Our blessed Lord loved His disciples to the end; and in order that
they might remember all the blessings secured to them by His death on
the Cross, He appointed the "outward and visible sign," of eating
bread and drinking wine, which were to figure, or represent to their
minds, His body and blood thus given for them: but not given for them
_only_, but for all mankind; and therefore it is just as necessary for
all Christians to remember these things.
We consequently find, that ever since that last Supper, when Jesus
said, "Do this in remembrance of me," Christians _have_ constantly
done the same thing, that Christ then commanded His disciples to do.
We, as members of Christ's Holy Church, continue to receive bread and
wine in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, in token of our belief,
that the body of Jesus was broken and His blood shed for us; and that
we thereby hope, "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His
body, and our souls washed through His most precious blood."
When you are of an age to partake of the blessed Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, you will learn more about it: mean time do not forget
that it was appointed by Jesus Christ, only a few hours before He made
that sacrifice of Himself, which we commemorate, or remember, in this
solemn service.
After the institution of the Lord's Supper, Jesus told His disciples
(John xiv.) that though He was about to leave them, it was for their
good that He should go; because then the Holy Spirit would come upon
them, to teach and comfort them: and that if they believed in Him, and
followed in the way that He had already pointed out, they should abide
with Him in heaven. He likewise declared, that all who professed to
love Him must show their love by keeping His commandments. Jesus,
having spoken these things, said, "Arise, let us go hence." And when
"they had sung an hymn," according to the custom at the Passover,
where Psalms were sung after the fourth cup of wine, Jesus came out,
and went, as he was wont, "to the Mount of Olives; and his disciples
followed him."
Here again Jesus spake many things to the disciples--(John xv., xvi.).
He compared Himself to a vine, and His disciples to the branches. He
is the root, without which there can be no tree: as long as the
branches remain part of the tree, they receive nourishment from the
root, and bring forth fruit: but if the branches are cut off, and so
separated from the root, they wither and die, and are of no use except
to be burned. In the same way all who will be His disciples, must by
faith abide in Him as their root; doing His will, copying His
example, and so bringing forth the fruit of good works to the glory of
God.
Amongst other things, Jesus spake to the disciples of prayer; and
promised that God would give them whatsoever they should ask in His
Name. He also warned them, that if they faithfully followed His
precepts and obeyed His commands, they would in this world meet with
troubles, and be cruelly treated and even killed, by those who would
not believe in Him. The enemies of Jesus, those who knew not Him Who
sent Him, would persecute His faithful servants for their Master's
sake. Having warned His disciples that they must suffer for the sake
of their faith, Jesus bid them fear nothing so long as they continued
to love and serve Him: for whilst they did so, God would bless and
comfort them, and finally take them to Himself in heaven. "In the
world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome
the world." Now all that Jesus said to His disciples was meant for
_all_ His followers in all times, even unto the end of the world.
Such promises and hopes have supported the "noble army of martyrs,"
who in the early ages of the Church suffered tortures, and died the
most cruel death, rather than give up, or even _pretend_ to give up,
their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The same spirit should be in us:
we are not called to martyrdom as were the holy men of old; but should
the Lord allow it to be so again, should we be ready so to suffer for
our religion? But let us ask ourselves another question, of more
practical importance at the present time: Are we willing to give up
_anything_ for the sake of pleasing Jesus? Do we give up our own
wishes and pleasures to please Him, Who bids us deny ourselves? Do we
try to conquer our evil tempers, passions, and inclinations, because
He has said, "Resist the Devil"? If we have anything like the spirit
which guided the martyrs, we shall force ourselves to be attentive and
industrious, when we feel careless and idle: obedient, when we feel
wilful and perverse; kind and generous, when we feel selfish: gentle
and patient, when we feel cross and irritable; and so on. This is no
easy task; no easy life. But we must remember Christ's warning, that
those who will be His faithful servants, _must_ meet with difficulties
and hindrances in their way. Let us then pray for the Holy Spirit, to
teach, and guide, and support us; so that, our hearts being filled
with faith and love, we "may never be ashamed to confess the faith of
Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner, against sin,
the world, and the devil, and to continue Christ's faithful soldiers
and servants unto our life's end."
When Jesus had said these things, He lifted up His eyes to Heaven, and
prayed to His Father, to support Him through the coming trial; so that
He might glorify the Father, by securing the salvation of men. Then
Jesus prayed for the disciples who did already believe in Him, and
besought that they might be kept in His faith and love, and enabled to
teach others all that He had taught them.
Our Lord also prayed for all who should in after times learn true
religion from the teaching or writings of the Apostles, and so become
one of them, by having the same faith, the same wish to glorify God by
obedience to His holy Will. For all who do thus join themselves to
Him, Jesus prayed that they may be with Him in heaven. Our blessed
Lord thus prayed for us, and for all His followers in every age: and
He still prays for us, and intercedes for us in heaven. All Christians
are now one body, of which Christ is the Head; one vine, of which
Christ is the root; one flock, of which Christ is the Shepherd.
We call this body the Church of Christ; by Baptism we are taken into
this Church, and made part of this body; therefore, we must try always
to know and do the Will of our Head.
When Jesus had ended His prayer, He saith unto the disciples, "All ye
shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will
smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered
abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into
Galilee."
By being "offended," Jesus meant that they would be afraid to own Him
as their Master, and would forsake Him: but to show them that He would
not punish their weakness by casting them off for ever, He told them
where they might see Him again, after He should have risen from the
dead.
Notwithstanding the warnings already received, Peter was still full of
self-confidence, and "answered and said unto him, Though all men shall
be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended." Why should
Peter have thought himself more likely than others to do right? Why
should any of us think so? Whenever we do thus depend upon ourselves
to do right, we are almost sure to fall into sin, for the Devil takes
advantage of our pride and self-conceit, to tempt us; and then God
frequently leaves us to ourselves, that from our fall we may learn by
painful experience our exceeding weakness and sinfulness. Jesus now
showed Peter, that though he thought himself so safe, he would do
worse than his fellow disciples; for "he saith unto him, Verily I say
unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow
twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I
say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny
me thrice. Peter spake the more vehemently, and said unto him, Though
I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee in any wise. Likewise
also said all the disciples."
Poor Peter little knew himself! No doubt he and all the disciples felt
what they now said: but if men would bear in mind their weakness and
proneness to sin, they would never feel _sure_ of not doing wrong; but
would watch and pray, so that the Devil may get no advantage over
them. "When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his
disciples" from the place on the Mount of Olives, where they were,
"unto a place called Gethsemane, over the brook Cedron, where was a
garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. And Judas also
knew the place, for Jesus oft-times resorted thither with his
disciples." Having entered into this garden with the eleven disciples,
Jesus saith unto eight of them, "Sit ye here while I go and pray
yonder. And he taketh with him Peter, and James and John, the two sons
of Zebedee, and when he was at the place" to which he had intended to
go, "he began to be sorrowful, and sore amazed, and to be very heavy."
Now began the mysterious, and most bitter part of our blessed Lord's
sufferings for sinful man. What those sufferings were, we do not
exactly know: they were not bodily, but spiritual; his soul suffered
such agony, as we can form little idea of: we only know that sin, the
sin of man, _our sin_, caused His sufferings; and that the holy and
righteous Lord now bore for our sakes, all the agony that is the fruit
of sin. It seems likely that at this time the Devil and his evil
spirits again attacked Jesus, and tried by every means in their power
to prevail upon Him not to finish His work, even the salvation of man,
but to spare _Himself_, and leave His guilty creatures to the fearful
consequences of their sins. In His agony, prayer was our Lord's
refuge; and feeling the necessity of being alone with God, that He
might freely pour out His soul before Him, "he saith unto the three
who accompanied him, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death:
tarry ye here and watch with me." Thus He asked them to help Him with
their prayers; setting, in His human nature, an example for all men to
follow. Then, knowing the power and malice of the Devil, Jesus added a
caution to pray for themselves, that they might not be led into sin,
by any temptation which should come upon them; "he saith unto them
Pray, that ye enter not into temptation."