A Life of St. John for the Young

by George Ludington Weed

"When the hour was come, He sat down, and the apostles with him."—Luke xxii. 14.

"There was at the table reclining in Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved."—John xiii. 23.

Three Evangelists leave the door of the upper room standing ajar. Through it we can see much that is passing, and hear much that is said. John coming after them opens it wide, thus enlarging our view and increasing our knowledge.

Luke says of Jesus, "He sat down and the apostles with Him." That is a very simple statement. We might suppose all was done in quietness and harmony. But he tells us of a sad incident which happened, probably in connection with it. "There arose also a contention among them which of them is accounted to be greatest." The question in dispute was possibly the order in which they should sit at the table. They still had the spirit of the Pharisees who claimed that such order should be according to rank.

We wonder how John felt. Did he have any part in that contention; or had he put away all such ambition since the Lord had reproved him and his brother James for it? Or was his near relation to the Lord so well understood that there was no question by anybody where John might sit—next to the Master?

Let us notice the manner of sitting at meals. The table was surrounded by a divan on which the guests reclined on their left side, with the head nearest the table, and the feet extending outward.

"There was at the table reclining in Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved." This is the first time John thus speaks of himself. He never uses his own name. His place was at the right of the Lord. There he reclined during the meal, once changing his position, as we shall see. Judas was probably next to Jesus on His left. This allowed them to talk together without others knowing what they said.

John begins his story of the upper room as a supplement to Luke's record of the contention. He first tells two things about Jesus,—His knowledge that His hour "was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father," and His great and constant love for His disciples. With these two thoughts in mind, how grieved He must have been at the ambitious spirit of the Apostles. He had once given them a lesson of humility, using a little child for an object lesson. That lesson was not yet learned; or if learned was not yet put into practice. So He gave them another object lesson, having still more meaning than the first.

But before making record of it John, as at the supper in Bethany, points to Judas. We are reminded of the traitor's purpose formed while Mary anointed and wiped Jesus' feet. So awful was that purpose, so full of hatred and deceit, that John now tells us it was the devil himself who "put into the heart of Judas ... to betray Him." "Humanity had fallen, but not so low."

John seems to have well understood his Master's thoughts and interpreted His actions in giving the second object lesson. He noticed carefully, and remembered long and distinctly, every act. Was there ever drawn a more powerful picture in contrast than in these words,—"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came forth from God, and goeth unto God, riseth from supper, and layeth aside His garments; and He took a towel, and girded Himself. Then He poureth water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded."