The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

15 And Jesus said, You do not comprehend the meaning of the thing I do, but you will comprehend.

16 And Peter said, My master, no, you shall not stoop to wash my feet.

17 And Jesus said, My friend, if I wash not your feet you have no part with me.

18 And Peter said, Then, O my Lord, wash both my feet, my hands, my head.

19 And Jesus said to him, He who has taken first his bath is clean, and has no need to wash, except his feet.

20 The feet are truly symbols of the understanding of the man, and he who would be clean must, in the living stream of life, wash well his understanding every day.

21 Then Jesus sat with his disciples at the table of the feast and said, Behold the lesson of the hour:

22 You call me master; such I am. If, then, your Lord and master kneel and wash your feet, should you not wash each other’s feet and thus show forth your willingness to serve?

23 You know these things, and if you do them, blessed thrice are you.

24 And then he said, This is an hour when I can truly praise the name of God, for I have greatly wished to eat with you this feast before I pass the veil;

25 For I will eat it not again until anew I eat it with you in the kingdom of our Father-God.

26 And then they sung the Hebrew song of praise that Jews were wont to sing before the feast.

27 And then they ate the pasch and as they ate, the master said, Behold, for one of you will turn away this night and will betray me into wicked hands.

28 And the disciples were amazed at what he said; they looked into each other’s face in wonderment; they all exclaimed, Lord, is it I?

29 And Peter said to John, who sat beside the Lord, To whom does he refer?

30 And John put forth his hand and touched the master’s hand and said, Which one of us is so depraved as to betray his Lord?

31 And Judas said, Lord, is it I?

32 And Jesus said, He is the one who now has put his hand with mine into the dish. They looked, and Judas’ hand was with the hand of Jesus in the dish.

33 And Jesus said, The prophets cannot fail; the son of man must be betrayed, but woe to him who shall betray his Lord.

34 And from the table Judas rose at once; his hour had come.

35 And Jesus said to him, Do quickly what you are to do. And Judas went his way.

36 And when the pasch was done the Lord with the eleven sat a while in silent thought.

37 Then Jesus took a loaf of bread that had been broken not and said, This loaf is symbol of my body, and the bread is symbol of the bread of life;

38 And as I break this loaf, so shall my flesh be broken as a pattern for the sons of men; for men must freely give their bodies up in willing sacrifice for other men.

39 And as you eat this bread, so shall you eat the bread of life, and never die. And then he gave to each a piece of bread to eat.

40 And then he took a cup of wine and said, Blood is the life; this is the life-blood of the grape; it is the symbol of the life of him who gives his life for men.

41 And as you drink this wine, if you shall drink in faith, you drink the life of Christ.

42 And then he supped and passed the cup, and the disciples supped; and Jesus said, This is the feast of life, the great passover of the son of man, the Supper of the Lord, and you shall often eat the bread and drink the wine.

43 From henceforth shall this bread be called Remembrance bread; this wine shall be Remembrance wine; and when you eat this bread and drink this wine remember me.

CHAPTER 161

Jesus teaches the eleven. Tells them that they will all be estranged from him, and that Peter will deny him thrice before the morning. He speaks final words of encouragement. Promises the Comforter.

Now, after Judas had gone forth to meet the emissaries of the priests and to betray his Lord,

2 The master said, The hour has come, the son of man will now be glorified.

3 My little children, I am with you yet a little while; soon you will seek me and will find me not, for where I go you cannot come.

4 I give to you a new command: As I love you and give my life for you, so shall you love the world, and give your life to save the world.

5 Love one another as you love yourselves, and then the world will know that you are sons of God, disciples of the son of man whom God has glorified.

6 And Peter said, Lord, where you go there I will go, for I would lay my life down for my Lord.

7 And Jesus said, Boast not of bravery, my friend; you are not strong enough tonight to follow me.

8 Now, Peter, hear! you will deny me thrice before the cock shall crow tomorrow morn.

9 And then he looked upon the eleven and said, You all will be estranged from me this night.

10 The prophet said, Lo, he will smite the shepherd of the sheep; the sheep will flee and hide away.

11 But after I am risen from the dead, lo, you will come again, and I will go before you into Galilee.

12 And Peter said, My Lord, though every other man forsake you I will not.

13 And Jesus said, O Simon Peter, lo, your zeal is greater than your fortitude! Behold, for Satan cometh up to sift you as a pan of wheat, but I have prayed that in your faith you shall not fail; that after trial you may stand a tower of strength.

14 And the disciples all exclaimed, There is no power on earth that can estrange, or cause us to deny our Lord.

15 And Jesus said, Let not your hearts be sad; you all believe in God; believe in me.

16 Behold, for there are many mansions in my Fatherland. If there were not I would have told you so.

17 I go unto my Fatherland, and will prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be. But now you do not know the way unto my Fatherland.

18 And Thomas said, We do not know where you intend to go; how could we know the way?

19 And Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life; I manifest the Christ of God. No man can reach my Fatherland except he comes with me through Christ.