Part 3
The record of the Last Supper in the gospel of John is the deepest and most poignant of all the accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. While all four gospels record the identification of Judas as the betrayer, John’s gospel goes far beyond that tragic affair and soars to the heights of divine love. Interestingly, John’s account has no record of Jesus breaking bread and sharing wine in the establishment of the Eucharistic ritual.
John perhaps wove together various sayings of Jesus and placed them at the dramatic moment of the Last Supper, or, perhaps his memory of Jesus’ words was more complete than the other three evangelists. Whatever the case, John’s account of the Last Supper spans five chapters while the others give it only one each.
It would not be right, however, to exclude the Eucharistic account of the other three gospels. Jesus took a piece of bread, gave “thanks,” and tore it (in half?) saying “This is my body which is given unto you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Then he took a cup of wine, gave thanks, and gave it (passed it around?) to them saying, “Drink ye of this, for this my blood of the new testament which is shed for you.”
The specific words in these three gospels varies slightly but Paramhansa Yogananda attributed a deeper significance than that of a sacred ritual. Insofar as there have been countless Christians who were deeply moved by the ritual and some saints even entering an ecstatic state when reciting the words of the Mass, one should not casually dismiss the sacrament as “merely a ritual” though it certainly is that.
Yogananda explained that the “bread” of Christ is the unifying, immanent Christ consciousness in all creation whose substance is the “only reflection” in creation of the Father (who is beyond creation). The “wine” represents the vibratory energy of God (the Holy Ghost) which brings into visible manifestation all things.
Returning now to the account of St. John, the first event he records is Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. Jesus wishes to show by example that no disciple is above another; all should be willing to serve one another. This is the spirit of humility and service all disciples should aspire towards.
Throughout these five chapters of St. John is repeated “By this shall men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love to one another.” Thus, from the spirit of humility and service Jesus moves next to urge his disciples to love one another has he, Jesus, has loved them.
In the discussion that follows, Jesus reveals that he is soon to go away from them and that they cannot follow him. Phillip asks how and when have they, the disciples, seen or known the Father? Jesus responds that to the degree each has “seen” Jesus they have “seen” the Father. The living Christ-savior, being “one with the Father,” is the human incarnation of God and therefore his words, example, vibration and teaching is that of the Father.
Jesus says that those who are in tune with him will do things (the miracles, for example) as he has, and even greater things. “Ask anything in my name and I will do it.”
Then is the “Comforter” (the Holy Spirit) promised by Jesus to come and bring to the disciples the recollection of all that Jesus taught, and importantly, I would add, the vibration of God that they received through their guru, Jesus Christ.
The guru-savior comes to awaken the soul memory of those disciples who are ready “to receive.” As John wrote in his first chapter, “To as many as received Him to them gave He the power to become the sons of God.” Yogananda explained that the Christ-consciousness (awakened in Jesus and all guru-saviors) comes a second time when it awakens WITHIN the soul of the devotee.
But the first stage of our ascension back to Spirit takes place in “inner communion” with the Holy Spirit (addressed as “Divine Mother” in the East). The Holy Spirit is God AS the creation through the vehicle of ceaseless vibration utilizing the principle of duality, or opposites from a place of rest in the center.
This means that we must first recognize the creation as a manifestation of God before we can ascend any higher towards God-consciousness. This includes breaking the hypnosis of matter, body, personality, likes and dislikes to commune with the underlying energy-vibration which, untainted by our identification with matter, is pure and essentially divine.
Our journey “north” towards the higher centers in the brain via the cerebrospinal axis of the energy centers known as the chakras, culminates at the spiritual eye in the forehead. Through this center we go beyond the vibratory creation into the still heart of creation known as the causal sphere or the Christ-consciousness. In final liberation we ascend past this sphere into the bliss of God consciousness.
Jesus assures the disciples that those who stay in tune will be protected and guided until they reach the heaven of God-consciousness. Here Jesus says those who stay in tune “are my friends” (not servants). What better friend than one who gives all, in this dramatic story, including the life of his body for his friends.
The culture into which Jesus was born was wholly identified with the body as the reality of the self. In that tradition, bodily resurrection into heaven was already a part of the language, myth and expectation regarding true prophets. So too was bodily resurrection at the so-called Judgement Day.
The concept of multiple lives didn’t exist, or, floated around the edges of Jewish society and was not considered seriously. In fact, the existence of life after death was hotly debated. Obedience to God’s law was, for most part, the emphasis in the real-time of daily life. The rewards were not heavenly but material: prosperity, health and recognition of virtue.
Jesus warns his disciples that their earthly reward would be hatred, persecution and even death.
Then in one of the most poignant moments of John’s Last Supper rendering, is Jesus giving an account to the Father. Jesus states that the disciples were given to him; the disciples did not choose Jesus, but God choose the disciples to be liberated into God by Jesus. This reminds me of the teaching from India that at the dawn of creation, that soul that is destined to be our savior is known and will be found when we are ready. “When the disciple is ready, the guru appears.”
The phrase “God so loved the world that he gave his son” should be understood in two ways: that “his son” lives in each one of us, and, that “his son,” the incarnated God-realized savior, will come to awaken that “son” within us.
Much more can be read in those five chapters of John, including predictions that Jesus makes, and the (typical) confusion among the disciples as to what Jesus means, but the love of Jesus for the disciples (not just those present but all true disciples) is powerful and unmistakable. In the “Hindu bible” of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna expresses the same tender love for the devotee that we see expressed here by Jesus.
As one Christian saint put it, “If you only knew how much God loves you, you would die for joy!”
May the baby chick of divine love hatch in your heart this Easter season!
Nayaswami Hriman