On the Lord’s Supper. Of the Table and the Way of sitting at Meat. The Example of Five Virtues of Christ in the Supper. Also Five Points of our Lord’s Discourse
The time being close at hand, of the infinite mercies of our Lord Jesus, in which He had disposed to save His people, and to redeem them, not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with His own most precious blood ; He wills to celebrate a wonderful Supper with His disciples, before He by death should leave them, for a memorial in token of remembrance, and also that He might fulfil the mysteries which remained to be accomplished. This was a very magnificent Supper, and the things which our Lord Jesus did at it, were ilhistrious also. To meditate aright on these, strive with all your powers to be in spirit present at the scene : for if you make this meditation worthily and with care, the gracious Lord will not suffer you to go empty away. There are four principal points for meditation, taking the events in order. First, the actual repast; secondly, the washing of the disciples’ feet; thirdly, the institution of the most holy Sacrament; and fourthly, the substance of our Lord’s most beautiful discourse.
And first of the Supper itself, as a bodily repast Consider how Peter and John were sent by the order of the Lord Jesus to a certain friend in Mount Zion, where there was a large upper room furnished and made ready for the Passover. And our Lord with His disciples on Thursday, at noontide, entered the city, and went to this place. Picture Him standing in some part of the house, and edifying His disciples by His words ; and in the meanwhile, some of the seventy prepared the Passover in the upper room. In the legend of S. Martial, some of the seventy, it is said, were present, late in the evening, ministering to the Lord Jesus. But when all were now ready in the room, the most beloved John, who was busily going in and out, making preparations and lending his help, came to the Lord Jesus : “Lord, when Thou pleasest, Thou mayest sup, for all things are ready.” Look now attentively at, and linger upon all the things which are said and done ; for they are most affecting, and are not to be curiously passed over, but, like the other actions of our Lord’s Life, to be well pondered. For in this lies the great force of meditation, especially when the infinite love of Christ is the theme, as in the surpassing wonders which took place at this Supper.
Then the Lord Jesus arose, and His disciples with Him. And John, taking up his position at His side, could by no means henceforth be separated from Him, for no one clung to our Lord so faithfully and familiarly as John. He it was, who, when our Lord was taken, entered with Him into the hall of the high priest ; nor in His Crucifixion, nor at His Death, nor after His Death, did he leave Him, until He was laid in the tomb. And in this Supper John was next to Jesus, though younger than the rest. All, then, enter the supper-room, and having washed their hands, and standing round the table, most devoutly give thanks. Look minutely at them. You must know that the table was close to the ground, and they sat on the ground, according to the ancient custom. There are traditions about this table which we need not here reproduce. All eat from one dish, as we learn from those words, “He that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray me.” 1 A blessing being given by the Right Hand of our Lord, they sit or recline round the table, John sitting next the Lord Jesus Christ, and now the Paschal lamb is brought in.
But observe that you may depict this scene in two ways. In one way you may represent the disciples as sitting, as I have already said ; in another, as standing with staves in their hands, eating the lamb with bitter herbs, and thus obeying the letter of the old law. Yet you must imagine them, at any rate, as sitting afterwards to eat, as may be inferred from many places in Scripture ; for how else could John have leaned on the Lord’s breast, unless they were sitting ? The Paschal lamb was brought in roasted, and the true and spotless Lamb took it, the Lord Jesus, who was among them as one that serveth, and who cut it into portions, and gave it joyfully to His disciples, exhorting them to eat. And they eat, but not with cheerfulness, for they knew not what new thing might happen to their Master. And whilst they were at supper, He revealed more clearly what was to follow, and said, amongst other things, “With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer,1 but one of you shall betray Me.” His saying pierced them to the very heart, like a sharp sword, and made them cease eating ; and, looking at each other, they exclaimed, “Lord, is it I ?” Regard them attentively, and compassionate both our Lord and them, for they are in a most sorrowful position. But the traitor, lest these words should seem to apply to him, perhaps, does not cease eating. John then, at the entreaty of S. Peter, asked and said, “Lord, who is it that shall betray Thee ?”2 And the Lord Jesus, with singular love, opened to him the secret, but John was struck dumb and wounded to the very heart, and turned himself towards our Lord, and leaned on His breast But our Lord did not tell S. Peter, for S. Augustine says he would, had he known it, have torn the traitor to pieces. But Peter represents the Active Life, John the Contemplative, as S. Augustine says in the same Homily on the Gospel, which was read on the Festival of S. John. You may infer from this that the contemplative man does not interrupt the actions of the inner life, and even concerning offences, does not call down Divine vengeance, but groans inwardly, and turns himself in prayer to God, and draws more closely to Him in contemplation, committing everything to His disposal. Thus, if S. John did not tell S. Peter, though it was at the instance of the latter the question was asked, you may gather that the contemplative man should not always make known the secrets of the Lord, though the contemplative may go forth, from zeal for souls and for God, into the ministries of the Active Life. Thus it is reported of S. Francis, that he did not reveal to others his secret revelations, unless zeal for his brother’s salvation urged it, or a spiritual instinct given with the revelation itself dictated it.