Jesus first attended a meal at the home of Simon the Leper. It was there he was anointed with a very valuable perfume by a devout woman. Judas rebuked her, but Jesus in turn rebuke him. This created tension with Judas who probably at that time mentally decided to betray the Lord. He needed to discover a way to accomplish his plan in which he could manipulate Jesus to become the earthly king that he wanted. His loyalty was to the nation of Israel but sacrificed his loyalty to the Messiah.
In the background, the Sanhedrin members met to devise a means to kill Jesus. When Judas slipped out of the newly instituted Lord’s Supper, he sought the companionship of the enemies of Christ. Jesus instructed some of his disciples to prepare the place and the meal for the Passover. The place was likely owned by the mother of John Mark who eventually wrote the book of Mark. After the meal, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. It was the custom in those days to wash the feet of guests because they would have been dirty since they wore sandals. The disciples were negligent of this duty.
At the conclusion of the Passover and in the absence of Judas, Jesus implemented what we call the Lord’s Supper or Communion. Jesus designated the bread and wine representing his broken body and the wine his blood spilled. His sacrifice was the consummation of the Law and the animal sacrifices because he presented his body as a perfect and final sacrifice to God. After they sang a hymn, Jesus instructed the disciples to join him on the path to the Garden of Gethsemane.
While walking toward the garden, he utters a prayer recorded in John 17. Moments before Jesus explained his departure so that the Holy Spirit could be with the disciples and all those who followed their teachings. Jesus made a profound statement said, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” (John 17:20) In other words, Jesus was praying for us. How marvelous that Jesus looked down through the ages and saw you and me. That shows how extensive his love was!
There in the garden Jesus prayed so intensely the droplets of blood came forth from his portions to the perspiration. He asked the disciples to support him in prayer, but they failed and slept on waiting for him to finish his own praying. Judas with the enemies of Christ came for the ultimate betrayal by kiss. Our Lord was then arrested as a common criminal even over the objection of Peter cut off the ear one of those who came from the temple. Jesus reminded the disciples that if he wanted to save himself, he could’ve called many, many angels to his defense. The disciples scattered all except John. Jesus was taken to face trials for his supposed misdeeds. These trials lasted through the night during which she was abused, hit, and mocked. Since the Jewish leaders had no legitimate authority to kill Jesus themselves, they appealed to the Roman governor Pilate the next morning.
We must repeat the fact that if Jesus wanted to rescue himself he could. Instead, he allowed his mistreatment to escalate all the way to the cross.
Christian Writer 