The Feast of the Passover

II: The Feast of the Passover

Matt. xxvi. 17-25; Mark xiv. 12-21;Luke xvii. 7-18; John xiii. 1-22.

All during Wednesday Jesus had not appeared either in the Temple or in Jerusalem.  On the morning of Thursday theApostles enquired of Him whereabouts they were to eat the Paschal Supper, for "they were now in the First Day of Azymes."

Leaving Judas unnoticed, though ordinarily he was the one entrusted with the care of their larder, the Saviour called Peter and John.

"Go," He told them, "and prepare what is necessary."

"Where will you have us make it ready?" inquired the disciples; for they knew that Jerusalem was rife with danger for them.

" Go into the city," Jesus replied; "as you are entering you shall meet a man carrying a jar of water;  you will follow him, and on reaching the house whither he shall go you will say to the Master of the dwelling"—

"'Lo, thus sayeth our Master: Mine hour is close at hand, and I am to keep the Pasch with My disciples at thine abode.  Where is the room where I may eat the Passover?'Then he himself shall show you a large upper room, furnished with couches and arranged beforehand.  There do you prepare all things needful."

Peter and John obeyed; at the city gates they met a man who was coming up with some water drawn from the Fountain of Siloë, and following in his footsteps they found the householder described to them.  It was some disciple of the Lord, hitherto unknown to the Apostles.  Finding Himself constrained to prepare for the event of the Passover, the Saviour had warned this friend to hold his residence in readiness for His coming.

A man carrying a pitcher. J-J Tissot.

Once consecrated by the Eucharistic Sacrifice, this "Upper Chamber" was ever dear to the newborn Church, which found a first shelter under its roof.  Here the resurrected Lord once more found His disciples assembled in the midst of their despondency; hither the Apostles also betook themselves to await the Holy Spirit, and after Saint Peter had been delivered by the Angel, he had no need to look elsewhere for his brethren at the hour when they were usually gathered together in prayer.  Today the traveller coming toward Jerusalem from the south descries a minaret which still marks the location of that Guest-Chamber.  It towers over a vast hall which, although much altered during the Middle Ages, is still the same which Saint Cyril of Jerusalem venerated in the fourth century, and which Saint Epiphanius pointed out as one of the few edifices spared at the time of the demolishing the city.

But in Jesus' time and on that day of the Pasch it was far from having any such splendours as the fanciful pictures of our artists have decorated it withal.  What we now know of Jewish dwellings make us imagine it is a room with white walls; in the centre stands a low table, embellished with bright colours and with one side left free for the servers, while along the others couches are arranged.  This was the general disposition of the dining-hall on the evening Jesus entered it.  The Twelve followed and took their places about Him.  John, who lay at His right, only needed to turn his head, to rest it upon the Master's breast.  Peter was near the beloved disciple, and Judas reposed not far from Jesus.

The hour was come, and the heart of Jesus was thrilled with gladness.

" With a great desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you," He said, "before I suffer."

Nevertheless, to make the Apostles comprehend that it was no figurative rite for which He had longed so keenly, but rather, indeed, the accomplishment of the real sacrifice in the Eucharist, He added:—

"Of a truth, I say unto you: I will never more eat this Pasch until the Mystery thereof be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God."

Meanwhile the cup which indicated the beginning of the repast had been prepared.  Taking it from the hands of His disciples, Jesus pronounced over it the customary blessing, moistened His lips therewith even as the master of the household was wont to do, then offered it to His disciples.

"Take and divide it among you," He said, "but as for Me, I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God cometh."

Here Jesus is not so much speaking of the Eucharist as of the heavenly blessedness, and this fruit of the vine which He must never more drink save in the heavens, was used for a figure of that felicity for which the Psalmist long since had sighed so longingly:—

" Ah, how lovely is my Chalice,

Which inebriateth my soul!"

The thought of that eternal Paschal-tide could not absorb the Saviour’s mind so far as to make Him forget those He was to leave upon earth.  "Knowing that His hour was come, that He should pass out of this world to His Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end,"— loved them even to excess, and therefore taxed His almighty Attributes for one last miracle of Charity wherewith for evermore to gladden all human hearts.  The circumstances surrounding the gift were most solemn.  Saint John delights to recall every detail of the scene: the Paschal feast had commenced, Satan was there as master of Judas Iskarioth; high above that Supper-Room Heaven opened for Jesus' vision; therein clearly He beheld "that all has been delivered into His hands by His Father;" "all," yes, all the blessed members of the Church, marked with the Seal of the Elect; "knowing that He came forth from God and that He was returning unto God," there remains nothing now but to give mankind the uttermost token of His love.  But first He desired to so humble Himself before them all as to show forth the infinite self-annihilation whereby He was made flesh, whereby He would likewise give Himself to be their meat and drink.

The Jewish Passover. J-J Tissot.

Just at the moment when the ritual of the sacred Feast commanded the guests to purify their hands Jesus, rising from table, laid aside His garments, took the towel and girded His loins; then, pouring out water into a basin, He made ready to wash the feet of His disciples, wiping them with the towel which served Him for a girdle.

Peter was the first to see the Master kneel down before him.

" What, Lord!" He exclaimed, " wouldst Thou wash my feet!"

" Thou knowest not at this time what I wish to do," replied the Saviour, "but thou shalt know shortly."

Thus He gave him to understand that this ablution was only a symbol,— a figure of the Redemption which washes away our sins.  But Peter refused to see anything but the humiliation of his Master.

" Never, no, never," he repeated, "shalt Thou wash my feet."

To overcome this impetuous resistance, Jesus said to him:—

" If I do not wash thee, thou shalt have no part with Me."

At once Peter comprehended all that this threat implied, and, unbounded as usual in his fervour,—

" Lord," he cried, " not only my feet, but my hands and my head!"

Tempering the Apostle's fiery spirit, Jesus said:—

" They that come forth from this bath need but to wash the dust from their feet and they are pure from any stain."

Jesus washes His Disciples' feet. J-J Tissot.

So was it even now with the Apostles.  Their greater sins all washed away, they needed but to cleanse the lighter spots from off their souls, before approaching the Table of their Lord.  Nevertheless, there was one impure spirit among them, and, without mentioning Judas by name, Jesus forewarned him, by hidden allusion, that He was aware of his crime.

"You are pure, but not all."

Notwithstanding this the traitor did not take the alarm; he permitted the Lord to approach him, pour water upon his feet, and press them between His hands, while he still remained unmoved.

The ablution finished, Jesus resumed His garments and again took His place on the couch.

" Do you know," He asked, "what I have now done for you?  You call Me 'Master,' 'Lord,' and you are right, for so I am.  If then I have washed your feet, I, your Lord and you Master, you also ought to wash one another's feet, for I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you."

"As I have done to you," said the Lord, not " that which I have done." Thus, in fact, it is not so much the action which we must copy, as it is the self-renunciation of Jesus.  The washing of the feet, as a symbol of His Mission, displays Him unto us just as He appeared upon earth, despoiled of His glory and clothed with the form of a servant, that so He might purify the souls of men.  To deny oneself thus far is the law which the Christ left to His Apostles.  And truly, added He, I have good right to give this law; "for the servant is not above his Master, neither is he that is sent greater than he that sendeth him.  Blessed shall you be if you understand these things; most blessed if you do them!"

Yet all in the College of Apostles were not to know this gladness.  Once more Jesus repeated that all were not clean, and the saying of Scripture was to be fulfilled:—

"He that eateth at table with Me,

Shall lift up his heel against Me."

Speaking in this way, the Lord made allusion to the crime of Achitophel, David's Councillor, who was not afraid to involve himself in the revolt of Absalom; for this sage of Israel had been his master's table-companion many a time before that day when, when his plotting was discovered and defeated, he went out and hanged himself in his despair.  Jesus recalled this fact to the Apostles' minds for fear lest the defection of one of their own number should, in after days, shake their faith.

"Even now I announce it unto you," He said, "ere ever the thing come to pass, in order that you may know Who I am when it shall be accomplished."

Jesus could not divert His mind from this treason.  Dwelling longer upon the dignity which Judas once possessed but had now so degraded,— a dignity so lofty "that to receive one of His Apostles was to receive the Christ; thereby receiving the Father Who hath sent Him,"— " he was troubled in spirit" and for the moment remained silent, as though He hesitated before lifting aside the veil from the future.  But shortly He said aloud:—

" Of a truth, ay, of a truth, one of you shall betray Me, and even now he eateth with Me."

The astonished disciples looked from one to another, not knowing of whom are He might be speaking, and in their grief each one began to ask,—

"Is it I, Lord?"

Judas alone was silent.  

" It is one of the Twelve," Jesus answered; "he that dippeth His hand into the dish with Me, that man shall betray Me."

"He that dippeth His hand into the dish with Me, that man shall betray Me." J-J Tissot.

Undoubtedly many of the disciples had touched the dish at that very moment; hence the traitor was only the more of a eagerly designated.  Yet one last time the Master warned that guilty soul of what was to come, showing him the dark abyss ready to engulf him.

"The Son of Man indeed goeth," He said, "according to that which is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man shall be betrayed!  It were better for that man never to have been born."

Terrified by these menacing words, the Apostles durst no longer a question the Saviour, but they asked among themselves of whom are He was speaking; and still no one thought of Judas.  At last the traitor repeated after the others,—

" Is it I, Master?"

"Thou hast said it," responded Jesus; "thou art he."

This reply, spoken in a low tone, was heard by none but Judas, leaving him as stolid and impassive as ever.  Henceforth nothing any more could touch him, his soul was steeled for the crime; and it was with the most absolute certainty of beholding His Body and His Blood profaned in His Presence there Jesus took within His holy hands the bread of the Eucharist.  Long after, when the Lord revealed to St. Paul the circumstances of the Last Supper, He first reminded His minister of what took place on that same woeful night, that night of treason and betrayal; for it was "on the night in which He was betrayed He took bread."

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.