Urantia Book 96. The life of Jesus of Nazareth, Joshua bin Joseph, Yeshua, Christ Michael, Sovereign God of Nebadon. Jesus and the apostles took an alternate route to Jerusalem to avoid the crowds. They stood looking sadly down at the city. Jesus said to them: “The experience you have had with me, you must now make ready to share with others. If it is the Father’s will that I depart, nothing you may do can frustrate the divine plan. Take heed to yourselves lest they kill you also. Don’t be mislead into any foolish attempt to defend the Son of Man; the armies of heaven even now are at hand; but I am determined to do the will of my Father in heaven, and therefore we must submit to that which is so soon to come upon us. When they arrived at the house owned by John Mark’s father, John Mark was there to welcome them. This is where they would have the Passover and last meal together (178.3.1-6).******************************* The apostles were confused. It was Thursday evening, and Passover wasn’t celebrated until Friday evening. They concluded either that this was a special celebration or that Jesus would be arrested before he could celebrate Passover on Friday evening. They weren’t bothered by lack of a sacrificial lamb because they knew Jesus didn’t use one in hosting Passover. When the apostles looked at the water and cloths for washing their feet, they realized there were no servants to wash their feet. And they swiftly thought that they weren’t going to wash anyone’s feet. It would be too much like a servant. Jesus stayed downstairs talking to John Mark’s family, and the apostles didn’t know whether to seat themselves or not. And they didn’t want to seat themselves without washing their feet. Finally, Judas takes the seat of honor at the left of the host, which immediately stirred up a heated dispute among the other apostles. John Zebedee then laid claim to the seat at the right of the host. Peter, burning by this time, took the seat lowest in importance at the farthest removed from the host. They were now ready to begin the supper, but they were in anything but a pleasant frame of mind. When the Master arrived, they were making very uncomplimentary comments about each other not to mention angry recriminations. The Master ‘s disappointment was plain on his face. (179.1.1-8).********************** Jesus drew water and took towels in order to wash the apostles’ feet. He approached Peter, who panicked. And all the apostles rose to their feet. Peter didn’t want the Master to wash his feet. Jesus had to threaten him: “Peter, I declare that, if I do not wash your feet, you will have no part with me in that which I am about to perform.” Jesus then went around the table washing the feet of all the apostles, even Judas. When he was finished, he gave them a lecture on service. He said: “you have seen the way of service in my life among you, and blessed are you who will have the gracious courage so to serve. But why are you so slow to learn that the secret of greatness in the spiritual kingdom is not like the methods of power in the material world? When I came into this chamber tonight, you were disputing among yourselves about who should have the places of honor at my table. Do you not know that there can be no place of honor at my table? He who would become chief, let him become one who serves. You will observe that I come among you as one who serves. At that point the Alpheus twins brought out the bread and wine, with bitter herbs and the paste of dried fruits, for the next course of the Last Supper. During the Supper Jesus whispered to Judas to go and “what you have decided to do, do quickly.” He also apprised the 11 apostles of the evil in their midst and to be very astute after he was gone (179.4.1-7).********************* They brought to Jesus the third cup of wine, the blessing cup. Jesus held it up and said: “Take this cup, all of you, and drink of it. This shall be the cup of my remembrance. This is the cup of the blessing of a new dispensation of grace and truth. This shall be to you the emblem of the bestowal and ministry of the divine Spirit of Truth. And I will not again drink this cup with you until I drink in new form with you in the Father’s eternal kingdom.” The apostles sensed something out of the ordinary was happening. The old Passover celebrated liberation from a state of racial slavery into individual freedom; this Passover celebrated the individual’s freedom from ceremonialism and selfishness into the spiritual joy of the brotherhood and fellowship of the liberated faith sons of the living God….And then Jesus took the bread and said: “Take this bread of remembrance and eat it. I have told you that I am the bread of life. And this bread of life is the united life of the Father and Son in one gift. The word of the Father, as revealed in the Son, is indeed the bread of life.” Despite Jesus’ attempt to make it difficult for future generations to attach precise meanings to his teachings, and bind his spiritual teachings by the dead chains of tradition and dogma, the future church did precisely that. His simple spiritual symbolism of that last night in the flesh has been subjected to the almost mathematical precision of a set formula. Of all Jesus’ teachings, none have become more tradition standardized.