Final Conversation.

(John 13:31-38 and chps. 14-16 Mat. 26:30-35; Mark 14:26-31; Luke 22:31-38)

Only Evangelist John brings this wonderful and moving conversation of the Lord with His disciples, in full. Saint Luke presents only a small segment, while the first two Evangelists relate only the Lord’s predictions of Peter’s denial and the meeting in Galilee after Resurrection. The whole conversation is quite extensive and covers a number of chapters. Together with the following so-called Lord’s “Pontifical prayer,” it is read in its entirety during the church service on Great Thursday, and constitutes the first reading of the Gospel on the Holy Passions.

According to Saint John, as soon as Judas left, the Lord Jesus Christ began His dialogue with the words: “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him…” However, it has to be assumed that the Lord began not only after Judas’s departure, but also after He had established the Mystery of Eucharist, because Saint John makes no mention of this — like the completing narratives of the first three Evangelists.

Having given His Flesh and Blood and seeing the mystery of redemption as though being fulfilled — as if He had already been brought as a sacrifice, conquering the hostile forces — the Lord exclaims these triumphant words: “Now the Son of Man is glorified…” “Now” meaning that this mysterious and frightening night, the glorification of the Son of Man has arrived, which simultaneously glorifies God the Father, Who had deigned to give His One and Only Son as a sacrifice for mankind’s salvation. This earthly glorification of His Son, is the beginning of His future heavenly glorification as the destroyer of death and hell. Wishing to lead His disciples out of their depressing spirits in which they found themselves, brought about by the thought that one of them is a betrayer, the Lord turns their thoughts to His Divine glory, which will be revealed in both His imminent sufferings and in His Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. “Glorify Him immediately,” means that His humiliation will not continue for very long and soon, His visible glorification will commence. “Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer” — this extraordinarily tender address by the Lord to His disciples cannot be seen anywhere else in the Gospel: it stemmed from a deep emotion of the imminent parting under such trying circumstances and temptations for their faith. Just as I have said to the Jews, so am I telling you, that I am departing from you along such a path upon which you now cannot follow Me.

In leaving you in this world for the continuation of My work, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you…” From My love of humans, I give My life for them, and you must continue to emulate Me in this. The command of love thy neighbor had already been given in the law of Moses, but Christ gave it a new character that was unknown previously — in the Name of Christ, love even your own enemies, even to the point of self-sacrifice. Such a pure, selfless and altruistic love is a sign of genuine Christianity. Saint Paul then poses a question full of sorrow and fear: “Lord, where are You going?” The Lord confirms that now he is unable to follow Him, but Peter forecasts that in future, he shall follow the same path of martyrdom. This is followed by the prediction to Peter of his denial, which is narrated by all 4 Evangelists. In warning Peter of his self-confidence (when he started to assert that he will lay his life down for the Lord), Saint Luke writes that the Lord said to him: “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat…”

It is characteristic of the Lord here to call him Simon and not Peter, because having renounced the Lord, Peter showed that he had ceased to be a “rock.” “Sift” means satan’s temptations, to which the Apostles were indeed submitted in the hours of the Lord’s sufferings — when their faith in Him was ready to waver. This request by satan reminds us of his similar request concerning the Long-suffering Job, who was submitted to arduous temptations because the Lord permitted it. The Lord’s almighty prayers protected His disciples — in particular Peter — from a total downfall. The Lord permitted Peter to succumb temporarily, so that through this, he would become stronger and fortify his fellow disciples. “I have prayed for you” — although danger from satan was threatening everyone, the Lord especially prayed for Peter because being more passionate and determined, he was threatened with more danger. “And when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brothers” — this indicates that after Peter’s denial of Christ, he would be a model of genuine repentance and an example of resoluteness. To this (as recorded by all 4 Evangelists), Peter commences to assure the Lord of his unwavering loyalty to Him, in his readiness to follow Him to the dungeon and death. Then how is Peter’s denial possible, if the Lord prayed for him so that his faith would not diminish? However, Peter’s faith didn’t diminish: he renounced Christ in a fit of faint-hearted fear, and instantly succumbed to the most profound contrition. All the Evangelists have Christ foretelling Peter that this coming night, before the rooster had crowed three times, he will renounce Him thrice — twice, according to Mark.

This absolute preciseness from Apostle Mark is explained by the fact that he was writing his Epistle under the direction of Apostle Peter himself. The first crowing of roosters usually occurs in the middle of the night, the second — before morning; consequently, the meaning of this is that before the advent of morning, Peter would thrice deny his Teacher and Lord. As can be seen, the Lord twice predicted to Peter his forthcoming denials: the first time was at the Last Supper, as narrated by Saints Luke and John, while the second time was when they left the Last Supper, on the way to Gethsemane, as narrated by Saints Matthew and Mark. Together with the prediction of denial (according to Saint Luke), the Lord also attaches the prediction about the deprivations and struggles that lay ahead for them. “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack and sandals, did you lack anything?” — before the Apostles had no need to worry about anything while they traveled and preached throughout Judea and Samaria during Christ’s time, because everywhere they found sustenance and needed essentials. Now, different times have arrived, when the hatred against their Teacher is spreading onto them. The rest of the Lord’s dialogue about taking a knapsack and moneybag and buying a knife (or sword), must obviously not be interpreted literally but symbolically. The Lord is simply forewarning them of the extremely difficult approaching times in their lives, and that they should prepare for that themselves — that what awaits them is hunger, thirst, misfortunes and animosity from people; if their Teacher Himself is ranked as villain in the eyes of the people, then what good can they expect for themselves? Through their naivety, the Apostles accepted the Lord’s words literally and said: “Lord, here are two swords.” Realizing that He is being misunderstood, the Lord terminated the conversation with: “enough.”

“Let not your heart be troubled” — thought of the Lord’s rapid departure from them shouldn’t trouble the disciples, because it is only a means of bringing them into an eternal communion with Him: the Lord promises them that when that time comes, He will take them into the eternal realm of His Heavenly Father. Still clouded with former false images of the Messiah’s earthly kingdom, the disciples don’t understand the Lord’s words, so Thomas utters: “Lord, we do not know where You are going…” In reply, the Lord explains that He is that path along which they must follow to reach the Father, where they will settle into dwellings that await them. “No one comes to the Father except through Me” — as Christ is the Redeemer, and salvation can only be achieved through faith in the fulfillment of His task in redeeming mankind. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also,” because in Christ — there is a complete revelation of God, just as He had previously said to the Jews: “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). And the Lord’s disciples, in knowing Christ must know the Father. Although it is true that they didn’t know Christ very well, they were gradually acquiring that knowledge, which the Lord had given them — especially through washing their feet at the Last Supper, partaking of His Flesh and Blood and His instructive conversations. Similar in character to Thomas and like him, outstanding in his sagacity, Philip said to the Lord: “Show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us,” meaning to behold a sentient vision e.g. as some of the Prophets had been honored with.

The Lord seemingly expresses regret at Philip’s incomprehension and instills into him the redundancy of his request, inasmuch as in Him — through His works, through His teachings and His very God-Man nature — they should have long ago recognized the Father. The Lord continues to further comfort His disciples by promising to endow them with power to perform miracles, fulfilling every request they ask of Him through prayer: through prayers in the name of the Lord-Redeemer, they will be able to perform miracles. On the condition that the disciples in loving the Lord observed His commandments, He promises to send them a Helper — Who will be with them always, the Spirit of Truth — Who will seemingly replace Christ, and because of Him, they will have a continuous mysterious communion with Christ. “The world,” as a union of those that do not believe in the Lord and those that are hostile toward Him, that are alien and opposed to the Spirit — Comforter, are unable to accept Him — while owing to the disciples communion with the Lord during His life on earth, He resided in the Apostles and will continue be with them eternally, when He descends upon them at Pentecost. “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you,” in a visible sense, after Resurrection and in the spiritual communion through the Holy Sacraments, by means of the Holy Spirit. “You will live also” in union with Me, as the source of eternal life, while at the same time, the spiritually dead world will not see the Lord. “At that day,” i.e. day of Pentecost, “You will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you,” and you will understand the spiritual substance of your communion with God in Christ. The only proviso for this communion with God is to love the Lord and keep His commandments. Judas (not Iscariot), called Lebbaeus or Thaddaeus, who apparently had not forsaken the vision (favored by the Jews) of the Messiah having an earthly kingdom, once again took the Lord’s words literally that He will appear in a sentient-physical form to those who love Him and keep His commandments. Consequently, he expresses his bewilderment as to why the Lord wants to appear only to them and not the whole world, as the founder of the glorious worldwide kingdom of the Messiah. The Lord explains that He speaks of a mysterious spiritual appearance to His followers, repeating His previous thought about the necessity of loving Him and fulfilling His commandments. Whereas the world, not loving Him and not fulfilling His commandments, is incapable to have such a spiritual communion with Him. At the same time, Christ’s commandments appear as the commandments of the Father. Perhaps at this time, this is not clear to the disciples, but when the Helper, Holy Spirit — He will be sent by the Father in the name of Christ — arrives, He will instruct the Apostles. He will teach them everything and will recall everything that was taught to them by Christ: open to them the mystery of spiritual life, a life in Christ.

Usually, in concluding the Passover supper, the head of the family would say to those present: “Peace be to you,” and the supper would end with the singing of Psalms. Bearing in mind that He will soon be leaving His disciples and aiming to leave the room, the Lord follows this tradition and offers them peace, but a higher one compared to the one offered by the world steeped in evil: “Peace I leave with you” — a peace that gives complete stability to all the powers of the human spirit, brings full harmony to the internal disposition of a person, calms all turmoils and anxieties — it is that very peace about which the Angels’ sang on the night of Nativity. Consequently, the Apostles should not be confused or frightened in any way.

The supper had finished. It was time to leave the Zion chamber where it was held. Outside, there was a gloom of uncertainty, fear of parting with Christ and helplessness in a hostile world. That’s why the Lord again comforts His disciples with a promise to come to them, saying that they should rejoice over the fact that He was going to His Father, “ for My Father is greater than I” — greater of course as a Primary Source (Son is born of a Father and adopts from Him His being), and greater as a God in comparison to Christ-Man. Everything has to pass according to what had been written, just as the Lord had pre-warned the disciples. Through the realization of predictions, the disciples will be convinced of the genuineness of Christ’s words “I will no longer talk much with you” — there were just a few hours left before Judas and the soldiers seized Christ. The Lord sees the approach of His enemies with His spiritual eyes, “the prince of this world” — satan in the visage of Judas with a detachment of troops in the Gethsemane garden. This is where the devil previously attacked the Lord, tempting Him with fear of suffering and the hour of death — his final attempt to prevent the Savior from completing His redeeming act for the salvation of mankind. With this, the Lord states that the devil “doesn’t have anything” in Him i.e. because of Christ’s sinlessness, satan cannot find anything that he could take charge of.

This proves the Lord’s total moral freedom, which through only His love and in fulfillment of His Father’s will, He gives His life to save the world. “Rise, let us be going” — let us go and meet the approaching enemy, prince of this world in the face of Judas-betrayer.

Many erudite interpreters lean toward the understanding that after these words, it is necessary to read Evangelist Matthew, which correspond with Evangelist Mark’s words: “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” That is, in accordance with Jewish custom, the Lord and disciples sang the Psalms from the second part of “Hallelujah” (115-118), and went toward the Mount of Olives, with further conversation taking place along the way. However, Saint Theophan the Recluse considers that the conversation continued in the room, and that it was vacated only after the whole conversation and the Lord’s reading of the high priest prayer had been concluded. The first hypothesis is apparently drawn from the Lord’s further conversation about Himself as a grapevine, because on the way to the Mount of Olives — its slopes had many grapevines — He glanced at them and then applied this as a demonstrative and live example.