Don, after getting some water from the well, a man named Peter stopped us. He told Don that his Master, Jesus, needed a place to celebrate the Passover. Of course, we agreed quickly. 

    Miss Rachel was very happy to learn that the Teacher was coming to eat in her house since she hadn’t had company in a long time.” 

            Tabitha’s mom and dad still hadn’t sunk in all the words Tabitha had spoken. They had a very confused look on their faces, so Tabitha continued the amazing story.

            “Finally, after setting the upper room up for Jesus and his disciples, they arrived. They sat down and looked around for where Jesus went. I stood to the side so surprised to then see Jesus come into the room and start washing his disciple’s feet. When he got Peter, the one who stopped us, he told Jesus not to just wash his feet but his whole body! After Jesus finished, one of His disciples left in a hurry somewhere.

     I thought he went to get more food. Jesus then sat down and started this weird ceremony that I have never seen before but now I understand. He picked up the bread and tore it into pieces, then He said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” And the disciples did as He said. I continued to stand in the corner and I watched this solemn ceremony. After they finished the bread, Jesus took the wine and lifted it into the air. “Drink from it, all of you,” Jesus spoke again, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you; I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom.” After that, they all sang a hymn and left. I was just so curious that I followed them to Gethsemane."

    "Once we reached the biggest tree right before the rock in the garden, Jesus asked his disciples to wait there. I wanted to respect Jesus’s privacy, so I crouched behind a bush by the disciples. Jesus stumbled up to the rock in the garden and cried out to God to help him.

    I wish I could’ve seen more, but I fell asleep behind the bush. I woke up to Jesus crying out to His disciples to awake and pray for Him. They did until they all fell asleep again and I joined in slumber. The next time I woke up, I awoke to loud and angry voices coming into the garden. I peeked through the bush and saw an angry mob coming Jesus’s way! The disciples jumped up and ran towards Jesus, ready to protect Him. As the mob came closer, they were suddenly thrown back by some sort of eerie light.

    Scared, they called for a man named Judas to show them which man was Jesus. As Judas stepped into the light, I recognized him as the one who ran out of the room during the Passover meal. I realized that one of Jesus’s disciples, Judas, was betraying his own Master! As I watched some more, I saw Judas walk up to Jesus and kiss Him on the cheek. Immediately, the mob rushed forward trying to grab Jesus. Peter took out his sword and sliced one of the mob’s soldier’s ear off. Jesus rushed forward and used his amazing healing power to put the ear back onto the man. Still, the mob pressed forward and the next thing I knew, I was left alone in the blinding darkness. That was last night.”

    “This morning, as I was walking back to Miss Rachel’s house, I passed by Pilate’s fortress. I heard a lot of screaming and so I looked towards the door. The sight I saw flipped my stomach over backward. Jesus was standing in his undergarments covered with blood and a thorn crown on his head.”

            “Pilate was asking the people if they either wanted Jesus or Barabbas released. Everyone was cheering for Barabbas to be released and Jesus crucified. I cried no, but no one would listen! I cried all the way to work. After working for a while, Miss Rachel asked me to go buy her some flour from the market. As I was walking along, I heard a mix of crying and angry voices coming my way. I got out of the road and saw Jesus carrying a cross on the way to Golgotha.”

    “I stifled a gasp as he fell to the ground and was kicked by one of the Roman soldiers. The centurion grabbed one of the men nearby and made him carry the cross. As I cried, the most amazing thing happened. Jesus walked right up to me! Me!" 

            And whispered, “Don’t cry little Tabitha, I am dying for you and everyone on earth, I am the Messiah, and if you believe in Me, soon and very soon, you will see me again. I am the LAMB of God.” He then continued on His journey to Golgotha. I didn’t understand what that meant then, but now I do.”

            Tabitha started to cry as she continued her story. Her parents still dumbfounded at what she was saying, tried to calm her down.

    “When they got to Golgotha, the soldiers didn’t hang Him from the cross as they do to others, they nailed His caring hands and feet to the cross, and Jesus didn’t even scream.   They took His garment that had no seam and played a diced game to see who would keep His garment. They laughed at Him.” 

            “But that’s not all, while in pain and suffering there at the cross, he looked over the other criminals that were being hung at their cross beside them, and He talked kindly to one of them that asked Jesus to forgive Him, and Jesus said that one day He would meet him in heaven. He even asked one of His disciples to take care of His mother.”