Wednesday 19 March 2008

Background

Unlike the other Gospel writers, John does not make the LastSupper a Passover meal (John 13:1). Thetiming John follows brings a significant dramatic element into thestory - it means that Jesus died on the Cross at the moment thePassover lambs would have been slaughtered in the JewishTemple.

The Passover festival (which is still celebrated today)commemorates the freeing of the Israelites from Egypt, where theyhad been held as slaves. A key element in the festival at the timeof Christ was the offering of sacrifices in the Temple. For John,Jesus became the new Passover lamb, whose sacrifice brought freedomfor the people. (The original Passover lambs were slaughtered sothat their blood could be smeared on the Israelites' doorposts as asign for God to 'pass over' their house and not slaughter theirfirstborn.)

At the meal, the disciples would have reclined, resting on theirleft elbow, leaving the right hand free to pick up the food. Therewould be no knives and forks, which is why dipping the bread in thebowl was a normal way of eating (as it still is in manycultures).

The disciple "whom Jesus loved" (a phrase which is only ever usedin John's Gospel) could well have been John, the son of Zebedee,but it is not certain.

The whole telling of the Passion story (from Jesus' arrest to hiscrucifixion) is very dramatic in John's Gospel and this part is noexception. The spiritual darkness of the moment when Judas,inspired by Satan, excludes himself from the fellowship of the mealis emphasised by the simple but striking final sentence - "And itwas night".

Judas goes out into the darkness. The powers of darkness are incontrol.

To Ponder

Why do you think one of Jesus' chosen discipleswould have betrayed him? What human motives can you attribute tohim?

Can you think of any contemporary events when thepowers of darkness seem to be in control? What does the story ofChrist's Passion have to say about such events?