Christ and His Table Companions

Christ and His Table Companions

(No. 3107)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1908.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve Apostles with
Him." Luke 22:14.

THE outward ordinances of the Christian religion are but two–and those
two are exceedingly simple–yet neither of them has escaped human
alteration. And, alas, much mischief has been worked and much of
precious teaching has been sacrificed by these miserable perversions!
For instance, the ordinance of Baptism, as it was administered by the
Apostles, represented the burial of the Believer with Christ and his
rising with his Lord into newness of life. Men had to exchange
immersion for sprinkling and the intelligent Believer for an
unconscious child–and so the ordinance is slain! The other sacred
institution, the Lord's Supper, like Believers' Baptism, is simplicity
itself. It consists of broken bread and wine poured out–these items
being eaten and drunk at a festival–a delightful picture of the
sufferings of Christ for us and of the fellowship which the saints have
with one another and with Him. But this ordinance, also, has been
tampered with by men. By some, the wine has been taken away altogether,
or reserved only for a priestly caste. And the simple bread has been
changed into a consecrated host. As for the table, the very emblem of
fellowship in all nations–for what expresses fellowship better than
surrounding a table and eating and drinking together? This, indeed,
must be put away and an "altar" must be erected! And the bread and wine
which were to help us to remember the Lord Jesus are changed into an
"unbloody sacrifice," and so the whole thing becomes an unscriptural
celebration instead of a holy institution for fellowship!

Let us be warned by these mistakes of others never either to add to or
take from the Word of God so much as a single jot or tittle! Keep upon
the foundation of the Scriptures and you stand safely, and have an
answer for those who question you. Yes, and an answer which you may
render at the bar of God! But once allow your own whim, or fancy, or
taste, or your notion of what is proper and right to rule you, instead
of the Word of God, and you have entered upon a dangerous course! And
unless the Grace of God prevents, boundless mischief may ensue. The
Bible is our standard authority–none may turn from it. The wise man
says in Ecclesiastes, "I counsel you to keep the King's commandment."
We would repeat his advice and add to it the sage precept of the mother
of our Lord, at Cana, when she said, "Whatever He says unto you, do
it."

We shall now ask you in contemplation to gaze upon the first
celebration of the Lord's Supper. You perceive at once that there was
no "altar" in that large upper room. There was a table. A table with
bread and wine upon it, but no altar! And Jesus did not kneel–there is
no sign of that–He sat down. I doubt not, after the Oriental mode of
sitting, that is to say, by a partial reclining, He sat down with His
Apostles. Now, He who ordained this Supper knew how it ought to be
observed. And as the first celebration of it was the model for all
others, we may be assured that the right way of coming to this
Communion is to assemble around a table–and to sit or recline while we
eat and drink together of bread and wine in remembrance of our Lord!

While we see the Savior sitting down with His 12 Apostles, let us
enquire, first, what did this make them? Then, secondly, what did this
imply?'And, thirdly, what further may we legitimately infer from this?

I. First, then, we see the Great Master, the Lord, the King in Zion,
sitting down at the table to eat and drink with His 12 Apostles–WHAT
DID THIS MAKE THEM?

Note what they were at first. By His first calling of them they became
His followers, for He said unto them, "Follow Me." That is to say, they
were convinced by sundry marks and signs, that He was the Messiah and
they, therefore, became His followers. Followers may be at a great
distance from their leader and enjoy little or no communion with him,
for the leader may be too great to be approached by the common members
of his band. In the case of these disciples, their

following was unusually close, for their Master was very condescending.
But still, their communion was not always of the most intimate kind at
first and, therefore, it was not at the first that He called them to
such a festival as this Supper. They began with following and this is
where we must begin. If we cannot enter as yet into closer association
with our Lord, we may at least know His voice by His Spirit and follow
Him as the sheep follow the shepherd. The most important way of
following Him is to trust Him and then diligently to imitate His
example. This is a good beginning and it will end well–for those who
walk with Him today shall rest with Him hereafter–those who tread in
His footsteps shall sit with Him on His Throne!

Being His followers, they came next to be His disciples. A man may have
been a follower for a while and yet may not have reached discipleship.
A follower may follow blindly and hear a great deal which he does not
understand, but when he becomes a disciple, his master instructs him
and leads him into truth. To explain, to expound, to solve
difficulties, to clear away doubts and to make truth intelligible is
the office of a teacher among his disciples. Now, it was a very blessed
thing for the followers to become disciples, but still, disciples are
not necessarily so intimate with their Master as to sit and eat with
Him. Socrates and Plato knew many in the Academy whom they did not
invite to their homes. My Brothers and Sisters, if Jesus had but called
us to be His disciples and no more, we would have had cause for great
thankfulness. If we had been allowed to sit at His feet and had never
shared in such an entertainment as that before us, we ought to have
been profoundly grateful. But now that He has favored us with a yet
higher place, let us never be unfaithful to our discipleship! Let us
daily learn of Jesus! Let us search the Bible to see what it was that
He taught us and then, by the aid of His Holy Spirit, let us
scrupulously obey! Yet there is a something beyond.

Being the Lord's disciples, the chosen ones next rose to become His
servants which is a step in advance, since the disciple may be but a
child, but the servant has some strength, has received some measure of
training and renders somewhat in return. Their Master gave them power
to preach the Gospel and to execute commissions of Grace–and happy
were they to be called to wait upon such a Master and aid in setting up
His Kingdom! My dear Brothers and Sisters, are you all consciously
Christ's servants? If so, though the service may at times seem heavy
because your faith is weak, yet be very thankful that you are servants
at all, for it is better to serve God than to reign over all the
kingdoms of this world! It is better to be the lowest servant of Christ
than to be the greatest of men and remain slaves to your own lusts, or
be mere men-pleasers. His yoke is easy and His burden is light! The
servant of such a Master should rejoice in his calling–yet there is
something beyond even this.

Towards the close of His life, our Master revealed the yet nearer
relation of His disciples and uttered words like these–"Henceforth I
call you not servants, for the servant knows not what his lord does,
but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of My
Father I have made known unto you." This is a great step in advance.
The friend, however humble, enjoys much familiarity with his friend.
The friend is told what the servant need not know. The friend enjoys a
communion to which the mere servant, disciple, or follower has not
attained. May we know this higher association, this dearer bond of
relationship! May we not be content without the enjoyment of our
Master's friendship! "He that has friends must show himself friendly,"
and if we would have Christ's friendship, we must befriend His cause,
His Truth and His people! He is a Friend that loves at all times–if
you would enjoy His friendship, take care to abide in

Him!

Now note that on the night before His Passion, our Lord led His friends
a step beyond ordinary friendship. The mere follower does not sit at
table with his leader. The disciple does not claim to be a fellow
commoner with his master. The servant is seldom entertained at the same
table with his lord. The befriended one is not always invited to be a
guest. But here the Lord Jesus made His chosen ones to be His table
companions. He lifted them up to sit with Him at the same table, to eat
of the same bread and drink of the same cup with Himself. From that
position He has never degraded them–they were representative men and
where the Lord placed them, He has permanently placed all His saints!
All the Lord's believing people are sitting, by sacred privilege and
calling, at the same table with Jesus, for "truly, our fellowship is
with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." He has come into our
hearts and He sups with us and we with Him! We are His table companions
and shall eat bread with Him in the Kingdom of God!

II. So now we shall pass on, in the second place, to ask, WHAT DID THIS
TABLE COMPANIONSHIP IMPLY?

It implied, first of all, mutual fidelity. This solemn eating and
drinking together was a pledge of faithfulness to one another. It must
have been so understood, or otherwise there would have been no force in
the complaint, "He that eats

bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me." Did not this mean
that because Judas had eaten bread with his Lord, he was bound not to
betray Him, and so to lift up his heel against Him? This was the seal
of an implied covenant–having eaten together, they were under bond to
be faithful to one another! Now, as many of you as are really the
servants and friends of Christ may know that the Lord Jesus, in eating
with you at His table, pledges Himself to be faithful to you. The
Master never plays the Judas–the Judas is among the disciples. There
is nothing traitorous in the Lord–He is not only able to keep that
which we have committed to Him, but He is faithful and will do it. He
will be faithful, not only as to the great and main matter, but also to
every promise He has made! Know then, assuredly, that your Master would
not have asked you to His table to eat bread with Him if He intended to
desert you! He has received you as His honored guests and fed you upon
His choicest food and thereby He does as good as say to you, "I will
never leave you, come what may. And in all times of trial, depression
and temptation, I will be at your right hand and you shall not be
moved–and to the very last you shall prove My faithfulness and truth."

But, Beloved, you do not understand this Supper unless you are also
reminded of the faithfulness that is due from you to your Lord, for the
feast is common and the pledge mutual. In eating with Him, you pledge
your faithfulness to the Crucified. Beloved, how have you kept your
pledge during the past? You have eaten bread with Him and I trust that
in your hearts you have never gone so far aside as to lift up your heel
against Him–but have you always honored Him as you should? Have you
acted as guests should have done? Can you remember His love to you and
put your love to Him side by side with it–without being ashamed? From
this time forth may the Holy Spirit work in our souls a jealous
fidelity to the Well-Beloved which shall not permit our hearts to
wander from Him, or suffer our zeal for His Glory to decline!

Again, remember that there is in this solemn eating and drinking
together, a pledge of fidelity between the disciples, themselves, as
well as between the disciples and their Lord. Judas would have been a
traitor if he had betrayed Peter, or John, or James. So, when you come
to the one table, my Brothers and Sisters, you must henceforth be true
to one another. All bickering and jealousies must cease and a generous
and affectionate spirit must rule in every bosom! If you hear any speak
against those with whom you have communed, reckon that as you have
eaten bread with them, you are bound to defend their reputations. If
any railing accusation is raised against any Brother in Christ, reckon
that his character is as dear to you as your own! Let a sacred
Freemasonry be maintained among us, if I may liken a far higher and
more spiritual union to anything which belongs to common life. You are
members, one of another–see that you fervently love each other with a
pure heart. Drinking of the same cup, eating of the same bread, you set
forth before the world a token which I trust is not meant to be a lie.
As it truly shows Christ's faithfulness to you, so let it as really
typify your faithfulness to Christ and to one another!

In the next place, eating and drinking together was a token of mutual
confidence. They, in sitting there together, voluntarily avowed their
confidence in each other. Those disciples trusted their Master. They
knew He would not mislead or deceive them. They also trusted each
other, for when they were told that one of them would betray their
Lord, they did not suspect each other, but each one asked, "Lord, is it
I?" They had much confidence in one another and the Lord Jesus, as we
have seen, had placed great confidence in them by treating them as His
friends. He had even trusted them with the great secret of His coming
sufferings and death! They were a trustful company who sat at that
Supper table. Now, Beloved, when you gather around this table, come in
the spirit of implicit trustfulness in the Lord Jesus. If you are
suffering, do not doubt His love, but believe that He works all things
for your good. If you are vexed with cares, prove your confidence by
leaving them entirely in your Redeemer's hands. It will not be a
festival of fellowship to you if you come here with suspicions about
your Master. No, show your confidence as you eat of the bread with Him.
Let there also be a brotherly confidence in each other. Grievous would
it be to see a spirit of suspicion and distrust among you. Suspicion is
the death of fellowship! The moment one Christian imagines that another
thinks badly of him, though there may not be the slightest truth in
that thought, yet straightway the root of bitterness is planted! Let us
believe in one another's sincerity, for we may rest assured that each
of our Brothers and Sisters deserves to be trusted more than we do.
Turn your suspicions within and if you must suspect, suspect your own
heart! But when you meet with those who have communed with you at this
table, say within yourself, "If such can deceive me and, alas, they
may, then will I be content to be imposed upon rather than entertain
perpetual mistrust of my fellow Christians."

A third meaning of the assembling around the table is this, hearty
fraternity. Our Lord, in sitting down at the table with His disciples,
showed Himself to be one with them, a Brother, indeed. We do not read
that there was any order of priority by which their seats were
arranged. Of course, if the Grand Chamberlain at Rome had arranged the
table, he would have placed Peter at the right hand of Christ–and the
other Apostles in graduated positions according to the dignity of their
future bishoprics! But all that we know about their order is this–that
John sat next to the Savior and leaned upon His bosom. And that Peter
sat a good way off–we feel sure he was because it is said that he
"beckoned" unto John. If he had sat next to him, he would have
whispered to him–but he beckoned to him–and so he must have been some
way down the table, if, indeed, there was any "down" or "up" in the
arrangement of the guests. We believe the fact was that they sat there
on a sacred equality–the Lord Jesus, the Elder Brother among them–and
all else arranged according to those words, "One is your Master, even
Christ, and all you are brethren." Let us feel, then, in coming to the
table again at this time, that we are linked in ties of sacred
relationship with Jesus Christ who is exalted in Heaven, and that
through Him our relationship with our fellow Christians is very near
and intimate.

Oh, that Christian brotherhood were more real! The very word,
"brother," has come to be ridiculed as a piece of hypocrisy and well it
may, for it is mostly used as a cant phrase and, in many cases means
very little. But it ought to mean something. You have no right to come
to that table unless you really feel that those who are washed in
Jesus' blood have a claim upon the love of your heart and the activity
of your benevolence! What? Are you to live together forever in Heaven
and will you show no affection for one another here below? It is your
Master's new command that you love one another–will you disregard it?
He has given this as the badge of Christians–"By this shall all men
know that you are My disciples"–not if you wear a gold cross, but–"if
you have love, one to another." That is the Christian's badge of his
being, in very truth, a disciple of Jesus Christ! Here, at this table,
we find fraternity. Whoever eats of this sacred Supper declares himself
to be one of a brotherhood in Christ, a brotherhood striving for the
same cause, having sincere sympathy, being members of each other and
all of them members of the body of Christ! God make this to be a fact
throughout Christendom even now, and how will the world marvel as it
cries, "See how these Christians love one another!"

But this table companionship means even more–it signifies common
enjoyment. Jesus eats and they eat the same bread. He drinks and they
drink of the same cup. There is no distinction in the food items. What
does this mean? Does it not say to us that the joy of Christ is the joy
of His people? Has He not said, "That My joy might remain in you, and
that your joy might be full"? The very joy that delights Christ is that
which He prepares for His people! You, if you are a true Believer, have
sympathy in Christ's joy–you delight to see His Kingdom come, His
Truth advanced, sinners saved, Grace glorified, holiness promoted, God
exalted–and this also is His delight! But, my dear Brothers and
Sisters and fellow professors, are you sure that your chief joy is the
same as Christ's? Are you certain that the mainstay of your life is the
same as that which was His meat and His drink, namely, to do the will
of the Heavenly Father? If not, I am afraid you have no business at
this table! But if it is so and you come to the table, then I pray that
you may share the joy of Christ. May you joy in Him as He joys in you
and so may your fellowship be sweet!

Lastly on this point, the feast at the one table indicated familiar
affection. It is the child's place to sit at the table with its
parents, for affection rules there. It is the place of honor to sit at
the table. "Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the
table." But the honor is such as love and not fear suggests. Men at the
table often reveal their minds more fully than elsewhere. If you want
to understand a man, you do not go to see him at the Stock Exchange, or
follow him into the market, for there he keeps himself to himself–you
go to his table and there he reveals himself. Now, the Lord Jesus
Christ sat at the table with His disciples. 'Twas a meal, 'twas a meal
of a homely kind–intimate communion ruled the hour. I am afraid,
Brothers and Sisters, we have sometimes come to this table and gone
away again without having had communion with Christ–and then it has
been an empty formality and nothing more. I thank God that coming to
this table every Sabbath, as some of us do, and have done for many
years, we have yet for the most part enjoyed the nearest communion with
Christ here that we have ever known, and have a thousand times blessed
His name for this ordinance!

Still, there is such a thing as only eating the bread and drinking the
wine and losing all the sacred meaning thereof. Do pray the Lord to
reveal Himself to you. Ask that it may not be a dead form to you, but
that now, in very deed, you may give your heart to Christ while He
shall show to you His hands and His side, and make known to you His
agonies

and death wherewith He redeemed you from the wrath to come! All this,
and vastly more, is the teaching of the table at which Jesus sat with
the twelve. I have often wondered why the Church of Rome does not buy
up all those pictures by one of its most renowned painters, Leonardo da
Vinci, in which our Lord is represented as sitting at the table with
His disciples, for these are a contradiction of the Popish doctrine on
this subject! As long as that picture remains on a wall and as long as
copies of it are spread everywhere, the Church of Rome stands convicted
of going against the teaching of the earlier church by setting up an
"altar" when she, herself, confesses that before it was not considered
to be an altar of sacrifice, but a table of fellowship at which the
Lord did not kneel, nor stand as an officiating priest, but at which He
and His disciples sat. We, at least, have no rebukes to fear from
antiquity, for we follow and mean to follow the primitive method! Our
Lord has given us commandment to do this until He comes–not to alter
it, but just to "do this," and nothing else, in the same manner, until
He shall come again!

III. We will draw to a close by asking WHAT FURTHER MAY BE INFERRED
FROM THIS SITTING OF

CHRIST WITH HIS DISCIPLES AT THE TABLE?

I answer, first, there may be inferred from it, the equality of all the
saints. There were here 12 Apostles. Their Apostleship, however, is not
concerned in the matter. When the Lord's Supper was celebrated after
all the Apostles had gone to Heaven, was there to be any alteration
because the Apostles had gone? Not at all. Believers are to do this in
remembrance of their Lord until He shall come. There was no command for
a change when the first Apostles were all gone from the Church. No, it
was still to be the same–bread and wine and the surrounding of the
table until the Lord came. I gather, then, the equality of all saints.
There is a difference in office, there was a difference in miraculous
gift and there are great differences of growth in Grace, but still, in
the household of God, all saints, whether Apostles, pastors, teachers,
deacons, elders, or private members–being all equal–eat at one table.
There is but one bread, there is but one juice of the vine here!

It is only in the Church of God that those words, so politically wild,
can ever be any more than a dream–"Liberty, Equality and Fraternity."
There you have them where Jesus is–not in a republic, but in the
Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ where all rule and dominion
are vested in Him! And all of us willingly acknowledge Him as our
glorious Head and all we are brethren! Never fall into the idea that
older Believers were of a superior nature to ourselves. Do not talk of
Saint Paul, Saint Matthew and Saint Mark unless you are prepared to
speak of Saint William and Saint Jane sitting over yonder–for if they
are in Christ, they are as truly saints as those first saints were! And
I think there may be some who have even attained to a higher
"saintship" than many whom tradition has canonized! The heights of
saintship are, by Grace, open to us all and the Lord invites us to
ascend! Do not think that what the Lord worked in the early saints
cannot be worked in you. It is because you think so that you do not
pray for it–and because you do not pray for it, you do not attain it!
The Grace of God sustained the Apostles–that Grace is not less today
than it was then! The Lord's arm is not shortened! His power is not
straitened. If we can but believe and be as earnest as those first
saints were, we shall yet subdue kingdoms and the day shall come when
the gods of Hinduism and the lies of Mohammed and of Rome shall as
certainly be overthrown as were the ancient philosophies and the
classic idolatries of Greece and Rome by the teaching of the first
ministers of Christ! There is the same table for you and the same food
is there in emblem–and Divine Grace can make you like those holy men,
for you are bought with the same blood and quickened by the same
Spirit! Only believe, for "all things are possible to him that
believes."

Another inference, only to be hinted at, is that the needs of the
Church in all ages will be the same and the supplies for the Church's
needs will never vary. There will still be the table–and the table
with the same items upon it–bread, still bread–nothing more than
bread for food. Still wine, nothing less than wine for drink. The
Church will always need the same food, the same Christ, the same
Gospel. Out, you traitors who tell us that we are to shape our Gospel
to suit this enlightened 19th Century! Out, you false-hearts who would
have us tone down the everlasting Truth of God that shall outlive the
sun, moon and stars to suit your boasted culture which is but varnished
ignorance! That Truth of God which of old was mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds, is still mighty, and we will maintain it
to the death! The Church needs the Doctrines of Grace today as much as
when Paul, or Augustine, or Calvin preached them! The Church needs
justification by faith, the substitutionary Atonement, regeneration and
Divine Sovereignty to be preached from her pulpits as much as in days
of yore! And by God's Grace she shall have them, too!

Lastly, there is in this Truth, that Christ has brought all His
disciples into the position of table companions, a prophecy that this
shall be the portion of all His people forever. In Heaven there cannot
be less of privilege than on earth. It cannot be that in the celestial
state, Believers will be degraded from what they have been below. What
were they, then, below? Table companions. What shall they be in Heaven
above? Table companions and blessed are they that shall eat bread in
the Kingdom of God! "Many shall come from the East and from the West,
and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of
God." And the Lord Jesus shall be at the head of the table! Now, what
will His table of joy be? Set your imagination to work and think what
will be His festival of soul when His reward shall be all before Him
and His triumph all achieved! Have you imagined it? Can you conceive
it? Whatever it is, you shall share in it–I repeat those
words–whatever it is, the least Believer shall share in it! You, poor
working woman, oh, what a change for you, to sit among the princes of
Christ's palace of Glory, near to your Lord, all your toil and needs
forever ended! And you, sad child of suffering, scarcely able to come
up to the assembly of God's people–and going back, perhaps, to that
bed of languishing–you shall have no pains there, but you shall be
forever with the Lord! In the anticipation of the joy that shall be
yours, forget your present troubles, rise superior to the difficulties
of the hour and if you cannot rejoice in the present, yet rejoice in
the future which shall so soon be your own!

We finish with this word of deep regret–regret that many here cannot
understand what we have been talking about–and have no part in it.
There are some of you who must not come to the table of Communion
because you do not love Christ. You have not trusted Him. You have no
part in Him. There is no salvation in what some people call
"sacraments." Believe me, they are but delusions to those who do not
come to Christ with their heart! You must not come to the outward sign
if you have not the thing signified. Here is the way of
salvation–"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved."
To believe in Him is to trust Him. To use an old word, it is
recumbency–it is leaning on Him, resting on Him. Here I lean on this
platform rail. I rest my whole weight on this support before me. Do so
with Christ in a spiritual sense–lean on Him. You have a load of sin,
lean on Him–sin and all! You are all unworthy, weak and, perhaps,
miserable. Then cast on Him the weakness, the unworthiness, the misery
and all! Take Him to be All-in-All to you–and when you have thus
trusted Him, you will have become His follower! Go on by humility to be
His disciple, by obedience to be His servant, by love to be His friend
and by communion to be His table companion!

May the Holy Spirit so lead you, for Jesus sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: LUKE22:7-54.

Verses 7-13. Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover
must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us
the Passover, that we may eat And they said unto Him, Where will You
that we prepare? And He said unto them, Behold, when you are entered
into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water;
follow him into the house where he enters in. And you shall say unto
the good man of the house, the Master says unto you, Where is the guest
chamber, where I shall eat the Passover with My disciples? And he shall
show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went
and found as He had said unto them: and they made ready the Passover
The hour of Christ's humiliation was drawing near, but He was still
"The Master." He had but to send His servants and His request was at
once obeyed–just as He might have asked for more than 12 legions of
angels and they would have been immediately placed at His disposal.

14-22. And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve Apostles
with Him. And He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this
Passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I will not any
more eat thereof until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. And He
took the cup, and gave thanks and said, Take this, and divide it among
yourselves: for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the
vine until the Kingdom of God shall come. And He took bread, and gave
thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which
is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup
after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which
is shed for you. But, behold, the hand of Him that betrays Me is with
Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it was determined:
but woe unto that man by whom He is betrayed! What consternation those
sentences must have caused in that little company! Christ and His 12
Apostles alone present, yet one of them was about to betray his Lord!

23, 24. And they began to enquire among themselves, which of them it
was that should do this thing. And there was also a strife among them,
which of them should be accounted the greatest How strange that such a
quarrel should be going on just then! Their Master was going out to
betrayal and crucifixion for them, yet they were disputing about which
of them "should be accounted the greatest."

25-30 And He said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise
lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are
called benefactors. But you shall not be so: but he that is greatest
among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that
does serve. For which is greater, he that sits at the table, or he that
serves? Is not he that sits at the table? But I am among you as He that
serves. You are they which have continued with Me in My temptations.
And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father has appointed unto Me;
that you may eat and drink at My table, in My Kingdom, and sit on
thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel What folly and sin to
quarrel about earthly precedence when such heavenly honors were
awaiting them!

31, 32. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to
have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but Ihave prayed for you, that
your faith fail not: and when you are converted, strengthen your
brethren. Trial would be general to all the Apostles–"Satan has
desired to have you"–but the danger would be special to Peter on
account of his tendency to presumptuous zeal. "'I have prayed for you.'
Your danger will be that after having transgressed, your faith will
fail, so I have especially prayed about that. Where your greatest
danger lies, there have I planted My batteries of prayer 'I have prayed
for you, that your faith fail not.'"

33. And he said unto Him, Lord, I am ready to go with You, both into
prison, and to death. And I have no doubt that he thought he was ready
to do all this! He spoke out of the fullness of his heart, but he did
not know the weakness of his flesh. We are all too apt to promise great
things and to fail in the fulfillment of them.

34-36. And He said, I tellyou, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day
before that you shall thrice deny that you know Me. And He said unto
them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked you
anything? And they said, Nothing. Then said He unto them, But now, he
that has a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that
has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.At first our Savior
had great popularity among the people and, under the cover of this, His
disciples were received with respect and kindness so that, though they
went forth without purse or scrip, they lacked nothing. But now Christ
warns them that there is to be a very different state of things. Jesus
is about to die and people will not be ready to entertain them. They
will need to have a purse and scrip of their own. They will constantly
be in peril of their lives and they will now need the sword and the
scrip. This is all that the Savior meant.

37. For Isay unto you, that this which is written must yet be
accomplished in Me, And He was reckoned among the transgressors: for
the things concerning Me have an end. "They are drawing to their close.
I am about to be put to death as a transgressor and you will be treated
as though you were the off-scouring of all things and were not fit to
live because you are My followers."

38. And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And He said unto
them, It is enough.A smile must have passed over the Savior's face as
He saw how they had misunderstood Him! He did not mean that they should
literally carry swords, but that they should now have to go through an
alien world and to meet with no friends or helpers. He evidently did
not mean that they were to defend Him with the sword, for two such
weapons would not have been "enough" against the Roman legionaries who
were sent to seize Him! How apt they were to misconstrue and take
literally that which He was accustomed to speak in figures, just as, to
this day, some will have it that the bread on the Communion table is
Christ's body and the juice of the vine is His actual blood!

39. 40. AndHe came out, and went, as He was known to do, to the Mount
ofOlives; andHis disciples also followed Him. And when He was at the
place, He said unto them, Pray that you enter not into
temptation."There is a peculiar temptation coming upon you. I have
taught you to pray every day, 'Lead us not into temptation,' but
tonight make very special use of that petition–'Pray that you enter
not into temptation.'"

41-44. AndHe was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled
down and prayed, saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup
from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Yours be done. And there
appeared an angel unto Him from Heaven, strengthening Him. And being in
an agony, He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was, as it were,
great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Was He heard? Ah, my
Brothers and Sisters, He was indeed heard! And especially in that part
of His prayer, "nevertheless not My will, but Yours be done." And that
was the most vital part of His prayer for, as much as He shrank from
that bitter cup, still more did He shrink from any thought of going
contrary to the will of His Father! That ought to be the heart of all
our prayers–whatever we are asking for, chiefly and above all else
this should be our cry–"nevertheless not as I will, but as You will."

45, 46. And when He rose up from prayer, and was come to His disciples,
He found them sleeping for sorrow, and said unto them, Why do you
sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation. There must have
been some very peculiar temptation about that night, that Christ's
disciples should have needed to be again and again commanded to pray
this prayer!

47-50. And while He yet spoke, behold a multitude, and he that was
called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto
Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betray you the Son
of Man with a kiss? When they who were about Him saw what would follow,
they said unto Him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And one of
them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.
No doubt he meant to cut his head in two, but the sword slipped and
merely took away his right ear.

51. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer you thus far. And He touched
his ear and healed him. There was no lasting mischief done, but, on the
contrary, another instance given of the Divine Power of Christ. No
other miracle of this kind is mentioned in Scripture–I mean the
healing of a wound received by violence, the restoration of a member
which had been cut off–and Luke is the only Evangelist who mentions
it! It has been thought that because he was a physician and had a quick
eye for acts of healing, that he mentions that Christ touched the ear
of Malchus and healed him.

52-54. Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the
Temple, and the elders, which were come to Him, Have you come out as
against a thief, with swords and staves? When I was daily with you in
the Temple, you stretched forth no hands against Me: but this is your
hour, and the power of darkness. Then they took Him and led Him, and
brought Him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off