At the Passover Feast, Jesus and
his disciples share the “Last Supper” and He washes their feet. Jesus blesses
his bread and wine as his flesh and blood and shares it with his disciples, the
institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. As Paul tells us in his First
Letter to the Corinthians, “…the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was
betrayed took bread: and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take,
eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This
cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in
remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do
shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
At this same dinner, the
disciples manage to quarrel over who should be the boss of who. Jesus tells them he came in the role of
a servant, as He is their master, their role is likewise that of servants. In a move designed to reveal both His
knowledge aforehand and our frailty, He tells Peter that Peter will deny Him
thrice fore the cock croweth, or dawn breaks. Peter, a loyal follower, denies what will be shown as clear
fact. Remember the further you let
yourself get from the Lord, the weaker you are. Weakness grows with the cube of the distance. Stay close.
As the dinner goes on, Jesus
tells them one of them will betray Him.
Not able to grasp that any of them would literally betray Him, each
asks, “Is it I?” Judas knows.
Jesus tells the disciples things
are heating up, counsels them to arm themselves and goes out to pray in the
garden of Gethsemane. Disciples
come with Him, despite their best efforts, they fall asleep. Night has long fallen, the end of the
day is near by our reckoning. The
end is near for Jesus here on earth.
Even nearer for Judas.
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