A New Passover. Mark 14:22-25.
And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing, it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take: this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. “Truly, 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.”
Dear People of God,
In what was a normal, if very significant feast, Jesus instituted the most solemn ritual of the Christian faith. That it was based on the Passover is deliberate, because Jesus wants us to see that the Passover foreshadows his sacrifice. John the Baptist stated as much when he declared, “Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Body (v. 22). Jesus uses the bread rather than the flesh of the lamb to represent his body. Breaking bread was a normal practice, much like our modern slicing, because the bread was hard, much like a tortilla, dry chapati, or roti. The bread represents the body that was sacrificed. This sacrifice needs to be seen in the accommodation that Jesus made by limiting himself for thirty-three and a half years, “emptying himself” (Philippians 2:7) of his divine privileges, and finally, the ultimate sacrifice in the suffering of the cross and its inevitable outcome, death.
Blood (v. 23-24). The wine represents blood, which represents life – “For the life of every creature is its blood” (Leviticus 17:14).In this Jesus varies the Passover ritual. The blood was to be applied to the doorposts and lintel in the Passover, that it may protect those in the house from the angel of death. The blood of Jesus, symbolized by the wine in the cup, is to be taken by each individual, to protect one from eternal death, which is separation from God. The blood was in preparation for the exodus from Egypt and the slavery there, that of Jesus effects an exodus from the Egypt of sin and slavery to it.
Breakpoint (v. 25). If the disciples had been more alert, they would have noticed the finality of Jesus’ statement that this was his final Passover with them until the Kingdom was established. This was a solemn farewell dinner and they ought to have taken his words as those of a dying man, but this was veiled to them until later. But this closure is also the beginning of something new. The establishment of the kingdom of God has begun. This final dinner is also the symbol of that beginning. New means a change in the attitude of those entering the newness. That is why the Holy Spirit transforms those who come to Christ. Are you ready for the Kingdom? Have you been transformed?
Your Loving Pastor Chris.