The Last Supper—A Sacred Event

 

 

THE LAST SUPPER—A SACRED EVENT

“At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1323)

The Eucharist is the supreme abasement of God, for the sake of the salvation of humanity. God rightly asks of us the utmost reverence for his presence in this mystery.

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Question: Why does Judas Iscariot have a halo in the above depiction of the Last Supper?

 

Answer: At the exact time at which the Iscariot is depicted during the Last Supper, he has not yet made the final decision to betray Jesus. Although he holds the bag of blood money, thirty pieces of silver, he is still undecided. It is only at the moment when he exits the Upper Room to make his way to the house of Caiaphas that he “loses his halo.” This event is captured in the picture shown below. 

 

According to the above interpretation, the Iscariot joined the other Apostles in receiving the Eucharist from Jesus and did so worthily, i.e. he did not receive the Eucharist in a state of grave (mortal) sin.

The Iscariot is undecided until the instant Satan enters him and Judas leaves the Upper Room.

“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] none 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.”

We should acknowledge that the four gospels do not present the entire Last Supper as a seamless account. There are holes in the story that allow for the foregoing interpretation.

On the other hand, there are at least two other competing narratives.

1. The Iscariot decides to betray Jesus before Jesus distributes his Body and Blood and thereby receives the Eucharist in a state of grave (mortal) sin.

“It’s not entirely clear that Jesus did give the Eucharist to Judas, and the early Christians disagreed on this point. Nevertheless, the majority opinion is that he probably did, and for good reason: Judas’s sin was a secret. As St. Thomas Aquinas explains, ‘Christ did not repel Judas from Communion so as to furnish an example that such secret sinners are not to be repelled by other priests.’”

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/why-did-jesus-give-judas-communion

—Joe Heschmeyer, “Why Did Jesus Give Judas Communion?” Catholic Answers, November 29, 2023

“Since Judas’s betrayal of Jesus likely was a grave sin, why did Jesus give him Communion at the Last Supper? …If Judas did receive Communion—as Scripture appears to indicate (Lk 22:19-23)—then there may be any number of reasons why Christ allowed it even though he had already been plotting Christ’s betrayal (Lk 22:3-4). Two possibilities include: Christ may have hoped that the grace of Communion ultimately could save Judas’s soul. Judas did indeed feel remorse for what he did (Mt 27:3-4), although he chose the wrong means to demonstrate that remorse (Mt 27:5). Or perhaps Christ respected Judas’s free will, just as he respects our free will, and so did not deny Judas Communion even though he apparently did not have faith that it was Christ’s body and blood (Jn 6:66-71). Michelle Arnold”

https://www.catholic.com/qa/since-judass-betrayal-of-jesus-likely-was-a-grave-sin-why-did-jesus-give-him-communion-at-the

—“Since Judas’s betrayal of Jesus likely was a grave sin, why did Jesus give him Communion at the Last Supper?” Catholic Answers

2. Jesus distributes his Body and Blood after the Iscariot leaves the Upper Room. In other words, the narratives in Matthew 26:20-29 and Mark 14:22-25 take place after Judas leaves.

The difficulty with this interpretation is that it plainly contradicts Luke’s account.

“Although some of the Gospel accounts are ambiguous (Mt 26:20-29; Mk 14:17-25; Jn 13:21-30), the Gospel of Luke seems to indicate that Judas received Holy Communion in the Upper Room:

“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of man goes as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!’ (Lk 22:19-22)

“Judas was apparently still at the table following the institution of the Eucharist, and so we can presume that he received the Sacrament along with the other disciples.

“…Church Fathers like St. Hilary of Poitiers and St. Ephraim the Syrian...attempt to read the Gospel accounts in such a way as to argue that Judas did not in fact receive the Eucharist. The problem with this approach, as we have seen, is that it seems to contradict a straightforward reading of Luke’s Gospel.”

https://stpaulcenter.com/did-judas-receive-the-eucharist-at-the-last-supper/

—Clement Harrold, “Did Judas Receive the Eucharist at the Last Supper?” St. Paul Center, March 15, 2024