On Line Bible Study - For the Week October 1-7, 2012

Lesson 556

We have been comparing the four gospels with regard to their treatment of the ‘Last Supper’ – the meal Jesus shared with his disciples just prior to his arrest.  Now we will look at the Gospel of John with regard to what Jesus says to his disciples and in their hearing at this meal.  As noted in the previous lesson, John spends considerably more time ‘at the table’ than the other gospels.

Father Raymond Brown calls this section of John’s Gospel the Book of Glory.  There is a sense of intimacy to this meal:

John 13:1  …Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

This is how the section begins.  Jesus knows that the Father had put all things under his power (13:3), and he is filled with love for his disciples.  Once John has brought us through the supper itself – Judas has taken the bread (…and it was night), we read these words:

John 13:  ³¹When he was gone, Jesus said: “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.  ³²If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

Herein begins the manifestation of Jesus’ “glory”.  There are many redundancies in chapters 13-17, and some things seem disconnected from others.  But Fr. Brown makes this sweeping statement about this section of the Gospel: The Last Discourse is one of the greatest compositions in religious literature.  The one who speaks here speaks as no man has spoken.

There are many interesting comparisons that can be made between John 13:31-14:31 and John 16:4-33.  We will begin to look at some of those in our next lesson.  In the mean time … John 14:  ¹Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in Christ.