(Jesus), in like manner he took also the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which shall be shed for you.”
Body of Bread before Supper, new covenant in Jesus’ blood after supper.
What did they eat for supper? Was the meal a Seder, the ritual meal held in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover?
Typically, Christians pray before and after meals. Before: “Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy Bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.” After: “We give Thee thanks Almighty God, for all Thy benefits, and for the poor souls of the faithfully departed, through the Mercy of God, may they rest in peace. Amen.”
‘Before and After,’ seems to be a common thread in life…
Before and after birth.
Before and after sin.
Before and after death.
See beyond what seems to be!
Sin starts with a thought yet Peter thought and spoke denying knowing the Lord three times.
And at that moment, while he was yet speaking, a cock crowed. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, “Before a cock crows, thou wilt deny me three times.” And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
God knows our sins and Jesus knows our sins too. Jesus in our heart comforts our spirits and forgives our sinfulness.
“I am perfect, except when I am not,” says this sinful soul.
Jesus said Peter would deny Him that third time. I wonder if seeing and feeling that was worse than the betrayal of Judas which seemed nonessential and routine in terms of biblical drama. Here Peter is not only denying the Lord three times but does nothing to stop the abuse to him.
And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.
When will we stop the abuse to ourselves and the abuse we do to others?
Jesus at the Mount of Olives to Apostles: “Pray you may not enter into temptation.”
Jesus to God: “Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will but thine be done.”
And there appeared to him an angel from heaven to strengthen him. And falling into an agony he prayed the more earnestly.
And rising from prayer, he came to his disciples, and found them sleeping for sorrow. And he said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, that you may not enter into temptation.”
…and he who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was going before them (a crowd), and he drew near to Jesus to kiss him, But Jesus said to him, “Judas, dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
“Lord shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
Jesus: “Bear with them thus far.” And he touched his ear and healed it.
Jesus to the chef priests, captains of the temple and elders: “As against a robber have you come out, with swords and clubs. When I was daily with you in the temple, you did not stretch forth your hands against me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
And the men who had him in custody began to mock him and beat him. And they blindfolded him, and kept striking his face and asking him, saying, “Prophesy, who is it that struck thee?” And many other things they kept saying against him, reviling him.
Elders of the people, the chief priests and the scribes gathered together and they led him away into their Sanhedrin, saying, “If thou art the Christ, tell us.”
Jesus: “If I tell you, you will not believe me; and if I question you, you will not answer me, or let me go. But henceforth, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
They: “Art thou the Son of God?”
Jesus: “You yourselves say that I am.”
They: “What further need have we of witness? For we have heard it ourselves from his own mouth.”
What is tempting you this very moment? Are you able to turn from it and ask Jesus to come into your heart and save you from the temptation?
What cross are you carrying? Why is it so heavy? Jesus promises us rest!
Pray before supper and pray after supper, and stay in union with Christ all the time!
Day 80: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Before Supper, After Supper, In Union with Christ all the Time!
Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapter 22.
Bible Notes:
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.
In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.
Luke Chapter 22: The council against Jesus; The betrayal by Judas; Preparation for the Passover; The Last Supper; Institution of the Holy Eucharist; The betrayer; Contention among the Apostles; Peter’s denials predicted; The impending capture of Jesus; The agony in the garden; Jesus finds the disciples sleeping; The kiss of Judas; Jesus arrested; Peter’s denial; Jesus abused; Trial before the Sanhedrin.
Now the feast of the Unleavened Bread, which is called Passover, was drawing near…
But Satan entered into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, one of the Twelve…
Now the day of the Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover had to be sacrificed.
Jesus to Peter and John: “Go and prepare for us the Passover that we may eat it… Behold, on your entering the city, there will meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house into which he goes. And you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Master says to thee, “Where is the guest chamber, that I may eat the Passover there with my disciples?”’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; there make ready.”
Jesus to the Twelve Apostles: “I have greatly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you that I will eat of it no more, until it has been fulfilled in the kingdom of God… Take this and share it among you; for I say to you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God comes… This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
In like manner he took also the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which shall be shed for you.”
“But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man indeed goes his way, as it has been determined: yet woe to that man by whom he will be betrayed.”
Now there arose a dispute among the Apostles, which of them was reputed to be the greatest. But Jesus said to them: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they who exercise authority over them are called Benefactors. But not so with you. On the contrary, let him who is greatest among you become as the youngest, and him who is the chief as servant. For which is greater, he who reclines at table, or he who serves? Is it not he who reclines? But I am in your midst as he who serves. But you are they who have continued with me in my trials. And I appoint you a kingdom, even as my Father has appointed me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and you shall sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Jesus: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith may not fail; and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, strengthen thy brethren.”
Simon Peter to Jesus: “Lord, with thee I am ready to go both to prison and to death!”
Jesus to Simon Peter: “I tell thee, Peter, a cock will not crow this day, until thou hast denied me three times that thou knowest me.”
Jesus to the Twelve Apostles: “When I sent you forth without purse or wallet or sandals, did you lack anything?”
Apostles: “Nothing.”
Jesus: “But now, let him who has a purse take it, and likewise a wallet; and let him who has no sword sell his tunic and buy one. For I say to you that this which is written must yet be fulfilled in me, ‘And he reckoned among the wicked.’ For that which concerns me is at its end.”
Apostles: “Lord, behold, here are two swords.”
Jesus: “Enough.”
Jesus at the Mount of Olives to Apostles: “Pray you may not enter into temptation.”
Jesus to God: “Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will but thine be done.”
And there appeared to him an angel from heaven to strengthen him. And falling into an agony he prayed the more earnestly.
And rising from prayer, he came to his disciples, and found them sleeping for sorrow. And he said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, that you may not enter into temptation.”
…and he who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was going before them (a crowd), and he drew near to Jesus to kiss him, But Jesus said to him, “Judas, dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
“Lord shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
Jesus: “Bear with them thus far.” And he touched his ear and healed it.
Jesus to the chef priests, captains of the temple and elders: “As against a robber have you come out, with swords and clubs. When I was daily with you in the temple, you did not stretch forth your hands against me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
Woman: “This man was with him.”
Peter: “Woman, I do not know him.”
Someone else: “Thou too art one of them.”
Peter: “Man, I am not.”
Another: “Surely this man, too, was with him, for he also is a Galilean.”
Peter: “Man. I do not know what thou sayest.”
And at that moment, while he was yet speaking, a cock crowed. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, “Before a cock crows, thou wilt deny me three times.” And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
And the men who had him in custody began to mock him and beat him. And they blindfolded him, and kept striking his face and asking him, saying, “Prophesy, who is it that struck thee?” And many other things they kept saying against him, reviling him.
Elders of the people, the chief priests and the scribes gathered together and they led him away into their Sanhedrin, saying, “If thou art the Christ, tell us.”
Jesus: “If I tell you, you will not believe me; and if I question you, you will not answer me, or let me go. But henceforth, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
They: “Art thou the Son of God?”
Jesus: “You yourselves say that I am.”
They: “What further need have we of witness? For we have heard it ourselves from his own mouth.”
This Book of Judges in the Old Testament is so called, because it is a history of the Jews under the government of the Judges, men, like Gedeon and Samson, who were raised up to rule Israel before they had kings. It describes the religious and political condition of the Jews and the work of the twelve Judges.
A lot of the four gospels in the New Testament are repeating the same story but there is always that one little twist, how a passage is stated, and a certain phrase emerges that connects directly with me. Directly with my heart.
And the Lord said: Juda shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hands.
And Josue the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten years old…
Baalim—a false god; any of numerous local deities among the ancient Semitic peoples, typifying the productive forces of nature and worshiped with much sensuality.
And when the Lord raised up judges, in their days he was moved to mercy, and heard the groanings of the afflicted, and delivered them from the slaughter of their oppressors. But after the judge was dead, they returned, and did much worse things than their fathers had done, following strange gods, serving them, and adoring them. They left not their own inventions, and the stubborn way, by which they were accustomed to walk.
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord… and the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years… and afterward they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a savior called Aod… and the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord after the death of Aod, and the Lord delivered them up into the hands of Jaban king of Chanaan… for he had nine hundred chariots set with scythes, and for twenty years had grievously oppressed them…
“The average age of the world’s greatest civilization has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; and from dependence back into bondage.”
This is the last two chapters—the end—of the The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke, who was a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, and had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul. In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.
But Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Pilate said to them a third time: “Why, what evil has this man done? I find no crime deserving of death in him. I will therefore chastise him and release him.”
The centurion glorified God saying, “Truly this was a just man.”
… two men stood by them in dazzling raiment, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he spoke to you while he was yet in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.”
They said to him: “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people; and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be sentenced to death, and crucified him. But we were hoping that it was he who should redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, today is the third day since these things came to pass. And moreover, certain women of our company, who were at the tomb before it was light, astounded us, and not finding his body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he is alive. So some of our company went to the tomb, and found it even as the women had said, but him they did not see.”
Now while they were talking of these things, Jesus stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace to you! It is I, do not be afraid.”
Gedeon: “I beseech thee, my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why have these evils fallen upon us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers have told us of, saying: The Lord brought us out of Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of Madian.”
The Lord said to Gedeon: “… thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal, which is thy father’s and cut down the grove that is about the altar. And thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God in the top of this rock, where upon thou didst lay the sacrifice before… and shalt offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which thou shalt cut down out of the grove.”
Gedeon said to God: “If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, I will go put this fleece of wool on the floor: if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on the ground beside, I shall know that by my hand, as thou hast said, thou wilt deliver Israel.”
They that shall lap the water with their tongues as dogs are wont to lap, thou shall set apart by themselves: but they that shall drink bowing down their knees, shall be on the other side.
What you shall see me do, do you the same.
Aren’t we just like Gedeon always looking for a sign from the Lord and double- and triple-checking that what we want to do is what God wants us to do?
I know the name Andrew goes back a long way in the Reistetter family. Flipping through large, old books of baptism records in St. Martin Church, the 16th century church, in Lipany, Slovakia I saw the long list of Andrews that led back several generations only to end in an Emericus. I don’t know who chose to first name their baby son Andrew but I am happy to presumably be named after a disciple and an apostle.
Jesus said of Nathanael: “Behold a true Israelite in whom there is no guile.”
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him… In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness grasped it not.
When the Jews sent to John the Baptist from Jerusalem priests and Levites to ask him: “Who art thou?”
John to Jesus: “Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me there comes one who has been set above me, because he was before me.’ And I did not know him. But that he may be known to Israel, for this reason have I come baptizing with water.”
Jesus ministry had begun with a familiar miraculous story of turning water into wine at the marriage feast at Cana. But it wasn’t just wine, it was good wine—“but thou has kept the good wine until now.”
And lastly at the end of Chapter 2 in the Gospel of John:
The Lord to the children of Israel: …and you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand? And yet you have forsaken me, and have worshipped strange gods: therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and call upon the gods which you have chosen: let them deliver you in the time of distress.
Analogous to the spiritual law that only light can displace darkness, only love can displace hate, only turning to God can I come out of my self and experience the peace, joy, and freedom in life as Our Creator so intended for us to do so!
…his only daughter met him with timbrels and with dances: for he had no other children… for I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I can do no other thing… Grant me only this I desire: Let me go, that I may go about the mountains for two months, and may bewail my virginity… and the two months being expired, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed, and she knew no man.
We shall certainly die, because we have seen God. And his wife answered him: If the Lord had a mind to kill us, he would not have received a holocaust and libations at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor have told us the things that are to come.
…behold a young lion met him raging and roaring. And the spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he tore the lion as he would have torn a kid in pieces… and behold there was a swarm of bees in the mouth of the lion and a honeycomb…
This part of the Bible is so rich in inspiration my notes below is simply a rewriting of the biblical text. Is it rich in inspiration through the process of being familiar and repetitious in my life—heard and otherwise experienced? Or is Christ thoroughly in my heart and connecting me to His Word so that I may act on it according to God’s Will for my life?
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus at night… “Rabbi, we know that thou hast come a teacher from God, for no one can work these signs that thou workest unless God be with him.”
Jesus: “Thou art a teacher in Israel and dost not know these things? Amen, amen, I say to thee, we speak of what we know, and we bear witness to what we have seen; and our witness you do not receive. If I have spoken of earthly things to you, and you do not believe, how will you believe if I speak to you of heavenly things? And no one has ascended into heaven except him who has descended from heaven: the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God did not send his Son into the world in order to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged; but he who does not believe is already judged, because he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. Now this is the judgment: The light has come into the world, yet men have loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, that his deeds may not be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be made manifest, for they have been performed in God.
The richness of The Bible continues here with the symbiotic relationship of John the Baptist and Jesus. John knowing his place in life and in God’s Will. Letting go of the worldly judgments and comparisons to feel true joy.
“This my joy, therefore, is made full. He must increase, but I must decrease,” no more humble statement made in The Bible by one other than Jesus? Of course, John was subrogating himself to Jesus Christ and God, not another human being. My own application was that I was never really working for my supervisor or manager in the jobs that I did, but rather more directly for Christ. Maybe that is why, ultimately, I had to exit Corporate America? Or was it really just my ego?
Samaritan woman: “I know that Messias is coming (who is called Christ), and when he comes he will tell us all things.”
More cruelty, violence and killing in the Old Testament.
Then seeing that he had discovered to her all his mind… for now he hath opened his heart to me… and forthwith pulled his eyes out, and led him bound in chains to Gaza, and shutting him up in prison made him grind
Another grisly story of the Old Testament but one that clearly shows us how to pray to God to remember and restore us to our best self. Or more realistically, in today’s world, to take us to new heights so that we can become the best-ever version of our self!
Jesus’ miracle curing the paralytic, who had lived thirty-0eight years under his infirmity, on the Sabbath in the pool at Bethsaida was what we would call today “the tipping point between his ministry and the authority of the Jewish leaders.
His words concerning judgment and who does the judgment (God or Jesus?) and when (in real time living or after our death?).
Jesus: “For as the Father has life in himself, even so he has given to the Son also to have life in himself; and he has granted him power to render judgment, because he is the Son of Man.”
Jesus: “I do not receive glory from men. How can you believe who receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory which is from the only God?”
Jesus again challenge the authority of the Jewish leaders: “But if you do not believe Moses’ writings, how will you believe my words?”
A miracle led into the Divinity of the Father and Son; God and Christ!
This tale of ‘so heinous a crime, an incredible fury of lust, ever committed in Israel’ began back in Chapter 29:
Came to the door of the house where her lord lodged, and there fell down… He thinking she was taking her rest, said to her: Arise, and let us be going…
The revenge was as brutal and savage against the city of Gabaa where the offenders lived and the entire tribe of Benjamin because they would not give up the criminals as requested by other eleven tribes of Israel—who met together in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen fit for war.
Shall I go out any more to fight against the children of Benjamin my brethren or not? And he (the Lord) answered them: Go up against them, and join battle.
O Lord God of Israel, why is so great an evil come to pass in thy people, that this day one tribe should be taken away from among us?
And all of Israel was very sorry, and repented for the destroying of one tribe out of Israel.
I do see an evolution of humankind though. From a brutal seemingly lawless tribal society into some sort of organized and mutually beneficial society all the doings of an emerging merciful and compassionate God.
