Thursday, June 8, 2023

The Last Supper (Luke 22; John 13)

The Passover and Last Supper

READ Luke 22:7-18

How much preparation did it take to ready a Passover feast?

A lot – in addition to getting all of the food prepared and the paschal lamb roasted, the whole house had to be cleaned and swept of any leaven.

So, the question arises, why didn’t the apostles prepare sooner?

As Peter was no doubt responsible and it was the day of the event, may he have been having a “Martha moment”?

Quite possibly.  This is an example of Christ being able to prepare every needful thing with regards to the physical world so that time could be spent on more important things could be discussed (i.e. signs of the times and parables of preparation).

Having said that, it doesn’t appear that Peter had skipped the teaching over the past few days to prepare the Passover; and because they were away from home in Jerusalem, it was always going to be a “visiting” dinner; but it’s surprising that Peter didn’t have something prepared. 

How many men in Jerusalem were carrying water on that day?

Very few – it was traditionally work performed by a woman.

Why was Christ so looking forward to eating this Passover with His disciples?

By this point, they are His friends (see John 15:12-17; D&C 84:63 and 77; D&C 93:45).

Christ is a social being – He desires to come to us and speak with us as one man does with another (see Ether 12:39; John 14:23).

And He is leaving them – this is their last night together on earth; He is saying goodbye.

The Passover Feast should point to Him and teach them about His mission as the Messiah.

 

The Passover service symbolized God’s rescuing of Israel from their slavery in Egypt.  The youngest person present, most probably John the Beloved, would ask “why is this night different from all other nights?”  Then came the formal meal. 

Why was this night different from all other nights?

It is the night of the Atoning Sacrifice.  This is the actual night that was being symbolized during the rescue of Israel from Egypt – the rescue of all mortals from sin and death.

All of eternity hangs in the balance for us on this one night.

Part of the ceremony included the following: “the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.  Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord.  Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”  For 1200 years the Jews had celebrated this night of deliverance but were never truly free.  On this night, the Apostles in the Upper Room were singing not a prayer for deliverance but a hymn of praise as the Lord God Yahweh had come down from Heaven to save them all and this night He would do it. 

 

 

The First Sacrament

READ Luke 22:19-20

What is the symbolism inherent in the sacrament?

Christ’s body (bread) must be broken to partake of it (consume it) so that it becomes one with you, part of your own elements, and gives you life as manna from heaven, to sustain you even in the desert where there is no earthly food (the spiritual death of mortality).

The grape’s juice (blood) is crushed from the fruit with heavy weight (it is “shed” from the grape) causing the destruction of the grape, but after a season of death or fermentation it goes through a mighty change into wine, and when it is consumed, it “gladdens the heart”.

Why does Christ want us to remember Him?

That we might have His spirit to be with us (see Moroni 5:2).

There is a positive correlation or connection between remembering Him and being animated by His spirit.

What does having the Spirit with us do?

It is the power by which we become sanctified from the desire to sin (see Mosiah 5:2; Moroni 8:26).

It enables us to become precisely like God.

It shares with us the mind of God.

It animates us with Him – enables us to be one.

What else do we promise in the sacrament prayer?

To be willing to: take His name upon us, to keep His commandments, and to always remember Him (see Moroni 4:3).

Who can be said to be your “father”?

Someone who gives you a physical or spiritual body and/or your name (adoption) can be said to be your father.

The sacrament is representative of our rebirth as children of Christ (see Mosiah 5:7-15).

 

 

Washing the Feet

READ Luke 22:24-27

Why do the Gentiles call those that exercise lordship/leadership over them “benefactors”?

Gentiles like to be commanded in all things (see D&C 58:26-29).

Gentiles like to trust in the arm of the flesh (see 2 Nephi 4:34; 2 Nephi 28:31-32).

Gentiles aspire to leadership – to sit in the “chief seats” and to be called “master” in the streets (see Matt 23:6-12).

They love to revere their leaders as pseudo-royalty; they suffer from “strongman syndrome” – but they won’t look to God to save them or build their own relationships with Him but would rather, like the Children of Israel, put a man between themselves and God.

It is interesting to think about why this is true – what karmic traits are being worked out by one spirit entity being born as a Gentile and another being born as an Israelite – especially when God is no respecter of persons and there is a lot of history of Israelites struggling spiritually, as one might expect a Gentile to struggle (perhaps in different ways, though – as a generalization, at least?).

What can we discern from the fact that Christ acknowledges that “he that eats is greater than he that serves” but that Christ came to serve?

That the notion that the greatest is the one who eats is false – it comes from the Gentiles and the natural man.

Christ’s level of service (the atonement) showed us who He was – truly the greatest.

 

READ John 13:3-10

Why did Christ clean their feet?

In ancient Israel, one’s feet were the dirtiest part of their bodies – sandals and dusty or muddy roads… He will clean the filthiest part of us.

The feet “walk the path” – receiving a mighty change of heart and being invited to walk in His paths is symbolic in this rite.

It is the first thing we see when we assume the natural position when admitted into His presence (we fall at His feet); and  His feet hold tokens of an eternal sacrifice of service.

What does it mean to “have part with” Christ and how does this ordinance enable that?

To be clean from the blood and sins of this world.

To be sealed up with (and by) Him unto Eternal Life (see Mosiah 5:15).

To be adopted into His family.

The Washing of the Feet is a vital ordinance to enable this relationship with Christ.

It is not for a man to administer this ordinance in proxy; Christ did not use Peter to do it in His place for the rest of the Twelve – He is the gatekeeper and employs no servant there; He will wash your feet – anything else is just a symbolic rite, not the real thing.

 

READ John 13:12-17

How can you identify the true king?

He does the work of the least servant – washing the feet upon entrance into a beautiful house was the work of the lowest servant, as it was dirty work.

How can you identify His true messengers?

They will do likewise – they will seem to you as the least.

They are the opposite of the issues we find discussed in D&C 121 (unrighteous dominion, compulsion, control, adulation, etc.).

They will not be sitting in the chief seats when you meet them here on this mortal earth; while they are beings of immense light, you will not see that at first.

 

 

Love One Another

READ John 13:31-35

How is the Father glorified in the Son, and the Son in the Father?

The Father is glorified by the sacrifice of the Son and His (the Son’s) attaining to the resurrection; this act brings to pass the immortality and eternal life of man AND makes the Son perfect as the Father is perfect = which is the Father’s work and glory (see Moses 1:39).

The Father is glorified as His Sons “take His place” and He ascends further (see TPJS 390-393).

The Son is glorified because the Father will never abandon Him; in doing this work He is walking the path the Father laid out and will become precisely like the Father, by so doing.

Where is He going that they cannot come?

He is going onward on His path and they will not take it with Him.

When they die they will go to the Spirit World while He will go straight to His Father and Mother in the Celestial Kingdom.

Those in the Spirit World cannot go directly to the Celestial Kingdom – it requires a portal… and the ability to pass sentinels, and it may require a perfected physical body (or a body of glory over and above that of a spirit entity – remember that we are “clothed” in bodies but we are not our body; and to enter the wedding feast, you must be clothed in the correct garment…).

Why is loving one another a new commandment?

It’s only new to them because they’ve been living the Law of Moses with its “eye for an eye” definition of love, which means: love one another to the degree that they love you but you are under no obligation to love them more than that.

The new commandment is to love one another as Christ loved us.

How has Christ loved us?

He condescended from Heaven to come and rescue us – putting Himself in jeopardy for us.

He suffered the Atonement for us – which involved suffering (all that a God can suffer – an infinite atonement) for what He did not do, forgiving us, and interceding on our behalf with the Father.

He gave His life for us.

He attained unto the resurrection and gave us its gift that we might also live again through Him.

How do we love one another as He has loved us?

We must become precisely like Him (see LoF 7:9).

We must seek for and receive the Gift of Charity – given to all those who are true followers of Christ (see Moroni 7:48).

That we might become the Sons/Daughters of God – sanctified, purified and like Him.

So, first we must seek Him and find Him – receiving the Birth of the Spirit, being spiritually begotten of Him (see Mosiah 5:7).

We must live in the spirit of the Gift of Charity every day, as Christ taught us at the Sermon on the Mount – loving, serving, relieving the suffering of others, not judging, forgiving, interceding, ministering, teaching, guiding by example, persuading in meekness, inviting, and blessing, as anonymously or quietly as possible, and particularly among those who hate or harm you unjustly (see Matthew 5-7 and D&C 121:34-46).

What is the great sign of a true follower of Christ?

They love others in exactly the same way that Christ does (see Matthew 5:43-44, 46; Matthew 19:19; Matthew 22:37, 39; Luke 6:27, 35; John 8:42; John 10:17; John 13:34-35; John 14;15, 21, 23; John 15:9-17; John 21:15-17).

What is the great lesson that we can only learn here on Earth?

To learn to love as Christ did.

That love is the great commandment.

That God IS love.

Because in this telestial sphere, we have the opportunity to be hated and hurt and to return pure love for that hate.  We learn to love people not because they deserve it (justice) but because we chose to love them (mercy).

 

READ John 13:36-38

What does it mean that we will not be following Christ now but will follow Him afterwards?

We will not ascend to the Father when we die, but will afterwards.

The steps Christ is about to take next on the path, we will not be taking now, but we will take those steps later on as we travel the same path.

To be saved we must become precisely like Christ (see LoF 7:9, 15-16); to become precisely like Christ, we must walk the same path He walked, as He is our example in all things – the prototype of the saved being; just as Christ walked the path of His Father and only did what He saw His Father do (see TPJS 390-393).

Will Peter lay down His life for Christ?

Yes, he will later die a martyr’s death.

Yes, in some future eternity, if he wants to truly follow Christ, he will die in like manner to how Christ died here – in sacrifice for those who are depending on him to save them.

But not before denying Him three times; this shows how little we know now but how the Lord is patient and merciful and will unfold to us, in time – when we are ready for it – the full extent of what is required to fulfill the wishes we so easily proclaim as wanting; but as the Father never abandoned the Son, Christ will never abandon us if we submit fully to His will.

 

Bentov: Consciousness

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