PASSION WEEK: THE LAST SUPPER & GETHSEMANE

     Said Jesus to His disciples as He approached His Appointed Time: “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” Jn.12:27.

     The Bible foretold of all that Jesus would have to endure at the end of His life in sinful flesh. Even before our LORD & Saviour came down from heaven to live and die for His children, to bear our burdens, our sorrows, and our condemnation caused by sin—all was foreknown to Him: what it would cost the Father and Himself that we might be restored to the glorious purpose for which we were created.

     Long before there were any stars, angels or men, GOD the Son was ordained as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev.13:8. Long before taking His first step in His Glorious Creation the Omniscient Father knew that angels and men would take horrific liberties with His gracious gift of freewill and introduce tyranny to slander His love and pollute His perfect Creation. He knew how and who among men would abuse that gift and even use that precious liberty to murder “his only begotten Son.” Through the shared foreknowledge of this, GOD the Son willingly volunteered to be the Sacrifice for our salvation: to harvest from the Earth a crop of souls saved for the eternal kingdom that is to come. And the Father, with a heavy heart, agreed. The separation between the Father and the Son at His Incarnation all eternity will never fully disclose the depth of their sacrifice for the sinner.

     Was there no other way to create life? Could not GOD have made angels and men robotic slaves to His will? To worship Him and bow before Him in mere ceremony and mechanical rote (as is so typical in the world today)? Why create Lucifer knowing he was to introduce “war in heaven?” And why create Adam and Eve knowing they were to fall in league with Satan’s war against GOD and His Holy Law and thus cause 6000 years of sorrow and anguish for man and beast? And above all, why sacrifice the One dearest to your heart to offer salvation to those whose cruel indifference to the sacred dignity of life would despise and even fight against the invitation to the Gospel of salvation? Freewill! The single greatest gift GOD could give to intelligent life is the gift of liberty of conscience. It is only through the heavenly gift of freewill that man’s supreme happiness can be achieved and last for an eternity of time. “That your joy might be full” lays at the very heart of GOD’S intentions for His children (Jn.15:11). Jesus understood how the wills of men would be ruled by demons. But He also understood that there would be some who truly desired GOD'S deliverance from demons, evil men, and sin with all its tentacles. And it was for these the LORD would persevere to victory and redeem them.

     In the Passover feast we see how Jesus is the fulfillment of its every significance. And because of Christ’s fulfilling every aspect of this feast He established a new command for its observance. “And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” Then “He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” Lu.22:14-20; Jn.13:4-15.

     So as the life of Jesus in sinful flesh was drawing to a close and He approached His Gethsemane, abduction, torture, and crucifixion, He understood everything He was to face. The prophecies of the Bible were explicit in every detail of His sufferings, His shameful treatment by men who He came to save from their sins. Even as His disciples stood aghast of what was taking place at His arrest, Jesus boldly declared, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Matt.26:53-56.

     This example of Christ’s implicit obedience to the Sacred Word shows the importance of our standing on the Word of GOD regardless of our biased views in life and what the Enemy of souls imposes in our lives, whether through cutting words from family, friends, the utter abuse of ethical boundaries from government leaders, and even the false doctrines imposed by religious traditions fostering sin. Any cowardice toward the admonitions of GOD’S Word is a denial of Christ (Rev.21:8). To truly honor the Bible gives honor to its Author, as the Apostle Paul admonished how “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works,” for it is “the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” II Tim.3:16,15. They are the key to the knowledge of GOD and the government of heaven’s subservient love as Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Jn.17:17.

     It was during this last day of Christ’s freedom to live and to preach the Gospel that His emotions, His instinct to survive—all was coming into play. And coupled with the fierce temptations of Satan, Christ faced His last and greatest struggle. He knew of the ambush awaiting Him and He could’ve fled. He could’ve gone to the Gentiles who would’ve received Him gladly and finished out His life in what would appear to them as the supreme display of GOD’S power and heroism. But to do so would’ve caused the loss of multitudes of souls for His coming kingdom. For GOD to not use every means under the banner of the Ten Commandments for the greatest number of redeemed men, women and children would make Him complicit to sin against His Own Sacred Law. The Ten Commandments commanded Christ to come and to save us. This is how precious those sacred laws are. And so, for any man to step outside of the boundaries of their jurisdiction is to veer away from the salvation contained within their authority. This is why Jesus said, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." Jn.15;10.

     The Jews were the best educated among the world’s peoples to carry the Gospel message to every nation, kindred, tongue. This is why Jesus said, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” Matt.10:5-8. Christians are called to understand that this was a temporary command of Christ due to the probation of time given to the Jews as GOD’S stewards over the oracles of GOD. But in 34 A.D. at the stoning of Stephen the Jews closed the door forever as GOD’S special representatives to the world (Dan.9:24; Matt.21:43; 23:38; Acts 13:46). So, today’s nation of Israel has no preeminence above any other nation. And any Christian or Jew who teaches otherwise denies the very words of Jesus and His Apostles in their declaring that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal.3:28.

     Knowing of the trials that would come to “His Only Begotten Son” “Our Father which art in heaven” provided personal encouragement to bless Jesus to succeed in the plan of salvation, to save Their children from sin’s destination of extinction. Twice Jesus heard His Father say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matt.3:17; 17:5. Twice Jesus received comfort from angels: 1st, to bring Him food and water after His forty days in the wilderness; and 2nd, when the angel Gabriel came to comfort and encourage Him after He sweat great drops of blood in His bearing the weight of sin. Then there was the contribution from the Scriptures that Jesus studied from His youth and discovered His mission as “the Lamb of God” and to “testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” I Jn.4:14.

     Entire passages were given specifically to encourage the faith and victory of Jesus Christ over the powers of sin and the grave. In Psalm 22, David prophesied the very experience Jesus would suffer on the Cross of Calvary, and His ultimate victory over sin and the grave. Then there were the feasts of the law of Moses all signifying the success of Christ’s victory over sin and the grave and how He would serve as man’s “high priest” in the sanctuary of heaven interceding His merits of righteousness and sacrifice in the sinner’s behalf (Heb.7:25). Then there are the many other passages from the Psalms and the prophets whose words were specifically directed to the LORD Jesus Christ to fortify His faith, to fortify His faith to overcome. But equal with all these if not superseding them was the evidences of His Father’s love toward those He came to save, through the healing of all that were sick, demon possessed, twice feeding the thousands with but few loaves of bread and fish, comforting the downtrodden, and raising the dead back to life!

     Jesus didn’t obey to make sure He made it to heaven. He obeyed to make sure we make it to heaven! And when we take GOD’S Spirit of self-emptying love and share that with our fellow man, none can say in their heart of hearts that the kingdom of heaven did not draw near to them that day. Those who are receptive to heaven’s love will follow it, even unto the end.