Lesson#12

TheLastSupper(13:1–14:31)

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InLesson#11JesusenteredJerusalemforhis3rdandfinalPassover.WehavestudiedthisstorythreeAmesnow:inMaDhew,MarkandLuke.John’sgospel,however,approachedthestoryverydifferently.Ratherthantellinguswhathappened,asthesynopAcgospelsdo,Johninvitedustojointheinnercircleandsitatthetable.WeaDendedadinnerpartyatBethanyandwesmelledtheperfumethatMarypouredonJesus’feet;wewalkedwithJesusonhis“triumphalentry”;wesharedJesus’fearashecontemplatedwhatlayahead;andweheardinAmateconversaAonsbetweenJesusandhisdisciples.

Lesson#11broughtJesus’publicministrytoaclose.Whatfollowsisthemostsustained,inAmatesequenceinallofScripture.AsJesusstepsintotheshadowofthecrossandthedreadfuldarknessofsufferinganddeath,wewalkwithhim.Nightenvelopsus.Blacknessgripsoursouls.Westandintheshadowofthecross...andwewait.

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AWerthedinerpartyatBethanyandJesus’“triumphalentry”intoJerusalem,weskiptheextendeddramaofHolyWeekportrayedinthesynopAcgospels—thescourgingoftheTemple(whichJohnplacesatthebeginningofJesus’publicministry,notattheend);thedaily,escalaAngencounterswiththereligiousleaders;andtheverbalsparringwithJesus’opponents—andwemovedirectlytotheLastSupper,whichbeginswithJesuswashinghisdisciples’feet,aneventuniquetoJohn’sgospel.Duringdinner,JesusspeaksofJudas’betrayalandofPeter’sdenial,andheoffersencouragementtohisdisciples,emphasizingthe6thofhis7“Iam”statements:

1.“Iamthebreadoflife”(6:35)2.“Iamthelightoftheworld”(8:12)

3.“Iamthegateforthesheep”(10:7)

4.“Iamthegoodshepherd”(10:11)

5.“IamtheresurrecAonandthelife(11:25)

6.“Iamthewayandthetruthandthelife”(14:6)

7.   “Iamthetruevine”(15:1)

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DuringtheconversaAonthatfollowsJesusstresseshisonenesswiththeFather,prompAngPhiliptoask,“Master,showustheFather,andthatwillbeenoughforus”(14:8),towhichJesusreplies:“HaveIbeenwithyouforsolongaBmeandyousBlldonotknowme,Philip?WhoeverhasseenmehasseentheFather”(14:9).

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“Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Master, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later . . .

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“Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.’ For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’”

(13: 1-11)

TintoreDo.ChristWashingtheDisciplesFeet(oiloncanvas),1548-1549.PradoMuseum,Madrid.

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TintoreDopaintedChristWashingtheDisciplesFeetduring1548-1549asacompanionpiecetohis1547TheLastSupper.BothpainAngshunginthechurchofSanMarcuolainVenice,TheLastSupperontheleWsideofthealtar,ChristWashingtheDisciples’Feetontheright.ThisexplainstheratheroddposiAoningofJesuswashingSt.Peter’sfeetonthefarrightofthecomposiAon;usually,he’sinthecenter.ViewingthepainAngfromthesideangleontherightwall,however,wouldplaceJesusintheforegroundoftheoverallcomposiAon,withthedecoraAvefloorAlingandthedisciple’gazeleadingtheeyetowardJesus.NoAcethehumorousposesofthedisciplesremovingtheirstockings,aswellasJudasbeingisolatedfromtheothersonthefarleW.

ThepainAngisnowdisplayedinthePradoMuseum,andamid-17thcenturycopybyCarloRidolfiisinSanMarcuola.

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Judas

ChurchofSanMarcuola,Venice,withTintoreDo’sTheLastSuppertotheleWofthealtar.

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“Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Master, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later . . .

Jesuswashinghisdisciples’feetonlyoccursinJohn.ItisaninAmatescene,yetparadoxical,foronlythelowliestofservantswashedtheguests’feetwhentheyenteredahome.• Wereadthat“[Jesus]lovedhisownintheworldandhelovedthemtotheend.”Thephrase“totheend”iseijß tevloß.“Telos”isliterally“terminaAon,thelimitatwhichathingceasestobe.”WemightbeDertranslate,“helovedthemtotheuMermost”or“toperfecBon.”“Loved,”ofcourse,isajgapavw[a-gap’-ao].

• Whenwereadthat“thedevilhadalreadyinducedJudas...tohandhimover,”itopensthedoortoconsiderablespeculaAonaboutJudasandhismoAves.WewillexploreJudasin-depthinLesson#16,“Excursus:JudastheBetrayer.”

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“Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.’ For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’”

(13: 1-11)

“MasteroftheHousebook.”ChristWashingtheDisciplesFeet(oilandtemperaonwood),c.1475.Gemäldegaleie,Berlin.

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NoAceSt.PeterholdingJesus’arm,stoppingJesusfromwashinghisfeet.

JudasisbehindJesus,theonlydisciplewithoutahalo.

AlthoughfootwashingwasacommoncourtesyforguestsintheNearEastinancientAmes,liturgicalfootwashingonHolyThursday,thebeginningoftheEasterTriduum,goesbacktoatleastthelaDerhalfofthe12thcentury.

From1570through1955,theRomanMissalprintedtheriteoffootwashingaPertheHolyThursdayMass.Inthe1955revisionoftheMissal,theritewasincludedduringtheMass,aWerthehomilythatfollowsthegospelreading.Onlymenwereinvolvedintherite,however.

BreakingwithtradiAon,PopeFranciswashedthefeetoftwowomenatHolyThursdayMassin2013,andin2016theMissalwasrevisedtopermitfootwashingduringMassforbothmenandwomen.

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AboutAme!

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“So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, ‘Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it . . .

Jesuswashinghisdisciples’feetsendsavividmessagethatifonewishestofollowChrist,itrequiresthatthe“firstshallbethelastofallandtheservantofall”(Mark9:35).

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“I am not speaking of all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. But so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.’ From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM [ jEgwv eijmi]. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” (13: 12-20)

Again,JesusalludestohisbetrayalbyJudas,usingthememorableimageof“theonewhoatemyfoodhasraisedhisheelagainstme.”

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Hisdisciplesaretorememberhesaidthis,forinhindsighttheywillrecognizethevalidityofhisclaimthat jEgwv eijmi,“IAM.”

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“When he had said this, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” So he dipped the morsel and [took it and] handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After he took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.” [Now] one of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, ‘Buy what we need for the feast,’ or to give something to the poor. So he took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.”

(13: 21-30)

DomenicoGhirlandalo.LastSupper(fresco),1480.ChlesadiSanSalvatorediOgnissanA[AllSaintsChurch],Florence.

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Peter Jesus John

Judas

• WhenwereadthatJesuswas“deeplytroubled,”weencounterthesamewordusedaswhenhestoodbeforethetombofLazarus,witnessingtheoverwhelmingsorrowofhisfriends:taravssw [ta-ras’-so],aseismicinnerturmoil.Thecatalysthereisnotdeath,however,butbetrayal.

• Readingcarefully,werecallthatinJohn13:3,the“devilhadalreadyinducedJudas”tohandJesusover;now,oncehetakesthemorselfromJesus’hand,“Satanenteredhim”(13:27).ThissuggeststhatSatanhadbeeninfluencingJudasfromthestart,butthatJudashadthefreedomtoacceptorrejectthatinfluence.Now,onceSatanentershim,perhapsthatfreedomisdiminished,oratleastsomewhatmuted.

• “Anditwasnight”isperhapsthemostchillinglineinallofScripture.

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CarlHeinrichBloch.TheLastSupper(oiloncopper),1876.MuseumofNaAonalHistory,FrederiksborgCastle,Hillerød,Denmark.

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“When he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. [If God is glorified in him,] God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (13: 31-35)

WhenIthinkofJohn’sgospel,thosearethewordsthatspringtomind:“loveoneanother.”Althoughthe

themeofloveispresentthroughoutJohn,itmovestotheforestage

fromnowon.

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Iloveyou,yaknow.I’madog;that’swhatwedo.

• Weneedtofocusontheword“glorify/glorified,”asJesusrepeatsit5Ameshereintwosentencesandsome15Amesinhisgospel.Thewordisdoxavzw (do-ksa’-zo),meaningto“magnify,”“extol,”or“praise.”IntheimmediatecontextofJohn,itreferstoJesus’resurrecAonandascensionintoheaven,wherehewillbeseatedattherighthandoftheFather,missionaccomplished.AshecamefromtheFather,sohewillreturntotheFather“inglory.”

• AndwhenJesuscommandsusto“love”oneanother,ofcourse,thewordisajgapavw[a-gap’-ao],thehighest,divineformoflove.

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“Simon Peter said to him, ‘Master, where are you going?’ Jesus answered [him], ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.’ Peter said to him, ‘Master, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down you life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.’”

(13: 36-38)

PoorPeter!HehaseveryintenAonofstandingfirm,butaswe’llsee,hedeniestheLordthreeAmes,not

fromalackoffaith,butfromalackofcourage.We’dallliketothinkthat

whenpushcomestoshovewe’llstandupforChrist,butwillwe?

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IthinkIwould!Don’tbesosure,smartypants.

I’veseenyourunawayfromme!

• Ofcourse,whereJesusisgoingisthecross,abrutaldeathbycrucifixion.Andhemustdoitalone.Intheend,heevenfeelsthatGodhasforsakenhim,ashebearstheweightofoursinandpaysthepenaltyforoursinbeforeaholyandrighteousGod.

• ButPeterwill,indeed,golater.HewillbemartyredinRomeduringthepersecuAonunderNero,someAmebetweenA.D.64-68,crucifiedupsidedown,astradiAontells.

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Caravaggio.CrucifixionofSt.Peter(oiloncanvas),c.1601.SantaMariadelPopolo,Rome.

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“’Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am going you also may be. Where [I] am going you know the way.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ Philip said to him, ‘Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.’”

(14: 1-9)

• Jesus’“LastSupperDiscourse”isabsolutelymind-boggling!JesussaysplainlythatheisreturningtotheFather,andthatoncehearriveshewillprepareaplaceforus,andwhenhedoes,hewillreturnforusandbringuswithhim.

• Thomassays(withsomedegreeoffrustraAon),“Wedon’tknowtheway!”ThistriggersJesus6thof7“Iam”statements:

1.“Iamthebreadoflife”(6:35)2.“Iamthelightoftheworld”(8:12)3.“Iamthegateforthesheep”(10:7)4.“Iamthegoodshepherd”(10:11)5.“IamtheresurrecAonandthelife(11:25)6.“Iamthewayandthetruthandthelife”(14:6)7.   “Iamthetruevine”(15:1)

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• WhenPhilipsays,“Master,showustheFather,andthatwillbeenoughforus,”Jesusreplies,“HaveIbeenwithyouforsolongaBmeandyousBlldonotknowme,Philip?WhoeverhasseenmehasseentheFather”(14:8-9).

• InJohn’sPrologueweread:“InthebeginningwastheWord,andtheWordwaswithGod,andtheWordwasGod...andtheWordbecamefleshandmadehisdwellingamongus.”

(1:1,14)

• Now,JesusmakesplainthatheandtheFatherareconsubstanBal,oneandthesame.SeeingChrist,wehaveseentheFather.

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WhenJesussays,“InmyFather’shousetherearemanydwelling

places”(14:2),“dwellingplaces”ismonhv,inafeminineplural,meaning

“rooms.”IratherliketheKJVtranslaAon,“manymansions!”

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You’resosilly!

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“‘Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.’”

(14: 10-14)

Thatdoesn’tmeanthatyoucanpray,alongwithJanisJoplin—“inJesus’name”:

DON’THOLDYOURBREATH!

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Butseriously,praying“inJesus’name”meansprayingforanythingthatisconsistentwithwhoheis,withwhatisinGod’swill,notwhatisinyours.

Godalwaysanswersprayer.SomeAmeshesays,“No.”

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“‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On the day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him’ . . .

• NoAcethatJesussaystwice,thatifyoulovehimyouwillkeephiscommands.Inhisepistle,Jamesmakesthesamepoint:

“Whatgoodisit,mybrothers,ifsomeonesayshehasfaithbutdoesnothaveworks?Canthatfaithsavehim?...Faithofitself,ifitdoesnothaveworks,isdead.”

(James2:14,17)

• Johnmakesthepointevenmorebluntlyinhis1stepistle:

“Whoeversays,‘Iknowhim,’butdoesnotkeephiscommandmentsisaliar,andthetruthisnotinhim.”

(1John2:4)

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Wemightconfidentlysaythat“faithalonesaves,”butthefaiththatsavesisneveralone.AgenuinesavingfaithwillalwaysmanifestitselfinalifeofacAvelove,oralifeofgoodworks.Thetwogohand-in-hand,likebreathinginandbreathingout.

Ifityousayyouhavefaithbuthavenothingtoshowforit,you’rejustdeludingyourself,justplayingasillygame.

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TheAdvocatewhomJesuswillsendistheHolySpirit,andaWerJesus’AscensiontheHolySpiritwillarriveontheJewishfeastofPentecost,A.D.32.WewitnesstheHolySpirit’sarrivalinActs2.

Theword“Advocate”isparavklhtoß [pa-ra’-kla-tos],the“Paraclete.”Thewordisacompoundofparav [para,“alongside”]andklhtoß [klay’-tos,“called”].

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“Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, ‘Master, [then] what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him [in the person of the Holy Spirit]. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid . . .

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“You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. Get up, let us go.’”

(14: 28-31)

AlthoughJesussays,“TheFatherandIareone”(10:30)and“WhoeverhasseenmehasseentheFather”(14:9),therolesoftheFather,SonandHolySpiritdifferwithinthedynamicoftheTrinity.

Forexample,althoughFather,SonandHolySpiritarefullypresentthroughouthistoryoneverypageofScripture,theFathertakescenterstageasthedominantfigureintheHebrewScriptures;theSontakescenterstageintheGospels;andtheHolySpirittakescenterstagefromtheActsoftheApostlesonward.

WemightimaginethattodaytheFatherreignsovertheuniverseinheaven;theSonsitsathisrighthandintercedingonourbehalfasourAdvocate;andtheHolySpiritguides,nurturesandprotectstheChurch(andliveswithineachoneofus)aswejourneythroughourpilgrimagelife.

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Jesus’arrest,trialandcrucifixionareonlyhoursaway.Leavingthe“upperroom,”whereJesusandhisdisciplesaresharingtheirmeal,thegroupwalksfromthesouthwesternneighborhoodofJerusalem,pasttheTemple’ssouthernsteps,aroundthesoutheasterncorneroftheTempleplaworm,acrosstheKidronValley,anduptheMountofOlivestotheGardenofGethsemane.

Alongtheway,theconversaAonconAnues...

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!NeighborhoodoftheLastSupper

WalkingtotheGardenofGethsemane"

!TempleComplex

!Eastern(“Golden”)Gate

MountofOlives"

!TemplePlaworm

Temple

! Eastern(“Golden”)Gate

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Gethsemane

1.   WhatdoesJesusteachhisdisciplesbywashingtheirfeet?

2.   WhydoesPeternotwantJesustowashhisfeet??3.   WhatpossiblemoAvecouldJudashavetobetray

Jesus?

4.   WhatpossiblemoAvecouldPeterhavefordenyingJesus?

5.   JesushasemphasizedthatheandtheFatherareone.Whatdoeshemean,then,whenhesays,“theFatherisgreaterthanI”?

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Copyright©2016byWilliamC.Creasy

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