The Urantia Book
PAPER 179
THE LAST SUPPER
179:0.1 DURING the afternoon of this Thursday,
when Philip reminded the Master about the approaching Passover and
inquired concerning his plans for its celebration, he had in mind
the Passover supper which was due to be eaten on the evening of
the next day, Friday. It was the custom to begin the preparations
for the celebration of the Passover not later than noon of the
preceding day. And since the Jews reckoned the day as beginning at
sunset, this meant that Saturday's Passover supper would be eaten
on Friday night, sometime before the midnight hour.
179:0.2 The apostles were, therefore, entirely
at a loss to understand the Master's announcement that they would
celebrate the Passover one day early. They thought, at least some
of them did, that he knew he would be placed under arrest before
the time of the Passover supper on Friday night and was therefore
calling them together for a special supper on this Thursday
evening. Others thought that this was merely a special occasion
which was to precede the regular Passover celebration.
179:0.3 The apostles knew that Jesus had
celebrated other Passovers without the lamb; they knew that he did
not personally participate in any sacrificial service of the
Jewish system. He had many times partaken of the paschal lamb as a
guest, but always, when he was the host, no lamb was served. It
would not have been a great surprise to the apostles to have seen
the lamb omitted even on Passover night, and since this supper was
given one day earlier, they thought nothing of its absence.
179:0.4 After receiving the greetings of welcome
extended by the father and mother of John Mark, the apostles went
immediately to the upper chamber while Jesus lingered behind to
talk with the Mark family.
179:0.5 It had been understood beforehand that
the Master was to celebrate this occasion alone with his twelve
apostles; therefore no servants were provided to wait upon them.
1. THE DESIRE FOR PREFERENCE
179:1.1 When the apostles had been shown
upstairs by John Mark, they beheld a large and commodious chamber,
which was completely furnished for the supper, and observed that
the bread, wine, water, and herbs were all in readiness on one end
of the table. Except for the end on which rested the bread and
wine, this long table was surrounded by thirteen reclining
couches, just such as would be provided for the celebration of the
Passover in a well-to-do Jewish household.
179:1.2 As the twelve entered this upper
chamber, they noticed, just inside the door, the pitchers of
water, the basins, and towels for laving their dusty feet; and
since no servant had been provided to render this service, the
apostles began to look at one another as soon as John Mark had
left them, and each began to think within himself, Who shall wash
our feet? And each likewise thought that it would not be he who
would thus seem to act as the servant of the others.
179:1.3 As they stood there, debating in their
hearts, they surveyed the seating arrangement of the table, taking
note of the higher divan of the host with one couch on the right
and eleven arranged around the table on up to opposite this second
seat of honor on the host's right.
179:1.4 They expected the Master to arrive any
moment, but they were in a quandary as to whether they should seat
themselves or await his coming and depend on him to assign them
their places. While they hesitated, Judas stepped over to the seat
of honor, at the left of the host, and signified that he intended
there to recline as the preferred guest. This act of Judas
immediately stirred up a heated dispute among the other apostles.
Judas had no sooner seized the seat of honor than John Zebedee
laid claim to the next preferred seat, the one on the right of the
host. Simon Peter was so enraged at this assumption of choice
positions by Judas and John that, as the other angry apostles
looked on, he marched clear around the table and took his place on
the lowest couch, the end of the seating order and just opposite
to that chosen by John Zebedee. Since others had seized the high
seats, Peter thought to choose the lowest, and he did this, not
merely in protest against the unseemly pride of his brethren, but
with the hope that Jesus, when he should come and see him in the
place of least honor, would call him up to a higher one, thus
displacing one who had presumed to honor himself.
179:1.5 With the highest and the lowest
positions thus occupied, the rest of the apostles chose places,
some near Judas and some near Peter, until all were located. They
were seated about the U-shaped table on these reclining divans in
the following order: on the right of the Master, John; on the
left, Judas, Simon Zelotes, Matthew, James Zebedee, Andrew, the
Alpheus twins, Philip, Nathaniel, Thomas, and Simon Peter.
179:1.6 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.
179:1.7 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.
179:1.8 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.
2. BEGINNING THE SUPPER
179:2.1 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."
179:2.2 After the wine and the water had been
mixed, they brought the cup to Jesus, who, when he had received it
from the hand of Thaddeus, 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."
179:2.3 Jesus began thus to talk to his apostles
because he knew that his hour had come. He understood that the
time had come when he was to return to the Father, and that his
work on earth was almost finished. The Master knew he had revealed
the Father's love on earth and had shown forth his mercy to
mankind, and that he had completed that for which he came into the
world, even to the receiving of all power and authority in heaven
and on earth. Likewise, he knew Judas Iscariot had fully made up
his mind to deliver him that night into the hands of his enemies.
He fully realized that this traitorous betrayal was the work of
Judas, but that it also pleased Lucifer, Satan, and Caligastia the
prince of darkness. But he feared none of those who sought his
spiritual overthrow any more than he feared those who sought to
accomplish his physical death. The Master had but one anxiety, and
that was for the safety and salvation of his chosen followers. And
so, with the full knowledge that the Father had put all things
under his authority, the Master now prepared to enact the parable
of brotherly love.
3. WASHING THE APOSTLES' FEET
179:3.1 After drinking the first cup of the
Passover, it was the Jewish custom for the host to arise from the
table and wash his hands. Later on in the meal and after the
second cup, all of the guests likewise rose up and washed their
hands. Since the apostles knew that their Master never observed
these rites of ceremonial hand washing, they were very curious to
know what he intended to do when, after they had partaken of this
first cup, he arose from the table and silently made his way over
to near the door, where the water pitchers, basins, and towels had
been placed. And their curiosity grew into astonishment as they
saw the Master remove his outer garment, gird himself with a
towel, and begin to pour water into one of the foot basins.
Imagine the amazement of these twelve men, who had so recently
refused to wash one another's feet, and who had engaged in such
unseemly disputes about positions of honor at the table, when they
saw him make his way around the unoccupied end of the table to the
lowest seat of the feast, where Simon Peter reclined, and,
kneeling down in the attitude of a servant, make ready to wash
Simon's feet. As the Master knelt, all twelve arose as one man to
their feet; even the traitorous Judas so far forgot his infamy for
a moment as to arise with his fellow apostles in this expression
of surprise, respect, and utter amazement.
179:3.2 There stood Simon Peter, looking down
into the upturned face of his Master. Jesus said nothing; it was
not necessary that he should speak. His attitude plainly revealed
that he was minded to wash Simon Peter's feet. Notwithstanding his
frailties of the flesh, Peter loved the Master. This Galilean
fisherman was the first human being wholeheartedly to believe in
the divinity of Jesus and to make full and public confession of
that belief. And Peter had never since really doubted the divine
nature of the Master. Since Peter so revered and honored Jesus in
his heart, it was not strange that his soul resented the thought
of Jesus' kneeling there before him in the attitude of a menial
servant and proposing to wash his feet as would a slave. When
Peter presently collected his wits sufficiently to address the
Master, he spoke the heart feelings of all his fellow apostles.
179:3.3 After a few moments of this 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!" And each of the apostles nodded their approval of Peter's
firm declaration of refusal to allow Jesus thus to humble himself
before them.
179:3.4 The dramatic appeal of this unusual
scene at first touched the heart of even Judas Iscariot; but when
his vainglorious intellect passed judgment upon the spectacle, he
concluded that this gesture of humility was just one more episode
which conclusively proved that Jesus would never qualify as
Israel's deliverer, and that he had made no mistake in the
decision to desert the Master's cause.
179:3.5 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." When Peter heard this declaration, coupled with the
fact that Jesus continued kneeling there at his feet, he made one
of those decisions of blind acquiescence in compliance with the
wish of one whom he respected and loved. As it began to dawn on
Simon Peter that there was attached to this proposed enactment of
service some signification that determined one's future connection
with the Master's work, he not only became reconciled to the
thought of allowing Jesus to wash his feet but, in his
characteristic and impetuous manner, said: "Then, Master, wash not
my feet only but also my hands and my head."
179:3.6 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."
179:3.7 In like manner the Master went around
the table, in silence, washing the feet of his twelve apostles,
not even passing by Judas. 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:
179:3.8 "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?
179:3.9 "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 nothing 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."
179:3.10 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 the next course of the Last
Supper.
4. LAST WORDS TO THE BETRAYER
179:4.1 For some minutes the apostles ate in
silence, but under the influence of the Master's cheerful demeanor
they were soon drawn into conversation, and ere long the meal was
proceeding as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred to
interfere with the good cheer and social accord of this
extraordinary occasion. After some time had elapsed, in 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."
179:4.2 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."
179:4.3 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."
But the others did not hear Jesus speak to Judas. 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, even though the Master had so plainly spoken. 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.
179:4.4 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."
179:4.5 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."
179:4.6 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, going out into the night to do what he had
set his mind to accomplish. When the other apostles saw Judas
hasten off after Jesus had spoken to him, they thought he had gone
to procure something additional for the supper or to do some other
errand for the Master since they supposed he still carried the
bag.
179:4.7 Jesus now knew that nothing could be
done to keep Judas from turning traitor. He started with twelve --
now he had eleven. He chose six of these apostles, and though
Judas was among those nominated by his first-chosen apostles,
still the Master accepted him and had, up to this very hour, done
everything possible to sanctify and save him, even as he had
wrought for the peace and salvation of the others.
179:4.8 This supper, with its tender episodes
and softening touches, was Jesus' last appeal to the deserting
Judas, but it was of no avail. Warning, even when administered in
the most tactful manner and conveyed in the most kindly spirit, as
a rule, only intensifies hatred and fires the evil determination
to carry out to the full one's own selfish projects, when love is
once really dead.
5. ESTABLISHING THE REMEMBRANCE SUPPER
179:5.1 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 eternal kingdom."
179:5.2 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. The old
Passover commemorated the emergence of their fathers from a state
of racial slavery into individual freedom; now the Master was
instituting a new remembrance supper as a symbol of the new
dispensation wherein the enslaved individual emerges from the
bondage of ceremonialism and selfishness into the spiritual joy of
the brotherhood and fellowship of the liberated faith sons of the
living God.
179:5.3 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." When
they had partaken of the bread of remembrance, the symbol of the
living word of truth incarnated in the likeness of mortal flesh,
they all sat down.
179:5.4 In instituting this remembrance supper,
the Master, as was always his habit, resorted to parables and
symbols. He employed symbols because he wanted to teach certain
great spiritual truths in such a manner as to make it difficult
for his successors to attach precise interpretations and definite
meanings to his words. In this way he sought to prevent successive
generations from crystallizing his teaching and binding down his
spiritual meanings by the dead chains of tradition and dogma. In
the establishment of the only ceremony or sacrament associated
with his whole life mission, Jesus took great pains to suggest his
meanings rather than to commit himself to precise definitions. He
did not wish to destroy the individual's concept of divine
communion by establishing a precise form; neither did he desire to
limit the believer's spiritual imagination by formally cramping
it. He rather sought to set man's reborn soul free upon the joyous
wings of a new and living spiritual liberty.
179:5.5 Notwithstanding the Master's effort thus
to establish this new sacrament of the remembrance, those who
followed after him in the intervening centuries saw to it that his
express desire was effectively thwarted in that his simple
spiritual symbolism of that last night in the flesh has been
reduced to precise interpretations and subjected to the almost
mathematical precision of a set formula. Of all Jesus' teachings
none have become more tradition-standardized.
179:5.6 This supper of remembrance, when it is
partaken of by those who are Son-believing and God-knowing, does
not need to have associated with its symbolism any of man's
puerile misinterpretations regarding the meaning of the divine
presence, for upon all such occasions the Master is really
present. The remembrance supper is the believer's symbolic
rendezvous with Michael. When you become thus spirit-conscious,
the Son is actually present, and his spirit fraternizes with the
indwelling fragment of his Father.
179:5.7 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."
179:5.8 And this mighty occasion took place in
the upper chamber of a friend. There was nothing of sacred form or
of ceremonial consecration about either the supper or the
building. The remembrance supper was established without
ecclesiastical sanction.
179:5.9 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, even the memory of my bestowal
life, the word of eternal truth; and of my love for you, the
outpouring of my Spirit of Truth upon all flesh."
179:5.10 And they ended this celebration of the
old but bloodless Passover in connection with the inauguration of
the new supper of the remembrance, by singing, all together, the
one hundred and eighteenth Psalm.
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