19081908
People :
Author : Leo Tolstoy
Text :
Among those who have heard these words of Jesus, many of the powerful and rich people believed in the teaching of Jesus, but were afraid to admit that before the Pharisees, because none of the Pharisees accepted the teaching of Jesus. They did not accept the truth, because they got used to believe worldly teaching, rather than godly. And the Chief priests and the scribes gathered again in the courtyard of Caiaphas. And began to conspire how to take Jesus in secret away from people and to kill him. They were afraid to capture him openly. And to their meeting one of the first disciples of Jesus, Judah Iscariot, came and told them: “If you are afraid to take Jesus openly, before people, then I’ll find time when there will be few people with him, and will show you where he is, and then you can take him. What are you going to give me for that?” - They promised him thirty pieces of silver. Judas agreed and since that time he has begun choosing the time when to bring the high priests to Jesus, to capture him. Meanwhile, Jesus left Jerusalem again, and only his disciples were with him. When the first holiday of "unleavened bread" approached, the disciples said to Jesus: “Where we will celebrate the Passover?” And Jesus said: “Go somewhere in the village, enter the first house, and tell them that you don't have time to prepare for the Easter, and that you are asking to let you in, to celebrate the holiday.” The disciples did that, went to the village, in the village they asked to come in the first house, and the owner let them in. And when they came - Jesus and the twelve disciples, including Judah - they all sat down at the table to celebrate the Easter. Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot promised the Pharisees to extradite him for death, but he didn’t want to repay evil for evil to Judas and to expose him in front of all disciples, as Jesus the whole his life taught his students love, and also now he wanted to soften the heart of Judas only by love. And so, when he and all the twelve disciples were already sitting at the table, Jesus took bread, broke it into twelve pieces, gave each of the students by piece, and said: “This is my body, take it and eat it.” And then he poured some wine into a bowl, passed it to the disciples, and said: “Drink, all of you, from this cup, this is my blood.” And when they, one after another, drank wine from the cup, he said: “Yes, this is my blood. I am spilling my blood for the sins of the world.” And, having said that, Jesus stood up from the table, removed his upper clothes, girded with a towel, took a water jug, and said that he will now wash the disciples’ feet. First, he came to Peter, but Peter distanced himself and said: “How can a teacher wash the feet of the disciples?” But Jesus said to him: “It seems strange to you, why would I want to wash your feet, but you’ll now know why I do it. I do it because although you are clean, but not all of you.” With these words, Jesus hinted at Judas. And Jesus washed feet of all disciples, including Judas. And when he finished and got dressed, he turned to all the disciples, and said: “Did you understand now why I did that? I did that so that you would always do the same to each other. I am your teacher, do that so you know how to act with those who does evil to you. If you understand that and will do that, you will always be well.” And, having said this, Jesus got sad and said: "Yes, yes, one of those whose feet I washed, will betray me.” And the disciples began to look at each other and did not know who he was talking about. One student was sitting next to Jesus. Simon Peter nodded to him to ask Jesus about whom he said that. He asked. And Jesus said, “This is the one to whom I’ll pass a piece of bread.” And he passed a piece of bread to Judas Iscariot and said to him: “Do what you want to do, do quickly.” At first, no one understood what the words of Jesus meant, but Judas understood them and, as he took the piece, he right away stood up and went out, and when the disciples realized what it was, it was already too late, and they could not chase him, because there was a dark night. And when Judas left, Jesus said: “Children! Little time has left for me to be with you. Don’t ponder about my teaching, but, as I told the Pharisees, do what I do. I give you a new commandment: just like I always, till the end, loved you all, you always, till the end, love each other and all people. In this commandment is all my teaching. Only by fulfilling this commandment, you will be my disciples. Love each other and all people. (John 12, 42, 43; Matthew 26, 3-5, 14-28, John 13, 2-35)
Questions:
1) Who has got to believe in the teaching of Jesus?
2) How did the Chief priests conspire?
3) What did Judah promise?
4) How did Jesus command to organize the Passover?
5) How did Jesus hint to Judas?
6) What has Jesus done to the disciples?
7) How did he save Judas from the anger of the disciples?
8) What commandment did he give to his disciples?
From : Wikisource.org.
Chronology :
November 30, 1907 : Chapter 42 -- Publication.
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