The Best of John Chapter Thirteen

 

We jump to chapter thirteen and find these words in verse one: “Now before the feast of the Passover.” This is a definite declaration that the supper meal, being finished in verse two, is in actuality not a part of the Passover celebration. In case you are tempted to think this refers to the end of the Passover week, this is what Wikipedia says about the celebration: In Israel, Passover is the seven-day holiday of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with the first and last days celebrated as legal holidays and as holy days involving holiday meals

There is a feast of the Passover on both the first and last day of the Passover. If verse one refers to the last day of Passover, it is a faulty statement in that it came “before.” Otherwise, the author might have said that it was before the last day of the celebration. If what the author is referring to comes before the feast of the Passover, it may well come before the first feast of the Passover rather than the final feast of the Passover. This definite possibility is foremost in my thinking when I study the last days of Jesus.

John does not at all go into the last meal. It is simply over. Last meal details are elaborated in the other three gospels. It is as if the author did not think this meal was worthy of mention. What he feels is important enough to jump to is the identification of the betrayer. What follows, through verse thirty, is either a flashback from the meal or else it is that the “sop” followed the supper meal. Could it have been an after-dinner treat? Was it just leftover food? Let us consider the actions as recorded.

In verse four, Jesus “riseth from supper.” Adding this to the statement in verse two, we can say, supper was over and Jesus got up. He undressed in front of his disciples. He was all but naked when he wrapped a towel around his waist. He carried a bowl of water from disciple to disciple. He knelt before each of them. At this point, I wish the reader to understand that Jesus washed the feet of all twelve disciples. That included the feet of Judas Iscariot. As he dressed, he spoke. As he spoke, he returned to his seat. One must consider that the last pair of feet that Jesus washed would either be those of John, who leaned against him, or those of Judas, who was within reach.

The seating arrangement was nothing more than pillows on the floor. There was a low table and the arrangement of both the pillows and the table were either a semicircle or U-shape with an inner-table space for serving. According to local customs in that day and age, the host or honored guest sat at the left end of the U. My thoughts for the seating are that Peter sat directly across from Jesus, John sat beside Jesus, and Judas sat either beside John or Peter. Let us consider the orchestration of a last meal.

It was on the fifth day before the beginning of the Passover that Jesus made his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem going from Bethany on the Mount of Olives which was on the eastern side of the city. He entered the Eastern Gate also known as the Gate of Mercy. It was on that day or a following day that Jesus spoke to the multitudes. There were approximately four days left until the first feast during Passover. There are two possible options for the last meal as found in the book of John. One was that he ate the meal in Jerusalem where his enemies sought him and the other is that he went back to Bethany and ate the meal with his disciples at his friend's house.

The basic components of the last meal are a room in which to eat it and an eating arrangement. The latter of those two demands certain details. There must be food, a table to put the food on, and pillows around the table. There must be water and towels. At this point, we want to consider the possibility of Jesus and his disciples eating the last meal in Jerusalem. They would have to rent a room in a city crowded with people who had come from as far away as Greece. The city was literally teaming with all the Jews who were required by law to attend. Then, you must think that some men brought their sons, their wives, and daughters, even servants. Local inns were standing room only. Where some might find a place with friends or relatives, they would be in overcrowded homes that might certainly turn away strangers.

Next, you would have to go out to the vendors and buy food, somehow get it cooked and served. Did the disciples rent a furnished room? Did they have to provide their own cushions? Did they have to hire someone to cook their food? Did they serve themselves or did they acquire servants during the Holy Festival season? Think about things like this. If they had managed to do all that, the enemies of Jesus would have known where he was and found him convenient for an easy arrest.

On the other hand, Jesus was already staying in Bethany with his friend Lazarus. A room was already available. The logistics of getting food cooked and served would have been a simpler matter. Martha would have fussed over them and made sure all was well. The Jews who wanted to know just where Jesus was on the Mount would have been more in need of a guide than in the city. A stroll to the Garden in Gethsemane would have been more conveniently achieved. And of course, it is quite possible that the Passover had yet to commence in its official capacity.

It is possible that Jesus was arrested in the days prior to the Passover and that, contrary to how the gospel narratives seem to speed everything along, there might have been actual days that Jesus had to wait in custody before being presented to Pilot. If the release of Barabbas was an event that had to wait for the official opening of Passover procedures, then two possibilities come to mind. Either Jesus was tried and crucified before the Passover or he had to wait in custody until the Friday before the second Sabbath of the festival.

In verse thirty, Jesus gives a sop to Judas. What is a sop? A sop is a piece of bread dipped in gravy, soup, or sauce. Being from the south, I envision biscuits and gravy. The sop that Judas received came well after the meal had been completed. Here, I think of a scrap of leftover bread and Jesus using it to clean up the sauce that stuck to the inside of the sauce bowl. Narrative does not indicate that Jesus took any for himself but it is possible that Jesus nibbled while he spoke. What was left in his hand was passed to Judas. Did Jesus get up from his seat to pass the bread to Judas? Did he reach around John?

In the other three gospels, the last supper involves the breaking of bread and the distribution of wine. Take, eat, this is my body, etc. In the gospel of John, this is not the case. It is not necessarily true that the bread was dipped in a gravy or a sauce. It is possible that there was a sip of wine remaining in a cup. Perhaps the sop was bread dipped in wine. If that was the case, Judas was the only disciple in the gospel of John to receive the body and the blood of Jesus.

When Judas got up and left, Jesus spoke to the others. In the wording of the author, we find this expressed in a certain fashion. “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said . . . ” I stress the word 'therefore.' We might view the word 'therefore' as we view the word 'because.' We absorb three facts from the departure of Judas. First is that Judas went immediately out. When John asked, “Lord, who is it?” Judas, who was nearby, within easy reach, in fact, heard John ask the question. He had also heard when Jesus told all of them that one of them would betray him. Now, the disciples may have just sat there with their mouths open or they may have turned to one another in concerned conversation. When Peter beckoned to John, he was visible to all the other disciples. When Jesus answered who should betray him, he did not whisper in anyone's ear. Each of his disciples heard him speak.

The second fact is that it was night. The author thought it was important to clarify that it was no longer evening but that it was getting late. They had a long supper; Jesus washed everyone's feet. In the process, time had gotten away from them. All of a sudden, it was dark outside. It was spring and the days were getting longer, so this whole last supper event might have started later than usual. If Judas walked from Bethany to Jerusalem then back again, he would have arrived back in the early morning hours. Jerusalem was only a mile and a half away. It was a casual thirty-minute stroll. But when you take into account the twists and turns of well-used pathways and the late hour of the night, it might be more like a two-hour round trip. Still, we must also add the time it takes to gain an audience with the Jews, talk through plans, and gather guards. I'm thinking Judas got back after midnight.

Finally, I get back to the fact of the sop. Was that only a sign through which eleven disciples are to identify one? They seemed to remain confused. Might it not also be a sign to the one? Jesus gave a sop to Judas and Judas got up and immediately left. That sort of seems like a sign for Judas. Jesus also gave Judas a final instruction along with the sign of the sop. He said, do what you do quickly. I have to ask, why would Jesus say anything? Jesus knew that Judas would be the one. Was Judas in on it? There is an ancient text that suggests such a scenario – that Jesus had it all planned out. Every T was crossed and every I was dotted. We know from Jesus' own admission that his march to the cross was deliberate. So, there it was, late at night and Jesus gives what may be a predetermined signal to Judas and also tells him to do it quickly.

Jesus had a little more to say to the eleven but he had to wait for Judas to begin the final detail of the plan. When Judas walked out into the night, Jesus said, “Now is the son of man glorified.” I stress the word 'now.' Jesus used the particular title 'son of man' rather than 'Son of God' to identify himself with mankind for whom he laid down his life. Yet, his 'glorification' had to wait for the last detail to be set in motion. What does it mean to be glorified? Two synonyms for the word are 'magnify' and 'elevate.' If Jesus identified with mankind, his glorification must also identify with mankind. As he said in John 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,” that is if I am glorified I, “will draw all men unto me.” The glorification that Jesus describes is a complex issue involving his connection with God, and mankind's subsequent connection to God through Jesus.

It goes like this: Jesus is magnified and God, in Jesus, is also magnified by the magnification of Jesus. If God is thus magnified, he will also magnify the 'Son of Man' within himself and will do so immediately.

Next, Jesus tells the eleven, like he told the Jews, that where he was going, they could not yet follow. We all get the point about the cock crowing and Jesus being denied by Peter but I wish to make another point in closing. Jesus addressed the eleven as “Little children.” It is a popular view that disciples such as Peter were older men. That has been played out in many of the movies made to portray the life of Jesus. Yet, Jesus called them little children. Jesus was supposedly a man in his thirties. Age is an issue we should pay more attention to. Peter was a married man. He had a wife and a mother-in-law but no children are mentioned that I am aware of. What if Jesus, in his thirties, was the oldest man among them. What if Peter was a married man in his twenties. We often consider the apostle John to be the youngest, possibly in his teens.

Did Jesus hug John as he used the expression 'Little children?' Was that a popular or common expression? Jesus used the expression to address his disciples only once. Paul used the expression “My little children” only once. John, on the other hand, the youngest disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, who leaned on Jesus' breast, used the expression a total of nine times.