Peter and John left Bethany, and went on to Jerusalem. Entering the city, they eagerly looked at the passersby up and down each street until at last
they saw a man carrying a large jar of water on his shoulders.
Peter nudged John, and John, startled, saw the same thing, the two of them falling into cadence behind the man, a discreet distance away.
Twice, in the jostling throngs, they almost lost him, but finally succeeded in following him into a narrow side street, where he stopped to bang on a
large door. Peter and John got close enough so that, when the door opened, they looked beyond the man and asked the servant at the door, "Could we see the master of the house, please. It's
important!"
They repeated the statement as Jesus had instructed them, and were surprised to see the master of the house tell them happily, "Come in, come in. Yes,
I've been expecting you!" Peter and John were led through the interior courtyard, through the kitchen at the rear, and up a flight of stairs to a large upper room where they saw tables and
furniture easily able to accommodate Jesus and His disciples.
Why did this man expect Peter and John? Had, an angel previously delivered the message? There is no record of it. Had Jesus Himself made arrangements
a full year earlier, telling the man that He would send His disciples with such a message on the afternoon of the thirteenth? There is no way of knowing.
For about a month now the entire city had been in preparation for this most important of feasts. Bridges were repaired, walls whitewashed, sidewalks
and drains repaired and replaced, decorative friezes painted, as the whole city took on an expectant, exciting pace.
Thousands of lambs were brought in from all of the countryside, and ceremonial preparations were underway in all homes for days in advance.
The priests would select lambs "without blemish" out of the herds on the tenth day (about three days before Jesus sent Peter and John into Jerusalem
to find their guest chambers) to be brought into the slaughtering places in the cities.
The candlelight searches were made through the nooks and crannies of homes for leavening, and the scrubbing and washing of utensils, pots and pans,
the careful cleansing of silverware, the collection of the bitter herbs and baking of unleavened cakes were busily taking place throughout the city.
Citizens noted, with some chagrin, that the Roman legion always sent additional concentrations of troops, both to remain within the city and to
bivouac in the nearby countryside, for they always expected the possibility of an insurrection at this season, when perhaps somewhere between one-and-a-half and two million people would be
thronging Jerusalem and its immediate environs for the Passover. (Ancient writers such as Josephus indicate the population of Jerusalem during the Passover season to be from one to three
million, though recent scholarship suggests this number could be exaggerated.)
Whose home was this where Jesus planned to take His last supper?
The Bible does not say, but there may be reason to speculate it could have been the home of Nicodemus, or the home of young John Mark's father, or a
large home rented for the purpose of the Passover by Joseph of Arimathaea, a very wealthy man who provided the tomb wherein Jesus was buried, and who actually helped carry the body
there.
In any event, Peter and John remained there for a time, making sure all of the required rites for preparation of the Passover had been completed, that
there was ample tableware and seating, and that other provisions had been made for the exact number that Jesus would bring to this special Passover supper.
The servants couldn't understand it. The whole house was thrown into an immediate uproar. Even though the master of the home had tried to insure that
all was in readiness, the household help couldn’t understand why in the world they were doing this one day earlier.
For, notice carefully, Jesus intended sitting down to a Paschal lamb supper about 20 to 21 hours before all of the other Jewish homes would be
doing the thing!
Jesus intended eating the Passover supper early!
This truly was to be, then, a special "supper" later referred to by the Apostle Paul as "the Lord's supper," and was taken before the Jewish
Passover! (See John 13:1.)
After sunset that evening, it was the beginning of the fourteenth of Nisan, the day when the Israelites had been commanded to eat the Passover
"between the two evenings."
Jesus’ mind was almost continually fixed on that "other dimension" now, and a great heaviness began to settle upon Him. Still, it was mixed with
the deepest sense of fulfillment, and even personal satisfaction and warmth toward His disciples. Jesus knew how much He really loved them, and how much spiritual information He wanted to
convey to their minds during His last hours on this earth, so that they themselves could give the greatest witness possible at a later time.
We know from later Jewish sources that the Paschal supper followed a rigorously exacting schedule, including specified Psalms and prayers, four cups
of red wine per person (which would even require an individual who was too poor to afford it to sign notes for future labor), plus the question and session between father and son concerning
the significance of the Passover in Egypt, and many other rites. Some sort of similar ceremony may have already been customary even at this time.
But Jesus’ supper was far different. After they had all taken their seats around the table, Jesus, having led them in prayer and asking
God’s blessing on the food in a particularly moving manner, told them, "I have had the deepest desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Because I'm telling you, this is
the last time I will eat it on this earth until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
The disciples were no doubt puzzled. They knew they were sitting down to a lamb supper with the bitter herbs, unleavened bread, the cups of wine; they
knew that Jesus was particularly heavy and seemingly serious and saddened; and they no doubt expected that Jesus would be eating the regular Passover supper with them either here or in some
other place the following evening. Therefore, all the disciples were quite surprised when He told them this was the last time He would eat of it until it was fulfilled in the kingdom
of God!
Suddenly, wild hope leaped into their breasts. They, began to talk excitedly among themselves, believing that true to the Romans' apprehensions,
Christ was finally going to seize upon the opportunity of the Passover on the following night to rally nearly one-and-a-half million people around Him (probably by an awesome series
of miracles), simply overwhelm the Romans by force of numbers, and establish a new kingdom of Israel right then and there!
Peter probably hastily excused himself during part of the noisy discussion that followed Jesus' sober words, and rushed downstairs to the foyer where
they had left their outer cloaks, and retrieved his cherished Roman shortsword he had bought in a bazaar during their visit to the Syrophoenician coast.
While he was at it, he rummaged through the disciples' personal effects and found another sword hanging on a peg beneath a cloak. Expectancy and
determination boiling up within him, he climbed back up the stairs and slid the swords under the mat on which he was sitting and rejoined the conversation.
The talk had turned to the deeds that had been done.
Peter could see Judas was getting in his licks down the table, and it seemed that Bartholomew, James, Alphaeus’ son Thaddeus,andeven Simon the
Canaanite were nodding agreement.
Peter had been disgusted several times in the past over James’ and John's constant discussions about who would "be the greatest" in the kingdom,
and especially resented some of the interference of parents of some of the men, notably Zebedee's wife who had lobbied so heavily that "when Jesus came with His kingdom her boys ought to
have the two top seats."
The talk swirled back and forth along the table, concentrating on certain qualities of character: who had been stronger in this or that confrontation,
who had been used to cast out demons, who had attracted the largest crowds which had listened in this or that town during their earlier evangelistic campaign trips when Jesus had sent them
out two by two. Finally, faces began to redden, voices raised a little, and a full-fledged argument seemed to be developing.
Jesus rapped for attention and said, "Now wait just a minute! You all know that the kings of Gentile nations exercise lordship over their subjects,
and they that have authority over the people are usually called ‘benefactors.’" (He said this somewhat sarcastically, for the record of bestial brutalities by Gentile
kings, even including the oft-told tale of Herod's assassination of the children at Jesus own birth, was well known.)
"But with you it will not be that way! He that is the greatest among you, let him become as if he were the youngest. And he that is the chief, as if
he were a servant. For which is the greatest, he that sits at the table, partaking of the meat, or he that is doing the serving? Is it not he that is obviously sitting at his own table,
partaking of his own meat? But I am in the midst of you as he that serves! But you right here are those special few that have continued with me in all of my temptations and trials;
and I am appointing unto you a kingdom, just as my Father has appointed that kingdom unto me; that you will finally eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and you will all sit on thrones
judging the twelve tribes of Israel!"
They didn't understand this statement though we in retrospect can easily understand it today.
Jesus was showing the futility of reasoning carnally, bickering over special favors, and striving to use political methods and influence to gain
prominence.
Rather, He reminded them how, just prior to the meal, He Himself had helped set it out, had arranged this or that place setting, had gone willingly to
the kitchen to carry some of the food to the upstairs room, as He had always done; pitching in with His own hands to do task work. Jesus never followed the examples of the aloof Pharisees
and Sadducees who loved to posture and flaunt their importance while they allowed others to wait on them hand and foot.
Judas, in lively discussion with several of the disciples whom he had greatly influenced, was seated close enough to Jesus that he could hear snatches
of conversation between Jesus, John, James and Peter from time to time.
His mind was tormenting him. Was this the time? How could he slip out? Was there any way he could bribe a servant? He knew Peter had secretly stashed
away a couple of swords, but he didn't feel this would be enough to resist an armed guard, arriving quickly and without announcement. Judas thought he had better bide his time perhaps wait
until the supper was over and maybe everyone would be asleep from the effects of the delicious meal and the few cups of wine.
But Judas used every opportunity during the lively discussion concerning rulership to get in telling blows about how he had saved them a great deal of
money by his skillful financial transactions, and how much more popular he would prove to be with his deferential ways and especially his programs for the poor.
Judas seized what seemed to have been his best opportunity, with Jesus particularly preoccupied during the Passover to launch into one of his longest
and most emotionally intense accusations of Jesus.
Jesus had gotten up several times, but this time He returned to the table carrying some brazen pots and pans. When He had accumulated enough of them,
Jesus stood up from the table, and began to take off His inner layer of garments until He was stripped to the waist, wearing only His loincloth. He then took a large towel and wrapped it
around Himself, poured water into a large brass basin, and, beginning with one of the men at the end of the table, laid heavy emphasis on His words of a few moments before, "I am in the
midst of you as one that serves," literally acting out His part of a "servant" by, of all things, beginning to wash the disciples' feet!
Bemused, Judas watched Jesus wash the feet of Thaddeus and Simon the Canaanite. When Jesus came to Judas, he probably rolled his eyes, winked
significantly at a couple of people nearby, grimacing in hopelessness, as Jesus, with His head and shoulders bowed, washed Judas's feet.
Finally, it was Peter's turn. And Peter blustered.
He said, "Lord, what in the world do you think you're doing—are you going to try to wash my feet?"
Jesus looked at him and said, "What I am doing now, you don’t understand, Peter, but you will understand afterward."
Peter couldn’t stand all of this "serving" any further and so he said, "You're never going to wash my feet!"
Jesus smiled and said, "Peter, if I don't wash your feet, you won't have anything to do with me whatever."
Peter said, "Lord, you go right ahead—and don't wash just my feet, but wash my hands and my head as well!" Jesus had to smile more broadly at
this. "He that has had a bath does not need to wash anything but his feet, but is clean every bit. . ." And, looking at all of them, while still noticing the glittering eyes of Judas, Jesus
turned his statement into a direct and pointed lesson by saying, "And you are clean"—then with a glance in Judas's direction— "but not all of you." "Because," John added, "He knew
who should betray him, therefore he said, "You are not all clean."
Finally, He finished washing the feet of all twelve of them, replaced the basins, removed the water jars, swabbed up the remaining droplets of water
with a towel, and, picking up His garments, got dressed.
He sat down again, then with voice rising above the hushed conversations he went on and said, "Do you know what I have done to you? You all refer to
me as Master [teacher] and Lord and you say well, for so I am. If I, then, your Lord and your Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. Because I have given
you an example, that you also should do as I have done unto you! In plain point of fact, I am telling you, that a servant is not greater than his lord; neither one who is commissioned or
sent greater than the one who commissions or sends him.
"If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them! And I'm not talking of every one of you; I know each of you that I have chosen, and that
the scriptures must be fulfilled that say, "He that eats his bread with me lifted up his heel against me.’ [Compare with Psalm 41:9] It is absolutely true that he who receives whomever
I send is doing the same thing as receiving me; and he who receives me will receive Him who sent me!"
Only moments later, Jesus said loudly enough for several of the disciples to hear, "I am telling you the truth that one of you right here at this
table is going to betray me! His hand is partaking of the food right here at the table, and that hand is going to betray me! But I’ll tell you this, Woe be unto that man through whom I
am betrayed!"
A deadly hush fell over the crowd.
Judas’s face was sober. With widened eyes, he looked, with a combined pretense of shock and curiosity from one to another near him as if
wondering which one of those other disciples could dare do such a thing.
A few tears sprang into a few eyes, and several of them were sorrowful.
Perhaps some few who had been influenced a great deal by Judas and had allowed themselves to criticize Jesus from time to time were suddenly
conscience-stricken. Several of them had to take the opportunity to say, "Surely you don't think I would ever do a thing like that, do you, Jesus?" Jesus reaffirmed again, "It is one of you
who is eating with me right out of this common bowl, who dips his bread in the dish and who will betray me. The Son of man will go through with all that is required and written of Him, so
it is all predetermined; but woe unto that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had simply never been born!" John had had a moment to express
himself to Jesus, and in a particularly moving moment leaned over and placed his head on Jesus’ chest.
Peter thought John was whispering to Jesus, not recognizing that John was overcome with sympathy and compassion, or the emotion that he
felt.
Peter crooked a finger at John and whispered in his ear, "Tell us, who is this he is speaking about?"
John leaned back a little further, and lifting his lips to Jesus’ ear, said, "Lord, who is it?"
Jesus said quietly, but with a searching look at His three closest disciples near Him, John, Peter and James, "It's the one to whom I'm going to give
this sop."
Picking up a piece of the bread, Jesus dipped it in the common vessel, picking up slivers of roast lamb with its juice, and purposefully leaned far
over and gave it to Judas Iscariot.
Judas noticed that John's face whitened with shock, and suddenly Judas felt his body convulse with both rage and guilt.
Judas was thunderstruck. He sneered, "I suppose you think it is I, don't you Rabbi?" Jesus said, "Well, you said it."
This final, public break was more than Judas’ tormented emotion could stand! His bitterness had grown in the recent days and weeks during the
tortuous confrontations with the leadership in Jerusalem. And now, inside himself, his mind snapped and he lost all mental control.
While he probably couldn't really realize the enormity of the evil that was engulfing him, his hatred for Jesus became so fierce, so intense, that his
normal reserves were destroyed.
Judas had become fair game for Satan the Devil!
Satan was always hovering near Judas in a constant attempt to get him to whisper in this or that ear, to influence this or that mind—all in order
to bring about Jesus’ degradation and death by any means possible. Judas' mental collapse was Satan's golden opportunity. He immediately took complete possession of Judas' mind, brain
and body, entering directly into him so that he completely controlled his every act, word and thought.
Jesus was still looking at Judas, and recognizing with His powerful perception of the spirit world that the glint in Judas's, eye had suddenly taken
on a wild demonic glaze, He spoke even more to Satan than He did to Judas: "Get on with it; whatever you intend doing, you'd better do it quickly!"
The other disciples all heard Jesus words, to Judas—yet none understood. They probably supposed Jesus was giving Judas a special commission to go
out and strike some special deal for a specific purpose. Perhaps Jesus had asked Judas to buy some extra provisions for the Passover. Judas, after all, was still the treasurer of the group;
and Jesus had often told Judas to go buy things that they needed or had urged him to give an offering to some poor person. Therefore, there was no special uproar at the table when Judas
hurriedly gathered his garments, got to his feet, and went clattering down the stairs.
And so, while Jesus was still talking in calm tones to His disciples, Judas was cursing, flinging stones, and kicking at things in his path as he
determined to seek out the officials and bring them back to Jesus to have Him arrested!
Instantly, after Judas had departed, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him; and God will glorify him in
himself." Jesus explained to them it was all going to come to a rapid head now, and began to urgently teach the disciples in a kindly but firm manner, words which seemed to recall for them
the most striking example of Jesus’ teachings they had ever heard, that time when they had slogged, lungs gasping for breath and foot-weary up to the heights of that mountain near
Capernaum so long ago when Jesus had told them, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
Jesus now said, "Little children, I'm only going to be with you for a short while longer and then you're going to seek me, and as I have told the
Jews, where I am going, you cannot come, so now I am telling you, A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you love, one another in exactly
that same way!
"So long as you do this, all men will know that you are my disciples. Your primary characteristic must be the love you show for one
another!"
Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Simon, I'm telling you something; Satan the Devil has tried to get a hold of you, time and again, so he can sift you
just like wheat; but I have been praying especially for you, that your faith will not fail! Even though I know all of you are going to be offended against me, because I remember what
Zechariah wrote, 'I will smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered abroad.' But, nevertheless, after I am resurrected, I am going to precede you into Galilee."
Peter having already asked Jesus, "Lord, where are you going to go?" said, "Lord, even though everybody else at this table would leave you, I never
would! I am ready to go to Jail with you, or to be killed!" Jesus said, "Really Peter? Are you really ready to lay down your life for me? I'm telling you the truth, that this very same
night, before the cock crows two times, you are going to deny me three times!"
Peter raised his voice vehemently! Tears sprang into his eyes. mortified, furious, indignant, and at the same time filled with an urgency to convince
Jesus of his sincerity, Peter wondered why in the world Jesus would be talking this way when Peter himself was ready for the breathtaking announcement that the time had come to go out into
the streets of Jerusalem and begin proclaiming the news that the Messiah was taking over and setting up His government.
Peter felt his whole life’s calling disintegrating around his ankles. Searching wildly for what could possibly be behind Christ’s words, he
said again at the top of his lungs with tears filling his eyes. "Lord, even if I've got to stand there and die beside you, I will never deny you!" His speech was so moving that all
of the other disciples were nodding their heads, with tears in their own eyes, and were saying the same thing!
"You bet!" "Yes!" "That’s right" "Me, too!" all of them said.
Jesus interrupted, "When I sent you out without a bag or a wallet, or without even extra sandals for your trip, did you lack anything?" They answered,
"No, nothing." "Well, I'm telling you now, if you have a valise, you'd better take it, and likewise a wallet. And whoever has none, had better sell his cloak and buy a sword. Because I'm
telling you that this which is written must be fulfilled in me [compare Isa. 53:12—And he was reckoned among the transgressors"] so that everything which has been written of me will be
completely fulfilled!"
That was more like it!
Now Jesus was making more sense, Peter thought. With alacrity, he reached under the mat, and pulled out the two swords. Several of the others had seen
him bring them and, nodding their heads, backed up Peter when he said, "Lord, look! We've already got two swords!" Jesus said, "That is quite enough!"
Peter had carried the sword in its sheath around his belt as a utilitarian utensil for a long time. With it he had done everything from severing
fruits and vegetables, trimming and cleaning them, butchering and skinning animals, or wiping or scraping the mud off his shoes. He had kept the sword exceedingly sharp, for its manifold
uses kept the edge somewhat dulled if he didn't see to it constantly.
Then, a new phase of the supper seemed to develop.
They had all commenced to eat again, when Jesus took a loaf of the flat bread, began to break it, and again fulfilling His servant's task work,
"blessed" (asked God's blessing on it in a brief prayer), broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take and eat of this, because this is my body which is given for you."
Jesus may have winced a little while completing the act of breaking the bread, for He knew that in only a few hours, His very flesh would be broken
open in great wounds—that He would be fulfilling His role in this human life as a great sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins for those down through the ages who would believe in the
symbol of "His body," broken through a vicious scourging and terrible wounds, as offered in sacrifice to fulfill the scripture, "by whose stripes are you healed" (I Pet. 2:24).
Later, He took the larger vessel of wine and poured it into individual cups, and after asking God's blessing, said, "Drink, all of you, because this cup is the New Covenant represented by my blood which is to be shed for many and which is poured out for you, for the remission of sins. Because I'm telling you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the day that I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Whenever you drink this cup, I want you to do it in remembrance of me, because whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you will be proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes again."
Paul would later be inspired to write, "Whenever you eat this [broken] bread, and drink this cup, you are portraying the Lord's death until the time He returns.
"Whoever eats this [broken] bread, and drinks of this cup of the Lord without really discerning the deep meaning of it, thus taking of the symbols
unworthily, will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
"But let a person examine himself, and then let him eat of that [broken] bread, and drink of the cup.
"Because he that eats or drinks unworthily is condemning himself by eating and drinking these symbols; not clearly seeing the Lord's body! It is for this precise reason many are weak and sickly among you, and that many have died!" (cf. I Cor. 11: 26-30).
Jesus knew His body was being offered in summation of all sacrifice; that every bullock, lamb, turtle dove or any other sacrifice was only a "schoolmaster" (Gal. 3:24) looking toward this one great sacrifice; the very body, in perfect physical condition, unblemished by any sin either in spiritual intent or through
physical accident, and the blood of the Son of God!
By this institution of these New Testament symbols, Jesus was changing the character and the time of observance of the "Passover" for
all Christians to observe hereafter. He was partaking of His own "supper" about 20 or so hours before the time of the Old Testament Passover, when the tens of thousands of families
would be sitting down to their sacrificial roast lamb; and establishing new symbols which would look back to the reality of Christ’s sacrifice of His broken body and shed
blood, rather than forward (through the slaughter of animals) to the need for such sacrifice for sins!
No wonder He spoke with such fervor, no wonder He was so deeply profound!
One can imagine that, humanly, Jesus so wanted His disciples to "get" what was about to happen to Him! When we're distraught, fearful, or terribly
shaken, our most urgent human need is for those we love the most to understand! Jesus was reaching out during this supper for the compassion and the empathy of His closest and
dearest friends. Perhaps John alone, who was chosen to write almost all that Jesus spoke, and who leaned over against His shoulder in an expression of deep compassion, really came close to
feeling the heaviness that was on Jesus—and managed to communicate his understanding.
Again, the disciples were both elated and puzzled. It seemed He was contradicting Himself time after time. First, He would send the wildest hopes to
fill their breasts with a statement which seemed to imply He was ready to rush out into the streets and begin His kingdom and then He kept talking of His imminent death!
A gloom settled over the room again.
Peter was shaking his head in sorrow, wondering when they were going to get on with it. Others were deeply troubled.
Jesus then began to say, "Don't let your hearts trouble you. You believe in God; I want you to believe also in me. in my Father’s house are many
places and positions. If this were not true, I would have told you; because I go away to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you myself, that where I am at that time,
you can be there also!"
"And the place to which I go, I have shown you the way!"
Thomas, one of the skeptics of the twelve, piped up, "Lord, we don't know where in the world you are going, and not knowing this, how can we know the
way?"
Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one can come unto the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known
my Father also: And from now on you will come to know Him, because you have seen Him."
Philip responded, "Lord, show us the Father, and it will be sufficient."
Jesus retorted, "Have I been so long with you, Philip, and you still do not know me? He that has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us
the Father? Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say unto you I do not speak from my own self, but the Father who abides in me accomplishes His
works through me! Believe me, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe me for the very works sake. And truthfully, I am telling you, he that believes on me,
the works that I do, he can do also; and even greater works than these can he do, because I will go to the Father.
"And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask me anything in my name, that
will I do!" These lengthy, moving, final instructions to His disciples recorded in John 14-17 contain not only some of the most important doctrinal essentials of Jesus’ teaching, but
also graphic insight into His "other dimensional" awareness of precisely who He was, what He had come to accomplish, and where He was going.
This was the great God who had created the universe, trying to pack as much meaning into every word with His human disciples during these last moments
on earth as He possibly could. This was the Son of man, the Son of God, a member of the Divine Family, having changed Himself into a tiny collection of human cells, growing to be
born of a virgin in Bethlehem, and living human life as it had never been lived before for thirty-three and one-half years.
The final chapters were about to be written, His hour was coming, and He knew it.
With a profound resignation, knowing that He had conquered and overcome Satan the Devil and could have commanded him to come out of Judas,
Jesus allowed the furious tide of onrushing events to carry Him along to the completion of His Human destiny.
He reminded His disciples that soon another "Comforter," the very Spirit of God, would come, and would "bring to your remembrance everything I have
told you"! He chided them for not understanding much of what He had said; reminded them that He understood they didn't "get it," but gave them such a powerful discourse that His closest and
most beloved disciple, John, was able to put in writing most of the essential words even some years later.
Jesus told them they could never bear fruit apart from remaining in "Him," and gave them the analogy of the branch of a vine which could never produce
fruit except it remain joined to the major vine from which it received nourishment.
He told them, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do those things which I
command you!" Jesus told them the world would hate them, even as the world had hated Him, and would hate their disciples on down through the ages to come.
He said, "If you were of the world [humanly devised societies] the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I
chose you out of the world, therefore, the world will hate you."
He told them some frightening things during this last "Lords supper." He even warned them that the time would come when religious zealots would "put
you out of the synagogue; yes, the hour will come that whoever kills you will think that he actually offers a special service to God!"
And then He made one of the strongest statements of all; that, even though He had told them that the cup was the "blood of the New Testament which was
shed for them," the bread was "His body" which was offered for them, and sure martyrdom would come to them later, He said, "I have yet many things to say to you, but you couldn’t stand
to hear them now! However, when the spirit of truth has come, it will guide you into all the truth!"
Jesus well remembered that when He had previously given His larger group of disciples the teaching that He was "that bread which cometh down
from heaven" and that "His flesh" was the "bread" they would have to eat, that many of them had left Him and refused to go along with Him any further (John 6:48-66).
He remembered even then how Peter had said, "Lord, to whom shall we go; you have the words to eternal life!"
Now He was telling His disciples even stronger things, if that were possible, and furthermore stating to them that many of the things He wanted to say
were so strong they would not be able to understand and appreciate them at that time. Jesus reminded His disciples that God's Holy Spirit would lead them into greater understanding and into
"all truth" at a later time!
He concluded a portion of the discourse by saying "In a little while now and you will not be able to see me any more; then a little later, you will be
able to see me!"
Some of the disciples began reasoning among themselves, and one asked, "What is this that He is telling us? Why is He telling us that in a little
while you will not be able to see me, and then a little later and you will see me?" And, "What does He mean when He says, ‘Because I go to the Father?’"
They said, "Just what in the world does He mean, ‘In a little while?' We don't know what He is telling us."
But Jesus perceived desiring to ask Him and He said, "Don’t reason around among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while and you won't be
able to see me,’ and then, 'A little later and you will see me,’ I am telling you the truth that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice! You will be sorrowful but
your sorrow shall be turned into joy!
"When a women is giving birth she is full of pain because her time has come; but later when she has delivered the baby, she forgets all about
the anguish, because of the joy that a child is born into the world!
"And You are growing sadder now, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and that joy no one can ever take away from
you!"
These chapters of the book of John (14 through 17) are some of the most beautiful in all the Bible, especially the real Lord's prayer contained in the
17th chapter of John.
Finally Jesus’ lengthy discourse and prayer was over, Supper was finished now. It was a custom to sing hymns (from the Psalms) during the
Jewish Passover observance, and Jesus wanted to sing a special hymn with His disciples prior to leaving the large upper room in which the lengthy dinner had been eaten.
They all stood, and Jesus leading in a clear voice, sang one of His favorite hymns. Probably it was one of the psalms, and one may speculate if it
could have been the twenty-second and/or twenty-third psalm considering the former's application to Jesus’ moments of agony on the tree, and especially the latter's promise of
deliverance.
In any event, one can well imagine the emotions flowing through these men, after such a particularly heavy, atmosphere during the lengthy meal,
Jesus’ very, pointed statements and long discourse, and especially His tone of unusual finality in so much of what He had said.
Clearly, the disciples knew that something very unusual was about to occur.
They filed out of the room, and gathering their outer garments, after thanking the householder and the servants, went their way out into the streets
of Jerusalem, down a steep slope, fording the brook Kidron which still ran full in those days, and began to walk along pathways winding up the opposite slope until they arrived at a
beautiful arboretum and garden place which was named Gethsemane. There were benches and stones, and it was a site to which weary travelers could resort and enjoy the beauty of the
plantings. Realizing the imminence of His situation, Jesus told the disciples, "Sit here while I go over there a little and pray."
As He had done so often, He took with Him the leading three disciples who had accompanied Him on so many special occasions in the past—including
the transfiguration—Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John.
They noticed that a terrible troubled look had come over His face, and He turned to them and said, "I am terribly sorrowful, and deeply aching inside,
to the point that I feel death upon me!"
He said, "Stay here and watch for me," and then, going forward a few more steps, about a stone's throw, dropped to the ground quickly, and even
pressing His face forward on the ground, began to pray loudly enough that the three closest disciples could hear Him saying, "Father, Father, everything is possible with you! If there is
any way to remove this cup from me ... nevertheless, it is not my will that should be done, but your will!"
The prayer continued, Jesus being in an agony of tense communication with His Father, until, looking up, feeling a strong hand on His shoulder, He
could see a powerful angel standing there to give Him encouragement and strength. It was as if He had received a direct communication that the turbulent events swirling about Him would
continue exactly as they had been intended, and that there would be no respite from the suffering of the next few hours. After looking at the angel's face, He prayed even more earnestly,
until He quite literally broke out into a sweat, with rivulets of perspiration falling from His nose and chin, dropping down on the ground.
He got up, wiping His face, and walked back and found the disciples curled up on the ground, asleep.
He grabbed Peters shoulders and shook him, saying, "What! Couldn't you keep your eyes open and watch for me here for one hour? I'm telling you, watch
and pray that you enter not into temptation; the spirit of course is always willing, but the flesh is weak."
Peter, James and John stumbled to their feet, rubbing their eyes and looking foolishly about. Then, after saying these words, Jesus groaned, turned
away, and went back to His place of prayer a second time, dropping to the ground and praying the very same prayer again, begging His Father to "take the cup from Him" but quickly saying,
"If this can't pass from me except I have to partake of it, then your will be done!"
After this second earnest prayer, He came back to this same area and found them sleeping again, because they couldn't keep their eyes open.
Again He rebuked them and told them they should be watching and praying with Him, and turning away for the third time, went back to the same place and
began earnestly and intensively praying the same prayer.
As the being who was the God of the Old Testament, He knew the case of Elijah and the third request for the dead boy's life; Jesus was after all the
very designer of numerical symbolism and its revelation to the prophets of old, and as surely as He had designed a seventh day for the perfection of the weekly cycle, knew that three
represented finality. After He had prayed so movingly for the third time, Jesus knew He had His final answer. The original plan would continue.
Thus, returning after His third intensive prayer, Jesus said, "Well, go ahead and get what rest you can, then, because the hour is at hand, and
the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners!"
As Jesus returned the third time. He heard the clatter of an approaching group, and saw the torches they carried as they forded the creek below. He
cried, "Get up! We'd better be going, because the one who will betray me is right here! He had no sooner finished the statement to Peter and John when Judas materialized out of the dancing
light of the torches held by the nearest of the group, followed by a large number of others including the chief priests and elders, a number of soldiers, the officers of the temple, all of
them obviously heavily armed, carrying the lengthy lances, Roman short-swords, and some wearing helmets and breastplates.
It was well known among the disciples that Jesus resorted to the area of Gethsemane, and Judas knew precisely where to find Him since he had heard
Jesus discussing His plans for the later evening.
Jesus stepped out from the gloom into the flickering glare of the torches and lanterns and said, "Who are you looking for?"
Those in the nearest ranks answered, "Jesus of Nazareth."
Jesus said, "I am he!"
When these words came out of His mouth, the strangest phenomenon you could imagine occurred!
Several ranks of the group seemed to quickly stumble backward and actually toppled over and fell to the ground! A babble of excitement went rippling
through the crowd as they cried to disengage themselves from each other. One or two leaped about, slapping wildly where a torch had touched their garments They picked up their spears,
readjusted their helmets and swords, as the whole group tried to create some semblance of dignity and order out of the chaos of the sudden, unexplained idiocy of those boobs up in the front
rank leaning suddenly backward causing the whole group to lose their footing and fall over backward!
(Several cases in the Bible show that when a person is under demonic influence, he always "falls away backward," when confronted by the influence of
God, or in the presence of an angelic messenger.)
While reasonable order was being restored to their ranks, Jesus waited, He then asked them again, "Who are you looking for?"
Again, one of them said loudly, "Jesus of Nazareth!"
"Fine!" he said, "I told you I am he, so if I'm the one you're looking for then let these others go," indicating His frightened disciples standing
nearby. "Let these go their way." John later wrote that Jesus said this to fulfill the word that He had spoken in His prayer when He said, "Of those whom you had given me I lost not
one."
About that time, Judas came directly up to Jesus and in the most cheerful possible fashion said, "Hello, Rabbi!"
And, taking Him by the shoulders, kissed Him quickly on the cheek.
Jesus stood rigidly, looking at Judas in scorn and hurt, and said, "Judas, do you mean to tell me you would betray the Son of man with a
kiss?"
Peter and some of the other disciples had drawn protectively about Jesus, as if to try to conceal Him from the leaders of the mob; Peter said, "Lord,
shall we attack them with these swords?"
Several of the soldiers leveled their pike and spears, and one of the officers of the high priest made as if to seize Jesus. Peter took a step
backward, and the whisper of his sword coming out of his sheath had barely been noticed when the flashing blade descended with a vicious arc through the air! The servant of the High Priest
dodged nimbly, or Peter's Roman sword would have split his head open like a ripe melon! The priest's officer stumbled backward, and Peter’s blade barely sliced through his ear,
completely severing it from his head! Peter was raising the blade for a second blow as a wild yell went through the crowd behind.
Jesus quickly spoke with great authority, saying to Peter, "Put your sword away into its sheath! All those that take the sword will perish with the
sword! Don't you think that I could turn to my Father and beseech Him and that He could send me more than twelve legions of angels?" Saying this, Jesus stooped down to the ground, picked up
the officer's severed ear, and touching it to his head spoke briefly. The officer, amazed, put his hand to his ear and found it as whole as the other! Peter, mumbling, put away his sword
and stepped back with the other disciples.
Jesus said, "Have you come out here to arrest me as if I were some robber; do you believe you have to be heavily armed with swords and spears to seize
me? Here I was, sitting daily with you in the temple teaching and, you didn't arrest me; but this is all being allowed to happen that the scriptures the prophets wrote might be fulfilled;
but this is your hour and the power of darkness and desolation shall prevail. However, your time will be short."
The mob moved forward with several of the soldiers trotting quickly left and right with their spears at the trail, intending to surround the whole
group. Quickly, the disciples all melted into the darkness, and fled as fast as they could.
Years later, young John Mark (the author of the second gospel) admitted that he had been among the group when he wrote about "a certain young man" who
followed along after them, being clothed only with a linen cloth about his naked body, and when they mistook him for one of the disciples grabbing at his clothing, he left the linen cloth
and fled away naked (Mark 14:51-52).
This took place probably either a little before or a little after the hour of midnight.
They bound Jesus, and, with significant jabs with the butt of their spears and wild talk among the officers and the chief priests about what would
happen next, plus any number of threats that "we will finally find out about all of this" and "see just who is in authority here" and other threatening statements, they clattered their way
along the trails back to the brook Kidron, and began to climb the other side.
The boisterous crowd took Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem, where the curious peered out of their upper windows at the throng going by at this
ridiculously early time just before the Jews’ Passover preparation. The noisy band finally came to the residence of Annas, who happened to be Caiaphas's father-in-law, the high priest
for that year.
Caiaphas was the one who had given instructions to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people—little realizing the
awesome spiritual significance of his remark.
At Annas's home, the high priest demanded to know of Jesus, "Now just who in the world do you think you are? What is all this teaching you have been
bringing in the temple? Who are your disciples, and where are they from?"
Jesus answered, "I have spoken openly to the world; I continually taught in synagogues all up and down the country, and even in the temple, where all
the Jews gather together. I have taught nothing in secret. Why are you asking me these questions? Ask those who have listened to me what I have taught them. Look! These people standing
right here by you know exactly what I have said!"
At Jesus' sincere yet authoritative tone, one of the officers standing by slapped Him with a ringing blow to the head, saying, "Do you think you can
talk to the high priest this way?"
Jesus, His ear ringing from the blow, turned to the man and said levelly, "If I have spoken evil, then accuse me of the evil deed; but if I have
spoken well, why are you hitting me?"
The confrontation came to an end when Annas indicated they should leave Him bound, and take Him to Caiaphas's house where the scribes and the elders
were gathering together in a "kangaroo court," having already sent runners far and wide to roust out of bed as many as they could recall who might have agreed in advance to bear false
witness against Jesus.
Again, the noisy group clattered its way along the streets until it came to Caiaphas's house, where Jesus was held bound, while the final preparations
were being conducted with the false witnesses.
One after another they whispered their stories in the high priest's ears, only to have them rejected because the high priest realized some of these
wildly absurd tales would never stand up with the people.
Finally, however, two of the false witnesses agreed that Jesus had allegedly said, "I will destroy this temple, made with the hands of man, and then
in three days, I will build another temple made without hands!"
Another said Jesus had actually claimed that He "would be able to destroy the temple of God and build it again in three days."
Jesus had been ushered into the presence of the high priest as these two false witnesses were making this statement, and it was then that the high
priest stood up and said, "Do you have nothing whatsoever to say about this? What is this that these witnesses are telling against you?"
Jesus looked straight at the high priest, and didn't open His mouth.
The high priest, growing angrier by the moments said, "I adjure you by the living God [the words reassured him, and gave him a greater consciousness
of his alleged godly authority] that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God?" Jesus said, "As you say, I am! And I am telling you you will see after this the Son of man
sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven!"
That did it!"
The high priest was beside himself with rage! furthermore, Jesus had finally spoken out so publicly and in such a supercharged environment with all of
the essential leaders there, that the high priest could seize this opportunity to dispense with any need for further testimony from the false witnesses. Ripping at his garments so that he
tore them (the habit of rending one’s garments in the time of great emotional stress must have given deep emotional comfort to these posturers) in an anguished scream, the high priest
exclaimed, "He blasphemes! What further need have we of witnesses? Listen all of you! You have heard that blasphemy yourselves! So what do you think we ought to do about it?"
The crowd began answering, "That demands the death penalty! He ought to be killed! He is worthy of death!"
Some of them walked near and began to spit in Jesus’ face, while others slapped Him ringing blows across His cheeks, hitting Him about the head
and ears, as the scene disintegrated into mob violence.
Here and there, one would reach over the outstretched arms and fists of others pummeling Him and shriek, "Prophesy! Who is this who just hit
you?"
Of course, Jesus had been quickly blindfolded upon entering into the house, so He could not recognize any of the witnesses who appeared against Him.
This was done as a precaution in case this thing should get out of hand and develop in an unwanted direction, or if Jesus should prove to have so many sympathizers that for some reason the
high priest and religious leaders could not execute their plan of getting rid of the man once and for all.
While He was both tied and blindfolded, these "courageous religious leaders continued to beat Him on the face, shredding His lips against His teeth,
opening up cuts with their bare knuckles, spitting on Him and saying, "Go ahead, prophet! Who is this hitting you? Tell me!"
Many were shrieking, "Bastard! False prophet! False teacher, friend of whores and harlots!" and other epithets of every sort.
Outside the high priest's home was the large outer court. After the clattering group with their flickering torches and lanterns had left the garden of
Gethsemane, Peter picked himself up behind a large boulder where he had hidden, and stumbling along in the dark managed to parallel their course until they entered the city gate. He waited
until they were sufficiently far ahead, and then followed along behind. Peter and John were both surprised to find each other in the streets as they were about to turn in to the court of
the high priest. John had already entered the court, and was standing by a fire that had been hastily kindled so some of, the officers and soldiers could warm themselves.
John, wondering what was happening in the large lighted rooms, and waiting to see what would develop, noticed a furtive figure just outside the door,
and in quick whispered consultation with one of the maids who guarded the door, asked if the man could be brought in.
She ran to do as John asked, and said, "Are you one of this man’s disciples?" Peter said, "I most certainly am not!"
He then walked over to join John and the officers and some of the servants warming themselves by the brazier.
The girl wouldn't quit, it seemed. Standing across the fire, she gazed steadfastly at him and said, "I believe this man was with Jesus, that
Galilean!"
Peter denied it again, saying loudly before all of them as they were murmuring about the events of the last hour or two and, looking now and then
toward the lighted rooms where the screaming epithets were dimly heard, "Woman, I don't know what you're talking about! You don't know what you're saying! I most certainly was not one of
his disciples. I don't even know who he is!"
Peter had to get away from this stupid girl, and so, leaving the warmth of the fire, went out on the porch.
As he arrived there, when it was just darkest before the dawn, he heard a rooster crow. Another of the female servants said to a group of the others
standing there, "This fellow here was with Jesus the Nazarene!"
Peter cursed at this, and said, "I don't know the man!" He began to use epithets and oaths, cursing and swearing, and saying, "I don't know what
you're talking about! I have never seen him before!" But a relative of the servant of the high priest whom Peter's own sword had nearly killed, said, "Didn't I see you in the garden with
him?" Peter continued to vehemently deny Jesus for the third time, and while the denial was still on his lips, heard the second crowing of a rooster nearby.
Peter could see the raised fists, hear the distant "smack" of the blows descending on Jesus just inside the lighted hall. From time to time, he
thought he caught a glimpse of Jesus in the midst of His tormentors; then, shockingly, just as Peter finished his third loud cursing denial, a hush seemed to fall over the group inside. It
seemed they had knocked Jesus' blindfold loose, and, quickly stooping to retrieve it lest He could identify all of them later, several bent to pick it up off the floor. Just then, in the
hush, Jesus glanced Peter's way; and, just after the cock had crowed for the second time upon Peter’s third denial, their eyes met. Jesus seemed to give a wan smile through pulped
lips, just as His face was blotted from Peter's stricken gaze by those surrounding Him. (See Luke 22: 60-61.)
Peter was thunderstruck.
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