The Jesus Seminar, a group of scripture scholars formed about 30 years ago, aimed at discovering the authentic words of Jesus. They claimed the words of Jesus in this part of John’s gospel are so different from his words in other gospels that they are not his, but were created by a later disciple.  New Testament scholarship has moved on since then and the Jesus Seminar doesn’t have much support these days. 

Many New Testament scholars, among them Raymond Brown,  see the Last Supper Discourse as an example of the way many ancient writers summarized the teachings and mission of  great figures as they leave their disciples in death. John’s gospel summarizes Jesus’ teaching and mission at the Last Supper, the night before he died. It’s a Passover celebration. Jesus addresses them as “little children”,  as a father might address his children during Passover, explaining to them the message of that saving feast. 

Jesus announces his glorification. He is going to the Father.  His disciples will participate in his glory.  “ I am the vine, you are the branches.” (John 15:1-8)  They are to love one another as he has loved them. Loving one another is his supreme command to them. If they keep his commandments Jesus promises them a joy that no one can take from them. 

Yet, they will not see him for “a little while.”

The Last Supper Discourse is a summary of Jesus’ teaching and mission, but it  also reveals how he is with them and with us during the “little while.”  “I will not leave you orphans. “ In sacraments, especially the Eucharist. Jesus promises his disciples he will remain with them. He fulfilled that promise in sending them the Paraclete; he also promised he and his Father will come and dwell with them.

We can hear in the Last Supper Discourse words Jesus spoke to his disciples then, words he  spoke during his mission, and also words he spoke in the days after his resurrection. After Jesus rose from the dead, Paul tells his hearers in Antioch in Pisidia, “for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are now his witnesses before the people.” ( Acts 13:30-32) In the “many days” he appeared to those who  came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem  Jesus prepared them for his sacramental  presence among them in signs.  We can imagine they questioned him like Thomas and Philip and the others did. They were unsure and uncertain. As he ate with them and drank with them he assured them he would remain with them in signs in that period of time, ”a little while.”  

“A little while” is our time now.  He is with us in this “little while.” 

his icon, Christ the Vine, was painted by a famous fifteenth-century Cretan iconographer Angelos Akotantos (d.1450) before the Byzantine Empire collapsed, leading to the separation of Eastern and Western churches. The icon is a call for unity of the churches.