Chapter 44 - The Last Supper

CHAPTER 44

THE LAST SUPPER

AFTER receiving a welcome from the father and mother of John Mark, the apostles went to the upper chamber while Jesus lingered behind to talk with the Mark family.

The Desire for Preference

They are gathered together to celebrate, at least in spirit, an institution which antedated even Moses and referred to the times when their fathers were slaves in Egypt. This supper is their last rendezvous with Jesus, and even in such a solemn setting, under the leadership of Judas the apostles are led once more to give way to their old predilection for honor, preference, and personal exaltation.

They were still engaged in voicing angry recriminations when the Master appeared in the doorway, where he hesitated a moment as a look of disappointment slowly crept over his face. Without comment he went to his place, and he did not disturb their seating arrangement.

They were now ready to begin the supper, except that their feet were still unwashed, and they were in anything but a pleasant frame of mind. When the Master arrived, they were still engaged in making uncomplimentary remarks about one another, to say nothing of the thoughts of some who had sufficient emotional control to refrain from publicly expressing their feelings.

Beginning the Supper

For a few moments after the Master had gone to his place, not a word was spoken.

Jesus looked them all over, and relieving the tension with a smile, said:

• "I have greatly desired to eat this Passover with you. I wanted to eat with you once more before I suffered, and realizing that my hour has come, I arranged to have this supper with you tonight, for as concerns the morrow, we are all in the hands of the Father, whose will I have come to execute. I shall not again eat with you until you sit down with me in the kingdom which my Father will give me when I have finished that for which he sent me into this world."

After the wine and the water had been mixed, they brought the cup to Jesus, who held it while he offered thanks.

And when he had finished offering thanks, he said:

• "Take this cup and divide it among yourselves, and when you partake of it, realize that I shall not again drink with you the fruit of the vine since this is our last supper. When we sit down again in this manner, it will be in the kingdom to come."

Washing the Apostles’ Feet

After a few moments of great embarrassment, Peter said:

• "Master, do you really mean to wash my feet?"

And then, looking up into Peter's face, Jesus said:

• "You may not fully understand what I am about to do, but hereafter you will know the meaning of all these things."

Then Simon Peter, drawing a long breath, said:

• "Master, you shall never wash my feet!"

As they all stood there in breathless amazement, Jesus said:

• "Peter, I declare that if I do not wash your feet, you will have no part with me in that which I am about to perform."

Peter in his characteristic and impetuous manner, said:

• "Then, Master, wash not my feet only but also my hands and my head."

As the Master made ready to begin washing Peter's feet, he said:

• "He who is already clean needs only to have his feet washed. You who sit with me tonight are clean -- but not all. But the dust of your feet should have been washed away before you sat down at meat with me. And besides, I would perform this service for you as a parable to illustrate the meaning of a new commandment which I will presently give you."

When Jesus had finished washing the feet of the twelve, he donned his cloak, returned to his place as host, and after looking over his bewildered apostles, said:

• "Do you really understand what I have done to you? You call me Master, and you say well, for so I am. If, then, the Master has washed your feet, why was it that you were unwilling to wash one another's feet? What lesson should you learn from this parable in which the Master so willingly does that service which his brethren were unwilling to do for one another? Verily, verily, I say to you: A servant is not greater than his master. Neither is one who is sent greater than he who sends him. You have seen the way of service in my life among you, and blessed are you who will have the gracious courage so to serve. But why are you so slow to learn that the secret of greatness in the spiritual kingdom is not like the methods of power in the material world?

• "When I came into this chamber tonight, you were not content proudly to refuse to wash one another's feet, but you must also fall to disputing among yourselves as to who should have the places of honor at my table. Such honors the Pharisees and the children of this world seek, but it should not be so among the ambassadors of the heavenly kingdom. Do you not know that there can be no place of preferment at my table? Do you not understand that I love each of you as I do the others? Do you not know that the place nearest me, as men regard such honors, can mean no thing concerning your standing in the kingdom of heaven? You know that the kings of the gentiles have lordship over their subjects, while those who exercise this authority are sometimes called benefactors. But it shall not be so in the kingdom of heaven. He who would be great among you, let him become as the younger, while he who would be chief, let him become as one who serves. Who is the greater, he who sits at meat, or he who serves? Is it not commonly regarded that he who sits at meat is the greater? But you will observe that I am among you as one who serves. If you are willing to become fellow servants with me in doing the Father's will, in the kingdom to come you shall sit with me in power, still doing the Father's will in future glory."

When Jesus had finished speaking, the Alpheus twins brought on the bread and wine, with the bitter herbs and the paste of dried fruits. For some minutes the apostles ate in silence. But under the influence of the Master's cheerful demeanor they were soon drawn into conversation.

Betrayal

After some time had elapsed, about the middle of this second course of the meal, Jesus, looking them over, said:

• "I have told you how much I desired to have this supper with you, and knowing how the evil forces of darkness have conspired to bring about the death of the Son of Man, I determined to eat this supper with you in this secret chamber and a day in advance of the Passover since I will not be with you by this time tomorrow night. I have repeatedly told you that I must return to the Father. Now has my hour come, but it was not required that one of you should betray me into the hands of my enemies."

When the twelve heard this, having already been robbed of much of their self-assertiveness and self-confidence by the parable of the feet washing and the Master's subsequent discourse, they began to look at one another while in disconcerted tones they hesitatingly inquired:

• "Is it I?"

And when they had all so inquired, Jesus said:

• "While it is necessary that I go to the Father, it was not required that one of you should become a traitor to fulfill the Father's will. This is the coming to fruit of the concealed evil in the heart of one who failed to love the truth with his whole soul. How deceitful is the intellectual pride that precedes the spiritual downfall! My friend of many years, who even now eats my bread, will be willing to betray me, even as he now dips his hand with me in the dish."

And when Jesus had thus spoken, they all began again to ask:

• "Is it I?"

And as Judas, sitting on the left of his Master, again asked:

• "Is it I?"

Jesus, dipping the bread in the dish of herbs, handed it to Judas, saying:

• "You have said."

John, who reclined on Jesus' right hand, leaned over and asked the Master:

• "Who is it? We should know who it is that has proved untrue to his trust."

Jesus answered:

• "Already have I told you, even he to whom I gave the sop."

But it was so natural for the host to give a sop to the one who sat next to him on the left that none of them took notice of this. But Judas was painfully conscious of the meaning of the Master's words associated with his act, and he became fearful lest his brethren were likewise now aware that he was the betrayer.

Peter was highly excited by what had been said, and leaning forward over the table, he addressed John:

• "Ask him who it is, or if he has told you, tell me who is the betrayer."

Jesus brought their whisperings to an end by saying:

• "I sorrow that this evil should have come to pass and hoped even up to this hour that the power of truth might triumph over the deceptions of evil. But such victories are not won without the faith of the sincere love of truth. I would not have told you these things at this, our last supper, but I desire to warn you of these sorrows and so prepare you for what is now upon us. I have told you of this because I desire that you should recall after I have gone that I knew about all these evil plottings, and that I forewarned you of my betrayal. And I do all this only that you may be strengthened for the temptations and trials which are just ahead."

When Jesus had thus spoken, leaning over toward Judas, he said:

• "What you have decided to do, do quickly."

And when Judas heard these words, he arose from the table and hastily left the room. When the other apostles saw Judas hasten off after Jesus had spoken to him, they thought he had gone to do some errand for the Master since they supposed he still carried the bag.

Establishing the Remembrance Supper

As they brought Jesus the third cup of wine, the "cup of blessing," he arose from the couch, and taking the cup in his hands, blessed it, saying:

• "Take this cup, all of you, and drink of it. This shall be the cup of my remembrance. This is the cup of the blessing of a new dispensation of grace and truth. This shall be to you the emblem of the bestowal and ministry of the divine Spirit of Truth. And I will not again drink this cup with you until I drink in new form with you in the Father's kingdom."

The apostles all sensed that something out of the ordinary was transpiring as they drank of this cup of blessing in profound reverence and perfect silence.

When they had finished drinking this new cup of remembrance, the Master took up the bread, and after giving thanks, broke it in pieces, and directing them to pass it around, said:

• "Take this bread of remembrance and eat it. I have told you that I am the bread of life. And this bread of life is the united life of the Father and the Son in one gift. The word of the Father, as revealed in the Son, is indeed the bread of life."

After they had engaged in meditation for a few moments, Jesus continued speaking:

• "When you do these things, recall the life I have lived on earth among you and rejoice that I am to continue to live on earth with you and to serve through you. As individuals, contend not among yourselves as to who shall be greatest. Be you all as brethren. And when the kingdom grows to embrace large groups of believers, likewise should you refrain from contending for greatness or seeking preferment between such groups."

When Jesus had thus established the supper of the remembrance, he said to the twelve:

• "And as often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me. And when you do remember me, first look back upon my life in the flesh, recall that I was once with you, and then, by faith, discern that you shall all some time sup with me in the Father's eternal kingdom. This is the new Passover which I leave with you, along with the memory of my bestowal life, the word of eternal truth, my love for you, and the outpouring of my Spirit of Truth upon all flesh."