xiii. 23-26; Mark xiv. 20). If it could be proved that the customs
recorded in the Talmud correctly represent the usage in Jesus' time it
would be of extreme interest to seek to connect what is told us of the
last supper with that Passover ritual as Dr. Edersheim has done (LJM ii.
490-512). The antiquity of the rabbinic record is so uncertain, however,
that it is only useful as showing what possibly may have been the case.
All that can be asserted is that the rabbinic ritual probably originated
long before it was recorded, and that as the last supper was a meal which
Jesus and his disciples celebrated as a Passover, it is probable that some
such ritual was more or less closely followed.

195. Luke and John give the fullest reports of what was said at the table.
All the gospels tell of Peter's declaration of superior loyalty and the
prediction of his threefold denial; Luke, however, adds that in connection
with it Jesus assured Peter of his restoration, and charged him to
strengthen his brethren (Luke xxii. 31-34). John alone gives the long and
full discourse of admonition and comfort, followed by Jesus' prayer for
his disciples (xiii. 31 to xvii. 26). It is evident from the words of
Jesus as he entered the garden of Gethsemane (Mark xiv. 33, 34), as from
those which had escaped him when the Greeks sought him the last day in the
temple (John xii. 27), that his own heart was greatly troubled during the
supper by the apparent defeat which was now close at hand. His quietness
and self-possession during the supper, particularly when tenderly
reproving his disciples for petty ambition, or when solemnly dismissing
the traitor, or warning Peter of his denials, must not blind us to the
depth of the emotion which was stirring his own soul. It is only as we
remember his trouble of heart that it is possible justly to value the
ministry which in varied ways he rendered to his disciples that night. In
the discourses reported by John he showed that he realized that the
approaching separation would sorely try the faith of his followers, and he
sought to strengthen them by showing his own calmness in view of it, and
by promising them another who should abide with them spiritually as his
representative, and continue for them the work which he had begun. He
therefore urged them to maintain their devotion to him, still to seek and
find the source of their life and secret of their strength in fellowship
with him--present, though unseen amon