The King of Stories -- The Body and the Blood

By -
Introductory note from Jason Pratt: see here for the previous entry; and see here for the first entry of the series. (It explains what I'm doing, and how, and contains the Johannine prologue.)


The Body and the Blood (the night before the end...)

When the hour had come (to celebrate the seder service, tell the Disciple and Scholar and Follower), He reclined (at the table to eat--this is after the 'normal' feast of the night), and the apostles with Him (except for Judas, who has already left).

And He said to them: "I have truly, deeply desired to eat this Passover with you--before I suffer.

"For I am telling you: I never shall eat it again, till this is fulfilled in the kingdom of God!"


And when He had taken bread (bitter and unleavened by sin yet striped by sin, some of which will be hidden to be recovered later), having blessed and given thanks, He broke and gave to them, saying (in a new response to the traditional question "What is this bread?")

"This is My body
given for you.
Take. Eat.
Do this remembering Me."

And when He had taken a cup (of wine), and given thanks, He said:

"This cup which is poured out for you
is the new covenant
of My blood
poured out for many
toward the sending away of sins.

"Take this, and share it among yourselves; for I am telling you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on--until the day I drink it anew, when the kingdom of God arrives."

And all of them drank from the cup.


.......

Judas now being gone (says the Evangelist, taking his turn of the tale), Jesus says:

"Now is the Son of Man glorified; and God is glorified in Him! If God is glorified in Him, God shall also be glorifying Him in Himself--

"and shall be glorifying Him straight away.


"Little children... I am continuing with you still.


"In a little time, you will be seeking Me. But as I told the Jews (meaning the Jewish leaders) that 'Where I go you cannot be going'--now I say it to you, as well.


"I am giving you a new command:

"Be loving one another.

"Just as I love you, you also love each other.

"All shall know from this, that you are My disciples: if you will be having love for one another."


Simon Peter says to Him, "Master... where are You going?"

Jesus answered him, "Where I am going, you cannot follow Me... yet.

"But you will be following afterward."

Peter is saying to Him: "Master--why can I not follow you now...?!"

Jesus is answering, "Do not trouble your hearts. Trust in God, and trust in Me. In My Father's house are many dwellings; and even if not, I still would tell you this--for I am going, to ready you all a place.

"Now, if I should be going and preparing a place for all of you, I am coming again... and I will be bringing you all along, toward Myself: so that where I am, you all may also be.


"But, you all know where I am going--and of the Way, you all do know."


Thomas is saying to Him, "Master?? We are not aware of where you go!--so how can we all know the way?!"


Jesus is saying to him:

"I AM THE WAY AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE!

"Not one is coming toward the Father but through Me!


"...If you all had known Me, you would have known My Father also...

"But--after this, you all will know Him... and have seen Him."


Philip is saying to Him, "Master!--show us the Father, and that is sufficient for us!"


Jesus is saying to him, "So much time, I am with you all... yet you, Philip, know Me not!?

"Whoever has seen Me, has seen the Father!--and yet you are saying, 'Show us the Father'?! Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me??

"The declarations I am speaking to you all, I am not speaking on My own authority (or 'from Myself'). But the Father Who abides in Me, He is doing His works.

"Trust Me: I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me. But if not (i.e. if you cannot manage this much), then trust Me for the works themselves! (the same as He had told the leaders of the Sanhedrin, earlier)

"I promise, I promise, I tell you the truth: whoever trusts in Me, the works which I am doing that one also will be doing--and he will be doing more than these!--for I am going toward the Father!


"Now: whatever you all should be asking in My name (i.e. 'the Lord God saves'), this I will be doing, that the Father in the Son should be glorified. If you all should ever be asking anything of Me, in My name, this I will be doing.


"If you should be loving Me, you all will be keeping My commandments.


"Now: I shall ask the Father, and He will be giving you another Comforter (the 'Paraclete'), that It may indeed be with you into the eon: the Spirit of the Truth--which the world cannot receive, for it neither sees It nor is knowing It.

"Yet you do know It, for It is remaining with you, and will be in you.

"I will not leave you to grieve (as orphans)... I am coming toward you!

"Still a little, then the world is seeing Me no longer; but you are seeing Me.

"Because I live, you also will be living. In that day, you shall know that I am in My Father--and you in Me, and I in you.


"Whoever claims and keeps what I command, he is who is loving Me. And My Father will be loving he who loves Me, and I shall be loving him, and shall reveal Myself to him."


Judas--not Iscariot (the Evangelist explains)--is saying to Him, "But what has happened, Master, that you will soon reveal yourself to us yet not the world?!"


Jesus answered him, and said to him:

"If any should be loving Me (i.e. even in the world, answering Judas’ question), he will be keeping what I say (cf Romans 2); and My Father will be loving him; and We shall come toward him, and will be making a home with him.

"Whoever does not love Me, does not keep My words. Now, the word which you are hearing is not Mine, but the Father's Who is sending Me.


"These things I have spoken to you, staying with you. But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit which the Father will be sending in My name ('the Lord God saves'), this will teach you everything, reminding you of everything I said to you.


"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you... not the way the world is giving to you, am I giving to you!

"Do not let your heart be worried, nor let it be fearful! You hear I said to you: 'I am going, but I am returning toward you'--if you loved Me, you would have rejoiced that I am going toward the Father: for the Father is superior than I!


"But now I have declared it to you in advance, before it happens--so that when it may occur, you should believe!

"Not much longer shall I be speaking with you; for the chief of the world is arriving, and it has nothing in Me. Yet so the world may know that I am loving the Father, and cooperating as the Father directs Me...


"I am doing this.


"Get up! We must be leaving here!"


Matthew 26:26-29
Mark 14:22-25
Luke 22:15-20
John 13:31-37
John 14:1-31

[Next up: Through the Shadows of Death (the night before the end)]

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Many Children in Bethlehem Did Herod Kill?

By -
A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about the Gospel of Matthew’s account of the slaughter of the innocents. Therein, I argued that some of the skepticism about the account was unjustified. One argument I made was that the number of children killed in Bethlehem would likely have been no more than 20. Though obviously an act of great evil, the killing of 20 children would be much less likely to be noticed by historians of the time than the slaughter of thousands as later traditions speculated. In response to the post, Peter Kirby asked a few questions. He has patiently waited my response, continuously delayed by work, family, and the completion of my Acts article . Two of the questions had to do with how the amount of 20 was determined. Others with the omission of the account by Luke and the reliability of the tradition recounted by Macrobius. Peter also mentioned that there were other reasons to doubt the story's historicity beyond just the silence of other sources. I ...
Read more

The Bogus Gandhi Quote

By J. P Holding -
Image
I first made this post in 2012, and since then I've made a sort of mini-career out of tracking down bogus quotes like this one (including a video version below). It's a sort of fun microcosm of the way information is mishandled in the Information Age. ** I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. – Mahatma Gandhi A Christian can probably expect to get this quote thrown at them at least once in their lifetime, and waved in their face many more. I had it put to me recently, but my experience with this sort of thing immediately led me to wonder -- is it real? The evidence at this point seems to be no. The first signal of a problem was that anywhere I found it, no source was given. That's often a sign that something is being passed around uncritically. Whether online sources or books, no one seemed to have a source for this quote. A second warning was that the quote has been given more than one context. As ...
Read more

Where did Jesus say "It is better to give than receive?"

By -
A visitor to the CADRE site recently sent a question about Paul's statement in Acts 20:35 which records Paul as saying, "And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is better to give than to receive'." The reader wanted to know where Jesus said this. This was my answer: You are correct in noting that this saying of Jesus quoted by Paul is not found anywhere in the four Gospels. My own study Bible says "This is a rare instance of a saying of Jesus not found in the canonical Gospels." Does the fact that it isn't stated in the Gospels mean that it isn't reliably from the lips of Jesus? I don't think so. The Apolstle John said at the end of his Gospel (John 21:25): "Jesus did many other things as well.If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." Obviously, this is exaggeration for the sake of making a point, but it means that Jesus ...
Read more

Discussing Embryonic Stem Cell Research

By -
Stand to Reason has published a list of "talking points" that can be used as a quick reference sheet for answering questions about embryonic stem cell research and why people ought to oppose this procedure. The piece, entitled "Are you against stem cell research and cloning?" give good, concise answers to some of the questions that arise concerning why Christians would oppose this procedure when it supposedly holds such great promise. For example, consider the following from the "talking points": Where do we get human embryonic stem cells? We can only derive human embryonic stem cells by killing a human embryo. Removing its stem cells leaves it with no cells from which to build the organs of its body. What is the embryo? An embryo is a living, whole, human organism (a human being) in the embryonic stage. All the embryo needs to live is a proper environment and adequate nutrition, the very same thing all infants, toddlers, adolescents, and adults need. ...
Read more

Tillich, part 2: What does it mean to say "God is Being Itself?"

By -
 In this essay, which is a chapter from the new book I'm now working on, I'm moving toward defining what I think Tillich means exactly by being itself. It's a long journey but an important one. What does Tillich actually mean by “being itself?” Does he mean the same things as other theologians who use the phrase? It’s a mysterious sounding phrase and Tillich never actually comes out and says what he means by it. As I will show there is a reason for this, and I will show what I think that reason in is. In the mean time the task of this chapter is to deduce exactly what Tillich actually means by this phrase. There are three basic possibilities: Three alternatives as to meaning (1) The basic fact that things exist is all that the concept of “God” amounts to. (2) There is a special quality to being, an impersonal aspect” ground of being” or “being itself” and that quality constitutes ‘the divine.’ This possibility excludes God as “king of the universe.” (3) God is b...
Read more

Revamping and New Articles at the CADRE Site

By -
We have changed the Christian History page at the CADRE site from the old design to the new one. The focus of the revamped page has expanded, with many new articles: This page provides links to websites and articles relating to Christian history, including theological development, notable figures, contributions of Christianity to society and culture, and the archaeological evidence for the facts of the Bible. We have also added four new articles by Darin Wood, PhD: John Chrysostum: His Life, Legacy, and Influence Dr. Wood provides an informative sketch of Chrysostum's life, as well as an exploration into his writings and impact on church evangelism. The Righteousness of God in the Pauline Corpus Dr. Wood examines the crucial role that righteousness plays in understanding Paul's perspectives on justification, propitiation, expiation, and covenant. The Structure of the Apocalypse Dr. Wood provides an in-depth analysis of the structure (or structures) behind the Book o...
Read more

The Folded Napkin Legend

By J. P Holding -
I wrote about t his "urban legend" a few years ago, but it's typical of the silly urban legends we hear about now and then, such as the idea that the head of Proctor and Gamble went on Oprah to pledge his allegiance to Satanism. Christians are no less gullible for this sort of nonsense than anyone else, and frankly, some seem more gullible to believe anything that they consider "edifying". It's no wonder we're mesmerized by self-comfort tunes like "I Can Only Imagine" that contain about as much useful theology as a thimble. ** The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.... In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The fol...
Read more

Do you say this of your own accord? (John 18:34, ESV)

By -
Image
One of the most well-known events in Scriptures is Jesus' exchange with Pontius Pilate at his trial as described in John 18. In verse 38 of that chapter, Pilate asks the question that may be the most ironic in the history of the world, "What is truth?" A less known but equally intriguing saying of Jesus from an apologetics viewpoint can be found in Jesus' response to an earlier question in the same trial. It is a question that is not often quoted, but on those rare occasions when it is quoted, Jesus' response is often overlooked as not particularly important or relevant to today's world. However, it is my experience (as well as the experience of many people who have truly spent time studying the Scriptures) that little, if any, of what Jesus said in the Bible lacks significance across time. To best understand the response, it's important to see the response in context. The situation is this: Jesus has been arrested following His betrayal by Judas I...
Read more

A Botched Abortion Shows the Lies of Pro-Choice Proponents

By -
One of the classes I teach at the university is a course on Ethics, and I am using a book by Ralph Dolgoff, Donna Harrington and Frank M. Lowenberg entitled " Ethical Decisions for Social Work Practice " as the text. Overall, I think that it is a good Ethics textbook largely because it provides a balanced viewpoint on the need for values in social work. For example, the book makes the argument (without committing to it) that those engaged in social work cannot avoid making value judgments in ethical decisions because trying to do what is right necessarily involves making an value choice. Also, I book notes that some (including me) think it is ethically wrong for a social worker to cover-up her own values when counseling another person because it creates a false (and ultimately unproductive) relationship with the person being counseled. Still, one of the exemplars in the book gave me pause – not because I thought it raised a deep ethical quandary, but because I wondered how ...
Read more

A Non-Biblical Historian Accepts the Key "Minimum Facts" Supporting Jesus' Resurrection

By -
In their book, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus , Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona argue for the historical reality of Jesus' bodily resurrection using the "minimum facts" approach. Rather than get bogged down in inerrancy and other debates, they focus on the key facts demonstrating Jesus' resurrection. For them, the key facts are: *Jesus' death by crucifixion. *Disciples' Beliefs that Jesus Appeared. *Conversion of Paul. *Conversion of James. *Empty Tomb. William L. Craig, another significant apologist for the historical bodily resurrection of Jesus likewise focuses, in his accessible The Son Rises , on the empty tomb and Jesus' resurrection appearance. Craig gives special emphasis to Jesus' honorable burial by Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus' appearances to James and Paul and their subsequent commitment to the Christian cause. Craig, Licona, and Habermas argue that these basic facts are generally supported by most of the relevant sc...
Read more