Videos from Fr Claudio Doglio
Original voice in italian, with subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese & Cantonese
Last Supper Discourse
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come to leave this world and return to his Father, loved those who were his own in the world to the very end.
The evangelist highlights that Jesus is fully conscious of his awareness. “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.”
The washing of the feet marks the beginning of chapters 13–16, which cover the Last Supper, the farewell, and key teachings. In these passages, John places on Jesus’ lips the spiritual testament, the mandate to his community, and the important tasks. John does not narrate the institution of the Eucharist.
He does not mention the bread and wine during this supper, nor the words spoken at the consecration. However, after the sign of the bread, he dedicates nearly the entire chapter six to the Eucharistic discourse. With the words he spoke that evening during the supper, he established the sacrament of his body and blood, which John further explained as catechesis and included in chapter six. Now, during that supper, he presents an episode that the other evangelists overlook.
The act of washing feet holds both symbolic and Eucharistic significance. It reflects the meaning of the Eucharist, which represents the total gift of oneself and embodies the mystery of the incarnation and the redemption accomplished by Jesus. He gets up from the table and takes off his outer garments. He humbles himself by setting aside his divinity to stoop to the earth, reaching the disciples’ feet. He takes on the attitude of a servant and begins to wash their feet.
Peter does not understand the meaning and reacts by refusing to have his feet washed by the teacher. But Jesus shows him that acceptance is essential. “Unless I wash you, you will have no part with me.” It is not just the external gesture that Jesus performs but also the symbolic meaning behind it. There is a baptismal reminder of water that washes, and a Paschal sense—the sacrificial love of Jesus that cleanses the disciples from sin. If you do not let Jesus wash you, you cannot share in him. There is a need to accept being loved and to embrace this incredible God who lowers himself to wash our unworthy and limited humanity. This is the essence of what is about to happen—great love that makes us pure.
After this gesture left the disciples speechless, Jesus put on his clothes, sat down, and began to explain. Once again, we see the usual pattern: first a sign, then the explanation. The scene is accompanied by the significant words: “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you the example so you can do the same.”
These words closely resemble what the Synoptics refer to as the last words of the institution of the Eucharist: “Do this in memory of me.” ‘I am the example, the model, the prototype, and you are called to follow in the same way.’ It is not just an exemplary action on Jesus’ part. He is the cause of this love. It is not simply about showing us how to do it while leaving us in our weaknesses. His act of love truly touches our lives and enables us to do as he has done. This is a fundamental truth.
Jesus’s work is not just an example to follow, but a grace-filled power that enables the disciple to do the same. In this tense moment, Jesus reveals that one of the disciples is about to betray him.
Judas is depicted very negatively in the Gospel of John. He is portrayed as a thief, the one who holds the purse and helps himself from it, a hypocrite who suggested earning from the perfume of anointing at Bethany to help the poor, not because he cared about the poor,but because he wanted to take that money. Satan had already put into Judas’s heart the plan to betray Jesus. Jesus knows this and tells the disciple to do what he is about to do quickly. Judas finds Jesus’s attitude shocking, giving the morsel as a sign of friendship. As he takes that morsel, the devil enters into him. In Italian, we say: ‘To be as mad as hell’ (‘to have a demon for each hair’). It is a moment where the disciple’s anger breaks out against Jesus.
Generally, the term used is ‘betrayal,’ along with ‘betrayer’ and ‘to betray’ to describeJudas’s act. If we were more faithful to the Greek text, we should always translate these terms with the verb ‘to hand over’ (or ‘deliver’). Judas is a deliverer. In Latin, the verb ‘tradere’ does not mean ‘to betray.’ A similar sound might mislead us, but it is a false similarity. In Latin, the traitor is called ‘proditor.’ To betray is ‘prodere.’
On the other hand, the word ‘tradere’ is used, which is the Latin equivalent of the Greek ‘paradidomi.’ In English, we say ‘to deliver’ (to hand over). From this verb, ‘tradere,’ for example, the English word ‘trade’ is derived. It has nothing to do with betrayal; it refers to commerce, the exchange of goods. Therefore, what Judas does is deliver Jesus into the hands of enemies.
It was not necessarily Judas’s betrayal. Many false things were said about this supposed role. Jesus was not hidden in an inaccessible place. When he wanted to stay hidden, he was in hiding. At that moment, he was in Jerusalem, so he was visible to everyone. It would have been easy to arrest him at any time. He does not resist and is unarmed. He is in public every day. Therefore, there was no need for a traitor to find a secret hiding spot or to locate the well-known untraceable fugitive. Judas’s role was simple. He just made the arrest easier. It would have happened anyway.
However, the drama lies in the fact that this man does not share Jesus’s style. He is opposed to how Jesus conducts himself. It’s not that he doesn’t believe in him; he is convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. But it bothers him that Jesus moves so slowly and doesn’t force himself on others, making it easy to accept him without effort. So, he wishes to compel Jesus to change his approach—by handing Jesus over to the Sanhedrin in a way that leads to a full revelation, so that those who accept him can understand and finally establish this blessed messianic kingdom. Judas would have preferred things to proceed according to his ideas. Here, Judas was mistaken. His grave error was an attitude opposed to Christ; he does not follow him humbly, but wants to force him.
Judas becomes angry when confronted with Jesus’s attitude, which reveals that he knows his heart and, despite everything, loves him and offers him a small gesture of friendship. He stands up, furious, and walks away, slamming the door. “After he took the morsel, Satan entered him… So he took the morsel and left immediately. And it was night.” It is one of John’s most tragic phrases, a phrase that might seem ordinary. It was night; it was dark. Judas himself was night.
It was the drama of darkness battling the light. The story of a man who faced the light directly and let darkness take control of him. That escape into the night is the story of Judas—a disciple who turned against the master, refusing to learn and instead trying to force the master to do his will. When Judas left, Jesus said, “by now, it’s done.” We are at that moment. The deadly machine began to move and be set in motion; ‘in a few moments, the soldiers will arrive to take me, arrest me, and everything will unfold as planned.’
Now is the moment of glory, and at this time, when everything is about to happen, Jesus speaks from his heart to his disciples. John gathers a significant amount of Jesus’ teachings in five chapters. We are in the core of Jesus’ messianic teachings. There is the mandate, the great commandment of love.
This is the spiritual testament of Jesus. ‘I leave you this legacy. It is my commandment.’The Greek word Ἐντολὴν – ‘entollé’ would be better translated as a ‘proposal.’ Because love is not a command, Jesus proposes. He presents the possibility of loving to the disciples. He places it inside them, saying, ‘I offer you the possibility to love as God loved you,’ and I willprepare a place for you. He repeatedly uses the image of going to the Father to explain his death as an opening of the passage.
The Paschal story of Jesus is transformative. He opened the path to reach God and helped everyone understand their existence. “Where I am going, you know the way.” The disciples respond no. “We do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
It is another well-known, important theophoric phrase used to present His divinity: “I am.” “I am the way and the truth and the life.” He had already said, “I am the door,” which roughly corresponds to the way, meaning you have to go through Him to get there. “I am the life.” He had already told Martha before His brother’s grave: “I am the resurrection and the life.” He adds ‘truth’ and combines three words—way, truth, and life—to describe His divine person. ‘I am the way; I am the method; I am the mode, the way, the means to reach God. I am the revelation.’ In Johannine language, ‘truth’ means revelation, meaning something not hidden. Jesus is the manifestation of God. In His life, through what He said and did, He revealed God. He is the life; He is the goal.
The goal: to live fully. Jesus is life itself; he is the path to eternal life. He reveals life; he is the source of life for each person. ‘You know the way because I am the way. You are called to reach me through me.’ During the supper, the disciples (in these discourses) speak up, showing their limitations and inability to fully understand. Peter is eager; he says in words that he will follow him anywhere. ‘You will follow me later,’ Jesus tells him. ‘Now, you cannot go where I go.’ ‘You cannot come’ is very important. Where Jesus is going is to the Father. Peter and anyone else, with their own strength, cannot follow him. But he will follow later.
The key point in this discussion about the supper is the promise of the Παράκλητος – ‘Paraclete.’ The Holy Spirit is a technical term used in John’s legal language. The Greek word ‘paraclete’ corresponds to the Latin ‘advocatus,’ meaning ‘advocate.’ An advocate is a defender. The advocate, the ‘Paracletus,’ is the one called to be close by, for my sake, to do my part. He is the comforter who does not leave me alone but defends my interests. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, is the ‘Paraclete’ that the Father sends in Jesus’ name to continue Jesus’ work.
Some fundamental actions are attributed to the Holy Spirit. ‘He will remind you of what I have told you; he will teach you everything; he will guide you to the whole truth; he will give testimony for me, will counter the world’s opposition, he will announce to you the things to come.’ It is the testament in which Jesus leaves his inheritance, the Holy Spirit. The divine Person of the Spirit, who will continue the action of the disciples, will carry on the work of Jesus in the history of the disciples and the Church. What is essential is to remain in Jesus.
The imagery of vines and branches is extensively used to encourage the Christian community to stay united with Jesus and bear much fruit. The last chapter, chapter seventeen, which concludes the five chapters of the supper, includes Jesus’ magnificent priestly prayer. Jesus states that he offers himself so the disciples can be perfected in unity, brought to fullness, and become one with the person of God.
As the Father is united with Jesus, His followers will also be united in this divine communion and brought to completion through unity. This is Jesus’s act of consecrating Himself so that others can be consecrated in the truth. He is the truth. In Him, consecration becomes possible—participation in the life of God, who is the only sacred reality. This represents the height of the teaching.
After dinner, he goes out with his disciples and faces the passion that we usually call glory.