| The Last Supper |
| During our childhood we (my cousins Sunil, Aji, Sijil,
Deepa, my sister Jaya and I) used to act out the Lord’s Supper.
From my childhood the prayer Jesus mentioned in the Last Supper, (Mathew
26:26- 28) was a mystery. Mathew 26:26 - 28, “while they were
eating, Jesus took a piece of bread gave a prayer of thanks, broke
it, and gave it to his disciples “Take and eat it,” he
said, “This is my body.” |
| Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it
to them. “Drink it, all of you,” he said; “this
is my blood, which seals God’s Covenant. My blood poured out
for many for the forgiveness of sins.” |
| From the time I received my First Holy Communion, I
asked Jesus why I could not experience him in this prayer. |
| When I started to see God through Jesus, from then
on I enquired about the meaning of this prayer from a lot of Spiritual
people. I read a lot of books regarding the Last Supper. Once I talked
this matter over with one of our Parish priests, Fr. Shijo. Then Father
Shijo arranged a class for me regarding the Last Supper. Even though
I read a lot of books and attended the class and Spiritual Retreats,
I never understood the meaning of the prayer Jesus said at the Last
Supper. |
| When Jesus taught me the meaning of Eternal life, I
asked the Lord, to please help me to understand the Last Supper. |
| Then Jesus took me to John 6:37 “Everyone whom
my Father gives me, will come to me.” |
| That means my Spirit can go to Jesus only when the
Heavenly Father permits it. |
| In John 6:45, it is written – The prophets wrote,
“Every one will be taught by God. Anyone who hears the Father
and learns from him comes to me.” |
| Then I asked Jesus |
† How can God teach
me?
† How can I hear from the heavenly Father?
† How can I learn from the heavenly Father? |
| Then Jesus took me to John 14:26 “The Helper,
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach
you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.” |
| That means the Heavenly Father will teach my Spirit
with the help of the Holy Spirit. |
| Then I asked Jesus what I have to hear from the Father
and learn from the Father with the help of the Holy Spirit. |
| Then he took me to John 16:13 “When, however,
the Spirit comes, who reveals the truth about God; he will lead you
into all the truth.” |
| That means when the Holy Spirit comes into my Spirit
then only my Spirit will know the truth about God and other truths.
Then I asked Jesus why this is so? |
| Then Jesus took me to John 8:43 “Why do you not
understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to listen to
my message, you are the children of your father, the Devil and you
want to follow your father’s desires. From the very beginning
he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what
is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.” |
| Through these words Jesus explained that when Eve and
Adam ate the forbidden fruit in the beginning, from then on, man’s
Spirit is controlled by the lies given by the Devil. In this situation
my spirit can never go to the life giving tree - Jesus. |
| That’s why it’s written like this in Genesis
3:24. “Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures
and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep
anyone from coming near the tree that gives life.” |
| But when my Spirit receives the Holy Spirit, who reveals
the truth about God and truth about what really happened in the beginning
(in the Garden of Eden), then God allows my Spirit to go near the
life giving tree Jesus Christ. |
| That is why Jesus said in John 6:45 “Anyone who
hears the Father and learns from him comes to me.” |
| At this stage Jesus took me to John 6:35 “I am
the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “He who comes to
me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” |
| That means Jesus is the “bread of life”
for my Spirit. That’s why Jesus said my Spiritual hunger will
comes to an end only when my Spirit sees Jesus. And he continued,
my Spirit’s thirst will come to an end only when my Spirit starts
to believe Jesus (because earlier my Spirit believed the Devil). |
| After explaining how my Spirit can believe in the life
giving tree or bread of life, Jesus took me to John 6:50. “But
the bread that comes down from heaven is of such a kind that whoever
eats it will not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats this bread he will live for ever.” |
| Then I asked Jesus how my Spirit can eat Jesus. Then
he showed me John 6:51. “The bread that I will give him is my
flesh, which I give so that the world may live.” |
| At this stage I wondered how my Spirit can eat the
flesh of Jesus. Then he took me to John 1: “Before the World
was created, the Word already existed; he was with God, and he was
the same as God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through
him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without
him. The Word was the source of life.” |
| Here the Word referred to was Jesus Christ. |
| And in John 1:14 it is written “And the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” |
| Through these words Jesus made it clear that to eat
the flesh of Jesus means to eat the Words of Jesus or to receive the
Words of Jesus into my Spirit. |
| Jesus continued in John 6:53 “I am telling you
the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink
his blood, you will not have life in yourselves.” |
| Through this word Jesus explained that if I need life
in my Spirit, my spirit will have to imbibe the words of the Son of
Man and drink his blood. Otherwise my Spirit will be controlled by
the Devil and his knowledge. |
| Jesus said in John 14:10 “Do you not believe,
Philip, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” The
words that I have spoken to you, Jesus said to his disciples, “do
not come from me. The Father, who remains in me, does his own work.” |
| Through this word Jesus explained that his words mean
the Heavenly Father’s words. |
| In John 4:24 it is written, “God is Spirit.” |
| 1 John 1:7 says like this, “And the blood of
Jesus, his Son, purifies us from every sin.” In John 7:37, it
is written, on the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus
stood up and said in a loud voice, “Whoever is thirsty should
come to me and drink. As the scripture says, ‘Whoever believes
in me, streams of life-giving water will pour out from his heart.’”
Jesus said this about the spirit, which those who believed in him
were going to receive. At that time, the spirit had not yet been given,
because Jesus had not been raised to glory. John 6:63 says, “What
gives life is God’s spirit.” Through these words, Jesus
explains that Jesus’ blood means God’s spirit. |
Jesus
made it clear that what my spirit needs is “every word that
God speaks,” nothing else. |
| Jesus continued in John 6:55 “For my flesh is
the real food; my blood is the real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him.” |
| Since Jesus’s word is the same as God’s
word then my Spirit’s real food is God’s word. And since
Jesus’s Spirit is the same as God’s Spirit then my spirit’s
real drink is God’s Spirit. When I eat (Jesus’s word)
God’s word in my Spirit and when I drink (Jesus Spirit) God’s
Spirit in my Spirit, then I live in Jesus and Jesus lives in me. |
| That is why Jesus said in Mathew 4. Then the spirit
led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. After spending
forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. Then the Devil
came to him and said, “If you are God’s Son, order these
stones to turn into bread.” |
| But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Man
cannot live on bread alone, but needs every word that God speaks.” |
| Through this word Jesus explained to me that, food
can only satisfy my body, not my spirit. Jesus made it clear that
what my spirit needs is “every word that God speaks,”
nothing else. |
| When I eat God’s word and drink God’s Spirit
into my Spirit, life will come into my Spirit. |
| Then I asked Jesus what is life? Then the Lord took
me to John 11:25. “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever
believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and
believes in me will never die.” Through this word Jesus made
it clear that he is the life of my spirit. |
| Then I asked Jesus how I can receive him or life into
my spirit. Then Jesus showed me John 6:63 “What gives life is
God’s Spirit: man’s power is of no use at all. The words
I have spoken to you bring God’s life giving Spirit.” |
| That means my spirit has to eat the flesh of the son
of man, and drink his blood in my spirit. Only then will I receive
‘life’ in my spirit. I asked Jesus how it can happen.
Then Jesus showed me Mathew 7:12 and Mathew 5:44. |
| Jesus said in Mathew 7:12 that the crux of the Law
of Moses and that of the teachings of the prophets is “DO FOR
OTHERS WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO FOR YOU.” |
| In Mathew 5:44 Jesus explained how a person becomes
the child of God. “Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you so that, you may become the sons of your Father in heaven.” |
| So if, |
† I want Jesus revealed in my Spirit
† I want life in my Spirit
† I want to eat the flesh of the Son of man (God’s word)
and drink his blood (God’s Spirit) in my spirit.
† I want to eat the living bread (Jesus) that came down from
heaven in my spirit.
† I want to believe Jesus in my Spirit
† I want to see Jesus in my spirit
† I want to know the truth about God and all the other truths
in my spirit. |
| Then I have to pray for the whole human race starting
from Adam and Eve. Here I have to pray for the people who had given
me the wrong knowledge about God, God’s blessing, God’s
love and Jesus Christ. |
| At this stage of life with the help of Jesus Christ
I thank God for the whole human race, starting from Adam and Eve. |
† Receiving Holy Spirit
in their Spirit
† Seeing Jesus in their Spirit
† Believing Jesus in their Spirit
† Eating the living bread (Jesus) that came down from heaven
in their Spirit
† Eating the flesh of the son of man (God’s word) and
drinking his blood (God’s Spirit) in their spirit
† Receiving life in their spirit
† Receiving Jesus in their spirit. |
| When I am praying for others and for the people who
persecuted me, then the life giving Spirit is coming to my Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit comes to my Spirit then “life” comes
to my spirit. That means “Jesus” is revealed in my Spirit. |
| When my spirit receives the Holy Spirit, then my spirit
is filled with God’s word and God’s Spirit. That means
my spirit eats the flesh of the son of man and drinks his blood. |
| Even though Jesus’ disciples received the body
and blood from the Lord, they all ran away from him when he was persecuted.
But when they received the Holy Spirit, they started to live for the
Lord, even without his bodily presence. Through these instances, Jesus
explained that I can live for the Lord only when I receive the Holy
Spirit. |
| Here Jesus showed that his disciples did not receive
His body and blood soon after His ressurection, but they waited till
they received the Holy Spirit. Jesus asked me to receive His body
and blood only after receiving the Holy Spirit. |
| That is why Jesus gave the order to his disciples that
every one shall receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4 & 1:8) |
