"The Last Supper"
How Things Work – Consideration #120 (Book II Science & Religion)
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Tuesday January 30, 2024
“If we but paused for a moment to consider attentively what takes place in this Sacrament, I am sure that the thought of Christ's love for us would transform the coldness of our hearts into a fire of love and gratitude.”
– Angela of Foligno
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
The Last Supper represents a physical, metaphysical, and spiritual explanation of both the Old and New Testament. The supper they are celebrating is the “Passover” in remembrance of God’s final plague against the Egyptians from the Old Testament book of Exodus. A story in which the sons of some are killed, and the sons of some are spared. It is the “blood of the lamb” smeared across the doors of the Israelites that saves their sons.
“God had found human beings incapable of following His laws and His commandments…”
Jesus represents the final sacrifice in a long tradition of human beings sacrificing to God; however, this time God was sacrificing “His Son” for them. God had found human beings incapable of following His laws and His commandments – this was a new opportunity for them to follow His heart. The covenant with Abraham would be expanded.
“The strict and unrelenting Judgement of the Law would ‘pass over’ all human beings…”
In this New Testament, the blood of Jesus would be smeared on the cross of crucifixion as the price for human selfishness and sin. The strict and unrelenting Judgement of the Law would “pass over” all human beings who were truly pure of heart. Wrath and condemnation would be replaced with forgiveness and redemption.
ENTANGLEMENT #120 – The Last Supper
From a physical point of view, this is a dinner. A gathering of close friends celebrating a holiday together. Therefore, it starts off with the traditional preparations.
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
Matthew 26:17-19
However, other preparations were also necessary; this was more than just a dinner. This is where Jesus shares the true expression of his message; explaining the inherent spiritual meaning of the physical sacrifice that was about to take place; as well as its spiritual intention. It begins with a prophecy of betrayal.
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
Matthew 26:20-25
The final verses serve as more than just a metaphor of remembrance, they are the foundation for the mystery of the Eucharist in the Catholic tradition. Here, the physical, metaphysical, and spiritual aspects of Jesus’ message unite in one act.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Matthew 26:26-29
Then Jesus makes a very specific prediction. Not only would one of the twelve Apostles betray him, but all would abandon him, and another even deny him publicly before the night was over. Peter, ironically the first to recognize Jesus as the “Messiah, Son of the living God,” would renounce and disown Jesus three times before the rooster crowed the next morning. The one who Jesus had renamed “the rock” would be the first to break.
Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
Matthew 26:31-35
Jesus’ prediction would soon come true. The Law was coming to capture him, persecute him, condemn him, and execute him as it ultimately does to everyone. The apostles and followers would scatter; he alone would personify the atonement for all of mankind. He would voluntarily choose to become the final sacrifice for this atonement.
POSTSCRIPT
At the Last Supper Jesus begins to physically manifest a choice that once embraced cannot be undone. Once Jesus reveals this truth to his apostles it essentially becomes real in the empirical world. Until that time, it was basically a secret between Jesus and his “Father.” If he decided not to make this choice no one would ever know. This revelation to “the world” transforms the events about to occur from a rational idea to an empirical inevitability.
The choice to disobey God was made in the Garden of Eden. The choice to follow His will would be made in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Next week Jesus prays for another possibility in the Garden of Gethsemane…
This Week on “The Thread”…
Excerpt From This Week’s Podcast:
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• UNTANGLING THE KNOTS OF REALITY: Podcast #80 – “Untangling the Neutron”
“What is the missing puzzle piece that completes the modern concept of the atom?” “How do Neutrons help stabilize the atom?” “How is Atomic Theory like the Eastern concept of Taoism?” “How did quantum theory shift science into a more rational consideration of reality?” “Does Quantum Mechanics suggest a more metaphysical interpretation of reality?” These are some of the knots we will attempt to untangle in this week’s podcast. That’s a lot of subatomic physics for one podcast! So, let’s get started…”
• REALITY BY A THREAD: Hegelian Artificial Intelligence (Excerpt) – “In terms of spirit, Hegel argues that in addition to individual conscious awareness there is a higher collective human consciousness that he calls Geist. Geist essentially reflects the collective human Spirit of the time, which is evolving toward an inevitable unity called Absolute Truth. Following Hegel’s argument, our current Geist is reflected through our cultural productions. Our current cultural productions are based on our current digital revolution that has now led to Artificial Intelligence. The collective human consciousness is now introducing a new form of consciousness; our next cultural production will be a new Rational Being.”
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“All Possibility is manifested from Potential Being (Rationalism). Example: You decide to build a house. Once that decision is made, the house moves toward potentiality in the empirical world. The idea, or potential house, will eventually become a ‘real’ house in ‘physical reality.’ It moves from a state of Potential Being (abstract idea) to a state of Physical Being as a ‘real house’ that you live in. Physical Being is a direct consequence of Potential Being.” – Book V (Quantum Consciousness)
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Book V considers the questions related to what Consciousness is, how it evolves through levels of Perception and Awareness, why each step in the process is important, where we are currently on the “Arch of Consciousness,” and how all of this connects to Artificial Intelligence. (166 pages)
The Second Substack Edition is Now Available!
“Human beings have often been described as “meaning making machines” by psychologists and others who study human behavior. We recognize patterns and want to understand why they occur. We come to understand those patterns and want to know how we can use them to make predictions about the world. We combine thought with those predictions to produce complete systems of understanding based on logic and reason. This obsession with gaining more knowledge, more understanding, and more meaning in our lives has led to the creation of science and technology far beyond the imagination of our ancestors…” (Book II - Part I: SCIENCE – Substack Edition)
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“This is where the East and the West separated into alternative realities; with the East focusing on the ability to directly experience the nature of reality, and the West focusing on the ability to rationally understand and alter reality. In Book II we will come to recognize how important this distinction was in transforming the primitive experience of our ancestors into the modern world and the age of science that we know today.” (Book II - Part I: SCIENCE – Substack Edition) 224 pages