Jesus · c. AD 30
Chapter 52
The Last Supper
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
For parents
This chapter tells of the chief priests, the scribes and the elders plotting to take Jesus by a trick and kill him (Matthew 26:3–5; Mark 14:1–2; Luke 22:2). Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, agrees to hand Jesus over to them for money, and Luke says that Satan entered into Judas (Matthew 26:14–16; Mark 14:10–11; Luke 22:3–6). At the supper Jesus says that one of them will betray him and that it would be better for that man if he had not been born (Matthew 26:21–25; Mark 14:18–21; Luke 22:21–22; John 13:21–30), and he speaks of being crucified and of his burial (Matthew 26:2, 12; Mark 14:8). It is all told plainly.
When had finished speaking all these words, he told his , “You know that in two days the is coming, and the is going to be handed over to be crucified.”
Mark says it was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of . Luke says the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also called the Passover, was coming near.
Then the , the and the of the people met together in the courtyard of the , a man called . Together they made plans to take Jesus by a trick and kill him. Luke says the chief priests and the scribes wanted to find a way to put him to death, since they were afraid of the people.
“But not during the feast,” they said, “or the people may start a riot.”
Jesus was in , in the house of . As he sat at the table, a woman came up to him. She had an jar of ointment that cost a great deal, and she poured it on his head. Mark says it was ointment of pure , very costly, and that she broke the jar before she poured it.
When his disciples saw it, they were angry. “Why this waste?” they said. “This ointment could have been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor.”
In Mark, it was some of those there who were angry. “Why has this ointment been wasted?” they said among themselves. “It was worth more than three hundred . It could have been sold, and the money given to the poor.” So they grumbled at her. Three hundred denarii was about a year’s pay for a farm worker.
But Jesus knew about it. “Leave her alone,” he said. “Why are you troubling her? She has done something good for me. The poor are always with you, and whenever you want to, you can help them; but you won’t always have me. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body ahead of time for its burial. I tell you for certain, wherever this Good News is preached in all the world, what this woman has done will also be told, and she will be remembered for it.”
Then one of the twelve, who was called , went to the chief priests to hand Jesus over to them. Luke says that entered into Judas, and that Judas went and talked with the chief priests and the officers about how he could hand Jesus over to them.
In Matthew, Judas asked them, “What are you willing to give me if I betray him to you?” So they weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver.
Mark and Luke say that the chief priests were glad when they heard it, and they promised to give him money. In Luke, Judas agreed to it.
After that, Judas kept looking for his chance to betray Jesus. Luke says he was waiting for a time to hand him over when there was no crowd.
It was the first day of Unleavened Bread, the day for sacrificing the Passover lamb. In Matthew and Mark, the disciples asked Jesus, “Where should we go and get the Passover ready for you to eat?”
In Luke, it was Jesus who spoke first. He sent and , and told them, “Go and get the Passover ready for us, so that we can eat.”
They asked, “Where do you want us to make it ready?”
Mark says that Jesus sent two of his disciples. In Mark and in Luke, he told them, “When you go into the city, you will meet a man carrying a jar of water. Follow him into the house he goes into, and tell the man who owns the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ He will himself show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Get things ready for us there.”
In Matthew, Jesus said, “Go into the city to a certain person, and tell him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is close. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.”’”
The disciples did what Jesus had told them to do. They went into the city, found things just as he had said, and got the Passover ready.
In the evening Jesus came with the twelve, and was at the table with them. Luke says that when it was time, he sat down with the twelve .
He said to them, “I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. I tell you, I won’t eat it again until it is fulfilled in God’s Kingdom.”
John says that it was before the feast of the Passover. Jesus knew that his time had come, and that he would go from this world to the Father. He had loved those who were his own in the world, and he loved them to the end.
It was during supper. The had already put the idea of betraying Jesus into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son. And Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he came from God and was going to God.
He got up from the supper and took off his outer clothes. He took a towel and tied it around his waist, poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, wiping them dry with the towel he had tied around himself.
He came to Peter, and Peter said, “Lord, are you washing my feet?”
“You don’t know what I am doing now,” Jesus answered, “but you will understand later.”
“You will never wash my feet!” said Peter.
“If I don’t wash you,” Jesus answered, “you have no part with me.”
“Lord,” said Peter, “don’t wash only my feet. Wash my hands and my head too!”
“Someone who has had a bath needs only to have his feet washed,” Jesus said. “He is clean all over. You are clean, but not all of you.” He knew the one who would betray him. That is why he said, “You are not all clean.”
Once their feet were washed, Jesus put his outer clothes back on and sat down again. “Do you know what I have done to you?” he said to them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You are right to say so, because that is what I am. So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example, so that you also will do as I have done to you.
“I tell you for certain, a servant isn’t greater than his master, and someone who is sent isn’t greater than the one who sends him. If you know these things and do them, you are blessed.
“I don’t mean all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But this is so the Scripture will be fulfilled: ‘The one who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.’ I’m telling you this now, ahead of time, so that when it happens you may believe that I am he. I tell you for certain, anyone who welcomes someone I send welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”
As they were eating, Jesus said, “I tell you for certain, one of you will betray me—someone who eats with me.” John says that Jesus was troubled in spirit when he said it.
The disciples were filled with sorrow, and each of them began to ask him, “It isn’t me, is it, Lord?” In Mark they asked him one by one, “Surely not me?” John says they looked at one another, puzzled over which one he meant.
“It is one of the twelve,” he answered, “the one who dips his hand into the dish with me. The Son of Man is going, as it is written about him, but to the man who betrays him! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
In Matthew, Judas, the one who was betraying him, asked, “It isn’t me, is it, ?”
“You said it,” Jesus told him.
In John, the disciple whom Jesus loved was at the table, leaning against Jesus’ chest. Peter signaled to him and said, “Tell us who he is talking about.”
So that disciple leaned back against Jesus’ chest and asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
“It is the one I will give this piece of bread to, when I have dipped it,” Jesus answered. Then he dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son.
After Judas was given the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
Nobody at the table knew why Jesus said this to Judas. Judas kept the money box, so some of them thought Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we need for the feast,” or telling him to give something to the poor.
Judas took the piece of bread and went straight out. It was night.
Matthew tells it this way. As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, “All of you drink it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins. But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
Mark tells it this way. As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had blessed it, he broke it and gave to them, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body.” He took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them. They all drank of it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many. Most certainly I tell you, I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in God’s Kingdom.”
Luke tells it this way. Jesus received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves, for I tell you, I will not drink at all again from the fruit of the vine, until God’s Kingdom comes.” He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.” Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
“But look,” Jesus went on, “the hand of the man who betrays me is with me on the table. The Son of Man is going the way that has been decided, but woe to the man who betrays him!” And they started asking each other which of them was going to do this. Luke tells this warning after the cup, where Matthew and Mark tell it before the bread.
Luke says that an argument also broke out among them over which of them was thought to be the greatest.
“The kings of the nations lord it over them,” Jesus said to them, “and those who have authority over them are called ‘.’ But it is not to be so with you. Instead, the one who is greater among you should become like the younger, and the one who leads should be like one who serves. Who is greater, one who sits at the table, or one who serves? Isn’t it the one who sits at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
“But you are the ones who have stayed with me through my trials. I give you a kingdom, as my Father gave one to me, so that you can eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. You will sit on thrones, judging the .”
In John, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once.
“Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will search for me, and just as I told the Jews, I now tell you: ‘Where I am going, you can’t come.’
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another.”
In John, Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?”
“Where I am going, you can’t follow now,” Jesus answered, “but you will follow afterward.”
“Lord, why can’t I follow you now?” said Peter. “I will lay down my life for you.”
“Will you lay down your life for me?” Jesus answered. “I tell you for certain, the rooster won’t crow until you have denied me three times.”
Luke tells it this way. The Lord said, “Simon, Simon, look: Satan has asked to have all of you, to shake you like wheat in a sieve. But I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn’t fail. And when you have turned back again, give strength to your brothers.”
“Lord,” said Peter, “I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death!”
“I tell you, Peter,” Jesus answered, “today the rooster won’t crow until you deny three times that you know me.”
Then he asked, “When I sent you out with no purse, no bag and no sandals, were you short of anything?”
“Nothing,” they answered.
“But now,” he said, “whoever has a purse should take it along, and a bag too. Whoever has none should sell his cloak and buy a sword. I tell you, these written words must still be fulfilled in me: ‘He was counted with the lawbreakers.’ Yes, the things about me are being fulfilled.”
“Lord, look, here are two swords,” they said.
“That is enough,” he said to them.
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the .
Matthew and Mark tell of Peter’s promise and Jesus’ warning here, after they had gone out. Jesus said to them, “All of you will stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go to ahead of you.”
Peter answered him, “Even if all of them stumble because of you, I never will.”
Jesus said to him, “I tell you for certain, tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” In Mark he said, “Today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
But Peter said it even more strongly: “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” All the disciples said so too.