THE GOSPELS 253
Judas Iscariot (fifth from left) leans
back in shadow, his face turned away,
in Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
This 19th-century copy of the painting
is by Michael Kock.According to John, this too has
been foretold: “This is to fulfill this
passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared
my bread has turned against me’”
(John 13:18).
As the evening goes on, one
disciple fulfills this prophecy.
Judas Iscariot makes his excuses
and leaves, because he has made
arrangements to betray Jesus later
that night. The remaining disciples
continue with their evening of food,
drink, prayer, and storytelling, until,
after a final hymn, they make their
way to the Garden of Gethsemane
on the Mount of Olives.Everlasting sacrament
Importantly, Jesus does not
envisage His last supper as being
a one-off occasion for His disciples.
Just like the Passover meal, it will
serve as a reminder to Jesus’s
followers of the significance of
His life and death. As the first
Christians gather in the days
following Jesus’s resurrection
and ascension to heaven, they
share this meal together, joyfully
remembering that Jesus’s death
has brought them life. UnlikePassover, which is celebrated
once a year, the Last Supper will
be shared more frequently, even
weekly in some church traditions.
Today, the Last Supper remains
a vital part of the life of the Church
and is one of its “sacraments”—
special activities that convey God’s
profound truth through physical
actions. There are many ways of
celebrating the Last Supper; some
are highly formal, while others areintimate and informal. In some
traditions, the ritual is called
“communion,” because it is a
sharing with Jesus; in Catholicism,
it is called “mass,” from the Latin
words Ite, missa est, the dismissal,
the concluding rite of the Eucharist
during the medieval period.
What all forms of the Eucharist
share is their connection to the
meal that Jesus shared with His
disciples that final night before
His betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion.
The Last Supper reveals the deeper
significance of Jesus’s crucifixion
and shows that He was well aware
of His impending confrontation
with the forces of evil and death.
As Jesus says in John 10:18, He
gives His life freely: “No one takes
it from me, but I lay it down of my
own accord. I have authority to lay
it down and authority to take it up
again. This command I received
from my Father.” ■I am the living bread
that came down from
heaven. Whoever eats
this bread will live forever.
This bread is my flesh,
which I will give for
the life of the world.
John 6:51US_248-253_The_Last_Supper.indd 253 27/09/17 10:17 am