“Now when evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.” Matthew 26:20.

“When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, ‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.’” Luke 22:14-20.

A chronological rendering of the four gospel account of the Passover supper was given in, “The Last Supper, Part 1” posted on 3-21-21. It is by no means complete and a personal study by the reader is recommended.

A more complete rendering comes from the Ryrie study Bible, New King James Version’s “Harmony of the Gospels” in the back of that Bible.

The references given there are as follows: Matthew 26:20, Mark 14:17, Luke 22:14, Luke 22:24-30, John 13:1-20, Matthew 26:21-25, Mark 14:18-21, Luke 22:21-23, John 13:21-35, Luke 22:31-38, John 13:36-38, Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:15-20, John 14:17-26.

Two of the references given occurred after leaving the upper room so I did not include them in the above list, they are, Matthew 26:31-35 and Mark 14:27-31.

These study Bibles are packed with extra information. Especially if you are a new student be sure and make use of them.

There is also some difference of opinion as to when Judas Iscariot left the group; before or after the Lord incepted the Lord’s Supper; perhaps better known to you as communion, the bread and wine, or the breaking of bread, whatever you call it, it is an act of worship and remembrance.

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

The verses that follow this passage are a severe warning and should be heeded; they apply just as much today as they did then.

“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” 1 Corinthians 11:27-31.

Whether you decide that Judas left before or after the bread and wine, do not assume that such a holy intimate moment would bar his presence; it does not, every Sunday thousands of unsaved people participate in this ordinance.

Worse yet many of the so-called pastors, reverends, and priests administering these elements are just as unsaved as Judas himself. Judas is a good example of how an unsaved person can be in church without anyone realizing it.

This is also the reason Jesus said the following.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven [John 6:28-29]. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons [Acts 19:13-17] in Your name, and done many wonders [Acts 8:9-24 and 13:6-12] in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23.

It is possible that there will be more pious churchgoers and keepers of the Law in hell than the many hellions you would expect to see there.

Church will not get you to heaven, only by accepting Christ as your Savior will your sins be cleansed away and you be fitted to enter the presence of God the lover of your soul.

This is so simple that folks miss the point; no church joining, no memorizations, no money, no catechisms, no crawling up the church aisle on your knees. It is just between you and your Creator, Jesus Christ who shed His blood for you.

One last thought on Judas. Often people tend to have sympathy for this man, sometimes I do too (what an awful fate), but look at it from your own standpoint, would you put your best friend, or some kindly person you have the highest respect for in a life threatening situation for money?

Have you ever been back-stabbed by a friend, when you have shown only kindness to them? Some two thousand years tends to soften the view of a situation, but time, past or not, evil is evil.

You might consider a few of the following thoughts while reading the Passover account given earlier on 3-21-21. John 13:1 speaks of Jesus’ hour having come.

This hour is mentioned nine times in the gospel of John, once during His first miracle, John 2:4, in this case He meant that the hour to reveal Himself as Messiah had not come.

Twice the hour of His death is said not to have arrived, even though a mob is set to kill Him, John 7:30 and 8:20 see also 8:58-59, and finally, in John 12:23-27.

There is every indication in these references that Jesus knew that He would die a horrible death on a cross His entire life, and yet He was gentle and loving throughout.

Have you ever anticipated a dental appointment a surgery, or the results of some scary test?

How were you, nervous, irritable, sleepless, or angry? Could you be calm all your life knowing that you were going to die a horrible death; can you see His character in this?

Some religious types take the example of the foot washing in John 13:4-5 too literally. The Lord did not set this example so we could have yet another ritual to carry out.

Men are just not satisfied until they have some gilt-edged, chrome plated, baroque, monstrosity to genuflect before; this is the last thing God wants from us.

When you change something into a ritual you miss the whole point, which is one of an attitude of humility and not thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought.

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” Romans 12:3.

“For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Galatians 6:3.

John 13:23 calls the apostle John the disciple that Jesus loved, ungodly men like to point to this as proof of some sort of lewd relationship between the two men much the same way they like to link Jesus to a sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene, such things are called sin in the law.

These accusations if true would mean that Jesus had sinned. There is not enough room here to explain what a horrifyingly catastrophic disaster that would have been.

God Himself would have been divided against Himself and would have been deserving of the roaring fires of hell, and all who had lived before and all who lived at that time would be cast into that awful place.

Whether they had followed God or whether they had followed the devil, it makes no difference; all hope would have perished with Christ!

These same men will argue that the Scriptures do not call sex outside of marriage sin.

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.” 2 Peter 2:1-3.

Jesus gave us the commandment to love one another in, John 13:34-35.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35.

It is our failure to keep this commandment that has caused such dissention in the church from Pentecost to the twenty-first century. The world looks at us and sees no one, the reason is contained in verse 35, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Mahatma Gandhi

“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal.’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” Romans 13:8-11.

Passover observance begins on March 27, 2021 this year.

The Last Supper, Part 2 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 3-16-16, updated on 3-23-21.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.