The Last Supper

Mark 14: 17-27 (April 5, 2009)

1) The Text

17When it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” 20He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. 21For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”

22While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. 24He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

26When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27And Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters; for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

2) The Context

It is “two days” before the combined festivals of Passover (commemorating the time in Egypt when the plague which killed firstborn boys passed over, skipped, Jewish homes) and that of Unleavened Bread (remembering the freeing of the Israelites from Egypt.) Many pilgrims have come to Jerusalem for the celebrations. Earlier in Chapter 14, it is clear that some of the religious authorities (“the chief priests and the scribes”) have been plotting for some time to kill Jesus. Their intention was probably to wait until the pilgrims had left the city.

Jesus is visiting Simon “the leper” (14:3). While there, an unknown woman brings an “alabaster jar of ... nard”, a perfume flask containing an ointment made from a rare Indian plant. In pouring it over Jesus’ head, she (in effect) anoints him as kings were anointed. She perceives that he is the Messiah (meaning anointed one).

14:22-25 describe the institution of the Lord’s Supper. (The name comes from 1 Corinthians 11:20.) The meal has begun with a preliminary course (“while they were eating”, 14:22). The “loaf of bread” was likely a flat cake of leavened bread. Jews to this day bless the bread and break it, but Jesus says something special: “this is my body.”

“All of them” (14:23, including Judas) drink from the cup. As they walk to the “Mount of Olives” (14:26), outside the east wall of the city, Jesus quotes Zechariah 13:7: a prediction of his death and the temporary desertion of his disciples.

3) Interpretation

In this passage, Mark clearly presents Jesus as in control. Jesus is not surprised by anything that happens. The chief priests are trying to move secretly, on the sly, but Jesus knows their plans and arranges matters so that His arrest does not take place until He has finished His other work. Judas thinks he is fooling the other -- and he succeeds in fooling his fellow disciples. But Jesus knows of the betrayal, and lets Judas know that He knows. Jesus is well-prepared for this momentous last meal, making arrangements ahead of time.

But most importantly, Jesus presents Himself as precious through the institution of the Lord's Supper. There are two aspects of his preciousness to unpack here. First:

(1) The Lord's Supper signifies that Jesus pays the penalty for our sins

When offering the cup, Jesus says "this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many." In Mark, this is the clearest statement yet of Jesus' role in atoning for our sins. Jesus identifies himself with the Passover lamb, whose blood, we are told in the Old Testament, would have been poured out on the altar "to make atonement for your souls." Paul also emphasizes this parallel between Jesus and the Passover lamb, stating "Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7).

What does this mean? As the author of the book of Hebrews writes, "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." God is a just God; He is the moral authority in the universe. He makes sure that every wrong is paid for, exactly as it deserves. And each of us sins in many ways. Most fundamentally, each of us fails to praise God as we should; instead, we dishonor Him by our actions, our inaction, our thoughts, and our words. But Jesus, the perfect, unblemished lamb, offers His life to pay the penalty for all our sins, enabling us to enter God's presence spotless and pure. This is what we act out and celebrate when we partake of the Lord's Supper. This is how precious Jesus is.

(2) The Lord's Supper signifies that Jesus lives within you

Given that Jesus pays the penalty for all our sins, we should respond by living out lives that honor and glorify him. But how can we do that, since we are so prone to selfishness, self-centeredness, and other forms of evil?

Jesus says we are to eat His flesh, and drink His blood; we are to have His life within us, always. This is the lesson for us: Feed on Him, get all our sustenance from Him, value Him above all else, desire Him more than anything, glorify Him with our money, our time, all that we are. Jesus is the most precious of all.

4) Thought Exercise

This passage suggests that we ask ourselves what the disciples must have asked themselves:

How true is my commitment to the Lord?

Do I profess to love and follow Christ, yet deny him with my actions?