Mark 14:22-25 22And as they were eating, after taking the bread and blessing it, he broke it and gave it to them and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they drank of it, all of them. 24And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Every Christian knows these words well as the instituted means of grace of the Lord’s Supper. The familiarity of the words should not lessen their impact on our lives. The disciples had experienced great emotional and spiritual highs and lows. They saw Jesus praised as David’s descendant, the promised Messiah. They had experienced the power of his teaching that silenced in the temple the most learned people of the day. But yet, in the most intimate of moments, gathered as a new family around the Passover meal, he had predicted that one of them would betray him. Many of them must have answered their own question with, “Never me, no way, I would never do that!” In their spiritual pride, Jesus stooped low as the Suffering Servant and showed them the way of love and commitment.
The power of the symbolism involved in the broken bread and shared cup has challenged believers since that fateful evening. This last supper together quickly took on symbolic meaning in the early church, as indicated by Paul’s letter to the believers in Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The Passover meal involved different symbolic acts, re-enacted today in the Seder meal. The meal involves drinking from four cups of wine. Between the second and third, a loaf of unleavened bread is shared.
Jesus presented the broken bread as his body (sōma), a word that represents his own person, not simply his physical flesh and bled. Verse 22 has seven successive words that represent what Jesus did for his disicples by giving himself on the cross: eat, take, bless, break, give, say, and take. He gave himself totally to the world as an act of love (John 3:16; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:1-2). Eating bread provides nourishment to our bodies. Symbolically feeding on Jesus through faith and commitment to following him provides the spiritual nourishment we need to thrive in this lifetime and experience the promise of eternal life. Jesus provides the core nutrition for spiritual wholeness. The breaking of bread represented the brokenness he would experience on the cross.
Jesus took the cup and shared it with his disciples. All the disciples drank of the cup. These were the same ones who would flee that night as cowards. Each of them would betray Jesus in his own way. They may have felt strong and decisive during the supper, but they needed to learn the hard lesson of dependence upon Jesus. No one is qualified in his or her own strength, ability, or decision to come to the table of bread and wine; the invitation to this table is extended in grace. We do not need to measure up in our own righteousness but to come in humility and faith.
Verse 24 gives the powerful significance of Jesus’ symbolic actions with the shared cup. The third cup in the Passover meal represents redemption. Jesus connects the pouring out of his blood with the hope of redemption found in the ancient Passover meal. What the Jews longed for with a new covenant as prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34 was not fulfilled by Jesus’ death. The disciples did not understand the importance or connection at that time but would come to understand it later, after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Ancient covenants were sealed by a sacrifice, usually of an animal. A covenant is a special agreement and promise between two parties and serves as the bond of relationship between two parties.
Jesus’ death would bring about a new opportunity and way of relationship with the Almighty God of the universe, who provides bread from the earth. The enmity caused by human rebellion and the sin that separates us from God will be removed, and we can be reconciled to God and adopted into his family. This special meal would be the last Passover Jesus would eat with his disciples until his second coming and the family gathers again at the wedding banquet of the Lamb described in Revelation 19. At that time, the story will be completed, and the purpose for Jesus’ sacrifice will have been fulfilled.
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