"Take this, and eat it; this means my body which is given for you."
Then he took a cup of the wine, and blessed it, and gave this also to his disciples, saying:
"Drink from this, all of you; this means my blood, the blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many, to take away their sins. I tell you, from this time I will never again drink the juice of the grape, until that day when I drink it new with you, in the kingdom of my Father."
In the old times, an agreement or promise was called "a covenant," and when it was made a lamb or a goat was killed for an offering, and laid upon the altar to be burned. The blood of the offering was poured out on the altar; and this was called "the blood of the covenant." Jesus meant to tell his disciples that soon his blood would be poured forth as the sign of G.o.d"s promise to take away sin from those who believed in him.
You have seen at some services in the church a table covered with a white cloth. When the cloth has been taken away, you have seen plates of bread and cups of wine. The minister gives the bread to the people, and repeats the words of Jesus, "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you." And afterward as the wine is taken, he says, "Drink ye all of this; for this is my blood shed for you." This service is called "The Lord"s Supper," and it is held to keep in our minds the thought of the last meal that Jesus ate with his disciples.
"My dear children," said Jesus after the supper, "I am to be with you only a little longer; then you will look for me, and as I told the Jews I tell you now, where I am going you cannot come. I give you a new commandment, to love one another. As I have loved you, you are to love each other. By this every one will know that you are my disciples, by your loving each other."
"Lord," said Simon Peter, "where are you going?"
"I am going," answered Jesus, "where you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow me after a time."
"Why cannot I follow you now, Master?" asked Peter. "I am ready to lay down my life and die for you!"
"Will you lay down your life for me?" said Jesus. "I tell you truly, Peter, before the c.o.c.k crows twice tomorrow morning you will three times declare that you have never known me."
But Peter again said most earnestly, "If I must die with you, I will never deny you."
And all the disciples who were present said with Peter that they would never forsake their Lord, even unto death.
The Vine and the Branches
CHAPTER 87
JESUS SAW that his disciples were greatly disturbed at his words, as he spoke of going away to some place where they could not go with him, and leaving them alone among people who were his enemies; especially as he told Peter that he would soon disown his Master, and that all the rest of the disciples should leave him to suffer alone. Jesus tried to comfort them in their fears and their sorrows.
"Do not be troubled in your hearts," he said to them; "trust in G.o.d, and trust in me, and in my words. In my Father"s dwelling-place there are many homes. I am going to prepare a place for you; and when I have prepared it, I will come back and take you to be with me there, so that you may be where I am. And you know the way to the place where I am going."
"Master," said Thomas, "we do not know where you are going; and how then are we to know the way?"
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life," answered Jesus. "No one ever comes to the Father in any way except through me. If you knew me, you would know my Father also. You know him now, and have seen him; for you have seen me."
"Master," said Philip, "let us see the Father; that is all that we want."
"Have I been with you all this time, Philip," answered Jesus, "and yet you do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. What do you mean by saying, "Let us see the Father"? Do you not believe that the Father and I are one, that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak are my Father"s words; and the works that I do are my Father"s works. I tell you truly, that whoever believes in me shall do the very works that I do; and he shall do even greater works than these.
I am going to the Father, and whatever you ask the Father in my name that I will do, that the Father may be honored in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
"If you love me," Jesus went on, "you will do whatever I have told you to do; and I will ask the Father to give you another Helper to be with you always. That Helper is the Spirit of Truth. The people of this world cannot have the Spirit, because they do not see him nor know him. But you know him, because he is always with you, and is within you. I will not leave you alone in your sorrow; I am coming to you. A little while longer, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me, for I am living, and you will be living, too. He who has my commands and keeps them in his heart is the one who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father; and I will love him and I will make myself known to him."
Then said one of the disciples named Judas--not Judas Iscariot the traitor (he had gone out), but another Judas, the brother of James--"How is it, Lord, that you are to make yourself known to us and not to the world?"
"If any one loves me," answered Jesus, "he will obey my word; and my Father will love him; and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my words; and the word to which you are listening is not my own word, but the word of the Father who sent me. I have told you all this while I am still with you, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send to you to take my place, he will teach you all that you need to know and he will bring to your mind all that I have said to you. Peace be with you! My own peace I give you. I do not give my peace to you as the world gives its "peace." Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.
"You heard me say that I was going away and soon afterward coming back to you. If you loved me fully, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I am. I have told you all this--that I am going away--before it happens, so that when it does happen, as it will very soon, you may still believe in me, and believe that I am coming again."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "I am the vine, and you are the branches"]
Then Jesus gave to his disciples another parable, "The Vine and the Branches." He said:
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower, the Master of the vineyard. You, my disciples, and all who believe in me, are the branches of the vine. If the vine-grower finds on his vine any branches that bear no fruit, he cuts them off, for they are of no use. If he finds branches that bear fruit, he trims them and cleans them, so that they may bear better fruit. You are already clean through the word that I have spoken to you. Keep united to me, the vine, and I will keep united to you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself when separate from the vine, no more can you bear fruit unless you stay united to me.
"Remember, I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who keeps himself in union with me, and keeps me in union with himself bears rich fruit.
But apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not stay united to me, he is thrown away, just as a branch would be, and he withers up; then the worthless, withered branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and are burned.
"If you stay united to me, and my teaching stays in your hearts, you may ask whatever you wish, and it shall be yours. As you bear rich fruit and prove yourselves my disciples, my Father is honored. As my Father has loved me, so I have loved you; stay in my love. If you keep my commands in your hearts, you will stay in my love, just as I have kept my Father"s commands in my heart and dwell in his love."
The Last Words of Jesus to His Disciples
CHAPTER 88
JESUS WENT on giving his last talk with his disciples, in the room after the supper. Among other things, he said:
"This is my last command to you. Love one another as I have loved you.
No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not any more call you "servants"; for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you "friends," for all things that I have learned from my Father I have told you. It was not you who chose me, but I have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit that shall last, so that the Father may give you whatever you ask in my name.
"This is what I command you, to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, since I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember what I said to you, "A servant is not greater than his master." If they have tried to do me harm, they will try to do you harm too. If they hold to my word, they will hold to yours also. It is written in the Holy Book, "They hated me without any cause," and that word has come true in me; for they have indeed hated me when there was no cause for it. But when that Helper comes, he whom I will send to you--the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father--he will speak for me; yes, and you shall speak for me, for you have been with me from the very first.
"I have said these things to you now, so that in the times to come, knowing these things you will not be discouraged nor fail. They will put you out of their churches; yes, there is coming a time when if anyone kills you he will think that he is pleasing G.o.d. They will do these things because they have not really known my Father, nor known me. But I am telling you of these things now, that when the time comes, and you find the rulers and the people your enemies, you will remember I told you, and will be ready for these things.
[Ill.u.s.tration: In a little while your sorrow shall be turned into joy, and your joy shall never be taken away from you]
"I am telling you the truth; it is best for you that I go away; for if I do not leave you, that Helper, the Spirit of G.o.d, will not come to you; but if I go away, I will send him to you. When he the Spirit of Truth comes, he will lead you into all truth; and he will make known to you what is to come. In a little while you will not see me any longer; then after another little while you will see me again."
These words seemed to the disciples hard to understand. They said to each other:
"What does he mean by telling us, "In a little while you will not see me; then after another little while you will see me"; and "I am going to the Father"? What does he mean by "a little while"?"
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him; and he said to them, "Are you trying to find out what I meant in saying "a little while and ye shall not see me, and then a little while and ye shall see me"? I tell you truly, that in a very little while you will be weeping and sorrowing, while the world around you will be glad. Then in a little while again, your sorrow shall be turned into joy, for you shall see me again, and your joy shall never be taken away from you."
Jesus meant them to understand that in a few hours he would be taken from them and placed upon the cross to die; that he would be buried, and all these things should give them pain and sorrow. But in a few days he would rise again from the grave, and then they would be glad and happy, with a happiness that should never pa.s.s away, even though he should again, after that, leave them and go to the Father.
After saying these things, Jesus lifted up his hands to G.o.d and prayed.
In his prayer he gave thanks to G.o.d that he had been able to finish the work that had been given him to do. He prayed also for his disciples, that they might all be one in heart, and love each other, and that they might be kept faithful to the end. He prayed, too, not only for those his disciples, but for all who through their words should come to believe in him as the Saviour of the world; that they all might be of one heart, loving each other; one with Jesus, and one with his Father.
When Jesus had finished his prayer, they all sang a hymn together, and went out of the supper room into the silent streets of the city. They walked toward the Mount of Olives, as if expecting to return to Bethany, the place from which they had come in the afternoon.
With the disciples, as they went out of the house, was a young man whose name was John Mark. He may have been the son of the man at whose house Jesus and his disciples had eaten the supper. If that be so, then his mother"s name was Mary, just like the name of Jesus" mother, though she was not the same woman. Long afterward, this John Mark wrote one of the four gospels, telling of the life of Jesus, "The Gospel of Mark."