Song of Mark, Phase Twenty Eight: The Mission

Part Four--The New Sedar

XXVIII--The Mission
(Wednesday and Thursday, the fourteenth
and fifteenth days of Nissan)

PHASE TWENTY EIGHT

THE MISSION

Section I--The Day of Preparation
(Wednesday, the fourteenth day of Nissan)

_N_ OW on the day of preparation, when we normally sacrifice the lamb, that is to say, on April fourteenth, his disciples said to him: Whither wilt thou that we should go, and prepare for thee to celebrate tomorrow's Feast of Unleavened Bread?

02 And rising up from Beth`an, he sendeth the twins, and saith to them: Go ye into the Temple again; and there by the Beautiful Gate, shall meet you the ordained priest in charge of the water gate. And when he leaves the Temple: Follow him!

03 And whithersoever he shall go in, say to Joseph the Essene, the innkeeper of Beth`lehem: Thy king saith: Where is the guest room where I may impose myself, and eat the leavened bread with my disciples? And understanding the sign of the times, the master of the house of bread and his wife Miriam the baker will furnish you with every thing you will need; prepare it for us!

04 And they went their way, and came into the city; And when they passed by the Temple in the morning they found me waiting by the gate just as he commanded of me. And following me, they went to my father and mother's house, [which is called: Remah, or the place of imposing; in the Greek: the Mission of Arimathea; but in the modern English, Beth lehem, becometh: Baker's Inn]. And with the assistance of my blessed mother Miriam, who ministered unto his needs by baking the leavened bread, and by cleaning out the utensils; they prepared the room for the new Feast of Leavened Bread.*

Section II--Passing Over the Lamb
(Thursday night, the fifteenth day of Nissan)

05 And when the eventide was approaching, he cometh into the city with the others. And when darkness had arrived and they were at table and about to eat the leavened bread, he saith to them: Amen I say unto you, one of you that eateth this new Sedar with me shall announce my coming to the chief of the priests.

06 But delighting in the heralding words of Malachi, they began to quarrel among themselves, and to say to him one by one: Am I the Lord's messenger?

07 Who saith unto them: The one to be my messenger is the last one who dippeth with me his hand in the dish. For the son of Adam indeed goeth into the Temple again, as it is written of the son of man in the book of Ezechiel: 'Make known to the king of Jerusalem his abomination'.* But woe to that man by whom the 'son of David' shall be announced. It might be better for him, if that man whosoever he shall be, had not been chosen to reveal me.

08 And stetting aside tradition, he took the leavened bread; and blessing, broke it into thirteen pieces, and gave to all, saying: Take ye, for this is your share in the new kingdom. And partaking of the bitter herbs, they all did dip, whilst I could not; and he that was to go before him was chosen by lot.

09 And having taken the cup; after giving thanks, he gave it directly to Judas who was sitting on his right hand side. And after accepting the cup, as he and Judas held it together in their hands, he saith unto them: This covenant between Judas and myself is for my new testament [second baptism], which shall be proclaimed to the seventy-two; for in the morning, I intend to go before the Great Sanhedrine.*

10 And taking the Essene 'vow of separateness', he saith to them: Amen I say unto you all, that I myself will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day of victory when I shall drink it in the new kingdom.*

11 And even though I was already an Essene, pledging our separateness, we all drank from it. And when we had sang a victory hymn,* they retired once again to the mount of Oliveri, whilst I followed in secret.

Section III--A Divine Mission
(Thursday night, the fifteenth day of Nissan)

12 And having left my father and mother's house, Judas the man chosen, went to the refectory of the chief priests, to announce his coming to them. Who hearing of it were glad; and they promised Judas that they would give him a fair hearing. But instead of an audience before the High Priest of the Great Sanhedrine, they sought how they might conveniently betray both him and Judas.

13 And after Judas had departed, he immediately saith unto the ten: If Judas' divine mission does not fare well, and he is rejected on account of me, you may all be scandalized in my regard this night. And if my petition for kingship fails, after I too am rejected, I will go before you into Galilee.

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Section IV--False Witnesses

14 But Cephas said to him: Although all shall be scandalized because of thee, yet not I.

15 And answering he prophesied to him saying: Amen I say unto you, this Thursday night, within this very same day, even before the dawn, the one in whom I place my trust, and who hath eaten my bread and drank my wine, shall deny me yet a third time.*

16 And he promised: Although I should die together with thee, I will never deny your kingship, for I am your witness.

17 And in like manner so said they all.

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