THE LORD'S SUPPER
Mark
14:12-26
Key
Verse: 14:24
24
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he
said to them.
Good
morning. Today’s passage is titled,
‘The Lord’s Supper”. Accordingly, we
will have communion after the worship service, so prepare your heart through
this passage. As concerning the Passover in Ex 12:26, we should have a clear
answer when asked “What does this ceremony mean to you?” But my answer was complex and vague. In fact, I always wondered why did
Jesus institute communion? What does
this ceremony add to Christianity? So
I’m grateful that I was given this passage to share, because it was a painful
struggle with the word of God, and I could learn a great deal. Through wrestling with God all night,
listening to his word, speaking to him in prayer, I could enjoy communion
with him. That’s all that communion
means, the dictionary definition of it is sympathetic interaction or
conversation between friends.
Now
the key verse is verse 24.
24
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he
said to them.
Let’s
read verse 12. On the first day of
the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover
lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make
preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
What
was the Passover? What did it
mean? There are two answers. The first is that it was meant to remind the
people to look back on their past, the second is that it was meant to look
forward to the coming of the Christ, our Passover lamb.
Let
us start by looking back, way back to the first Passover. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt, and
God sent Moses to deliver them. God
brought 10 plagues upon Egypt. The Passover
occurred during the final plague, the one which set the Israelites free. At that time, each Jewish family slaughtered
a lamb, put some of the blood on the doorframe, and then ate the lamb with
bitter herbs and unleavened bread. That
same night, as they ate the Passover meal, God passed through Egypt and judged
it for its idolatry. He struck down all
the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne,
to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon: there was not a house
without someone dead. But when God
judged Egypt, he passed over every house that had the blood on the door
posts. (Ex 12)
So
God instituted the annual Passover as a time to look back on the mighty events
that had resulted in the birth of their nation. He said, "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the
generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD--a lasting
ordinance.” (Ex 12:14).
But
ultimately, the Passover was meant to look forward, to its final
fulfillment in Jesus. God could have
delivered the Jews in a different way; it is no coincidence that he chose this
way, and chose this meal to be Jesus’ last meal. In Luke 22:15 Jesus says, "I have eagerly desired to eat
this Passover with you before I suffer.
For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in
the kingdom of God." There is
a lot of beautiful meaning in this verse (were we studying Luke) but one thing
that it shows is that Jesus said the Passover would be fulfilled.
Therefore,
we do not eat the Passover anymore, but 1Cor5:7 proclaims, “Christ, our
Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
The blood of the first Passover lamb delivered the Israelites from
physical slavery. The blood of Jesus,
the true Passover lamb, sets us free from slavery to sin. The blood of the first Passover lamb saved
the Israelites from judgment for one night, but later most of them fell under
God’s judgment anyway and died in the desert.
But the blood of Jesus sets us free of judgment forever. Think about the word: “Passover”. This word does not say, “you will escape
judgment because I find you worthy.” It
says, “you will escape judgment because I pass over you.” Only Jesus can be the Passover lamb, because
only the blood of Jesus, if applied to the door post of our heart, has the
power to atone for our sin, so that God will pass-over us in his judgment on
the last day.
Look at verses 13-16 briefly.
13
So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a
man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.
14
Say to the owner of the house he enters, `The Teacher asks: Where is my guest
room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?'
15
He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for
us there."
16
The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told
them. So they prepared the Passover.
Jerusalem
was crowded for the Passover festival.
All of the rooms were booked.
But we see here that it was no problem for God to provide the best place
for them, a large upper room, furnished and ready. Jesus spoke with authority, “Where is my guestroom?”
Part
II Jesus’ Love and Judas’ Betrayal.
Let’s
read verses 17&18. “When evening
came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.
While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell you
the truth, one of you will betray me--one who is eating with me."”
Jesus
was eating the Passover with his disciples.
To Jews, eating with someone represented an acceptance, and friendship.
Jesus had a heart of love for all he people.
In fact, he was accused because he ate with tax collectors and
sinners. Jesus welcomed everyone who
would repent. He loved people and was
willing to sit down and commune with you.
Now Jesus was eating his final meal quietly with just his
disciples. At this time he called them
“friends” (John 15:15). And he showed
them the full extent of his love by washing their feet before this meal.(John 13) He dipped his bread into the bowl with
them. There is so much love of Jesus
here. And yet one of them rejected his
love and would betray him for money.
Betrayal
is the most hurtful wound, because it is done by the one we trust and love.
Jesus trusted Judas with the money bag, Jesus showed him love by washing his
feet, and by offering him the piece of bread.
Judas repaid Jesus evil for good.
Psalm 41:9 predicts Jesus’ painful betrayal, “Even my close friend,
whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”
It
was an unpleasant issue. It was painful
for Jesus and it made the disciples sad.
But Jesus had to address it. In John 13:19, he explains why, "I am
telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe
that I am He.”
Look
at the disciple’s response to Jesus’ prediction. Look at verse 19. They were saddened, and one by one they said
to him, "Surely not I?"
One
by one they said to him, "Surely not I?" One by one means each one.
There is no doubt that Judas said it also, because Matthew says so. For the eleven, their statement shows their
shakiness, but I want to say more positively that it also shows their honest
hearts, and willingness to search their hearts. When told that one would betray Jesus, they did not point
fingers, but looked into their own hearts, to see if it was them. Whether this was their thinking or not, it
is how we should take Jesus’ words, with personal application and heart
searching.
But
for the twelfth disciple, Judas, this statement was the opposite: a hiding of
the heart. Judas had already agreed to
betray Jesus and had set the price. But he lied and said, “Surely not I?” He was a great actor. He had fooled all of the disciples; none of
them suspected him. But did he think he
could fool God? Well he could not;
Jesus said, “Yes, it is you.” (Mt 26:25)
How
could Judas reject Jesus’ love?
Continually, for three years Jesus reached out to him, but he would not
listen. He pretended to follow Jesus,
but actually he had his own agenda, perhaps to profit from his position. It is easy to say he was predestined -- his
fate was set, but this did not free him of responsibility. Look at Jesus’ final warning to him. Let’s read verse 21. The Son of Man will
go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of
Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
When Judas refused to listen to rebuke and repent of
his evil plan, Satan entered him. Later
he regretted his action. The small
money he gained for his betrayal, was like blood in his hands, so he threw it away. But he did not repent. He could not repent. His heart was as hard as a diamond. He could not live with himself, and he
refused to repent and be forgiven, so he hung himself, instead. Now he is in hell. It would have been better for him if he had not been born.
It is easy to pick on pitiful Judas. Instead, let’s learn not to be like
him. How will we respond when, through
the words of the Bible, God speaks to us and points out our sin? Will we deceive ourselves, “surely not
I?” Or will we humbly confess our sin
and ask for forgiveness. Putting off
repentance is a dangerous game. We
don’t know when Jesus is coming back—we cannot afford to put off repentance. More than that, when we keep refusing to
repent, we harden our heart, and harden our heart, until eventually it is as
hard as diamond, and we find that we do not have the desire or if the desire
then not the strength to repent. And
yet God is always ready to forgive, it is that men refuse to repent. Jesus forgave Peter’s denial. Theoretically, he could have forgiven Judas’
betrayal. And he can forgive you, if
you will repent. Don’t lie to yourself like Judas, seek the Lord while he may
be found.
Part 3 The Blood of the Covenant
Let’s
all read verse 22. While they were
eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his
disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."
The
Passover lamb had two purposes: the blood for the door posts, and the body as
the Passover meal. So too, Jesus
distinguishes between his flesh and blood.
He gives his whole self, flesh and blood for us, and each has a
purpose. First we think of his body.
Jesus
took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying,
“Take it; this is my body.”
First
we see that he broke the bread. This
alludes to Jesus’ body, broken on the Cross, twisted and disfigured beyond that
of a man (Is 52:14). And yet his bones
were not broken. He is the Passover
lamb.
Second,
we see that he gave this bread to his disciples. He did not charge them. He did not selfishly preserve his body, but
he gave up his body for them. From this
event, comes the communion. In Luke,
this verse reads: And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it
to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of
me." Luke(22:19) Therefore,
Jesus not only offered this bread to his disciples, but to us too. So we are to do this in remembrance of him.
In John 6:35, Jesus proclaimed, "I am the bread of life. He who comes
to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” In
verses 54-56 he continues, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him
up at the last day. For my flesh is
real food and my blood is real drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”
What a beautiful promise of God, and yet at the time
Jesus said it most people’s response was to call it a hard teaching and many
stopped following him because of it.
(John 6:60, 66) Tragedy! The
offer was so beautiful. God is spirit,
and the word of God is spiritual. Of
course we cannot be cannibals and eat Jesus body. Yet this bread of the communion symbolizes his body. But physical eating of the communion is no
where stated as a requirement of salvation.
It is an only an outward sign proclaiming that, in our heart, we have
already eaten the flesh and blood of Jesus.
That is by so doing, we proclaim his death until he comes (1Cor
11:26). We affirm that we believe in
his death and its power to forgive and his coming again. We proclaim that we have eaten his Word, the
Word that became flesh. So Christ is in
us and we belong to Christ.
Third, we see that the Lord’s Supper has been
instituted in place of the Passover.
The Lord’s Supper is greater than the Passover, as Jesus is a greater
Passover lamb than the original lambs.
The Lord’s Supper is better. It
does not require us to travel to Jerusalem.
It does not lay down a law about how often to perform it. At the Passover dinner, Jesus broke the
bread and told us to do likewise. He
did not break the lamb, otherwise we would still need Passover lambs. He did not pick up the bitter herbs, which
represented bitter bondage. The Lord’s
Supper is joyful, and free of bitterness.
Instead, Jesus picked up the bread, which was without yeast, and
therefore symbolized his own sinless body.
The Passover both looked back and looked
forward. The Lord’s Supper also looks
back and looks forward. It looks back
to the Sacrifice of Jesus. He said, “This
is my body, given for you, do this in remembrance of me.” It also looks forward
to great wedding supper of the lamb in the Kingdom of God. 1Cor 11:26 says, “For whenever you eat
this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”
There
are also some serious rules about communion, which we should be aware of before
we participate in the communion. 1Cor
11:27-32 reads:
27
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28
A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the
cup.
29
For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats
and drinks judgment on himself.
30
That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen
asleep.
31
But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
32
When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be
condemned with the world.
Here we are reminded of the disciples. As I see it, eleven examined themselves, as
each one of us ought to, before we eat the bread. But one disciple disguised his heart and ate deceitfully. Was the bread that Jesus handed to Judas in
John 13:26 the Lord’s bread? There is
no way to know for sure. But we see
that as soon as Judas took it and ate in an unworthy manner, then right away:
Satan entered him, he went out and betrayed Jesus.
So we have been warned. So examine yourself, don’t drink judgment on yourself. But if we judge ourselves, we will not come
under judgment. Many taught that we
should be baptized before eating communion.
The Bible doesn’t say so, but it is a good idea. There is no harm in taking a serious thing
seriously. And we should all be careful
not to judge those who don’t take the communion. I want Christ to make his home in each of your hearts; I desire
to see others grow, but I cannot allow this to inadvertently pressure them to
sin. Consider Judas who pretended to
belong to Jesus and ate with him.
Better that your heart be honest, but have a hope. As you seek him, if you seek him with all of
your heart, you are sure to find him, according to God’s word (Mt 7:7), and the
you will have personal communion with God.
(By the way, this is not the unforgivable sin, and if you acted in
ignorance in the past, you can repent.)
In any case, the outward communion is only a
reminder and a proclamation. What we
are proclaiming is that we have Communion with God in our hearts, which is what
is truly important. When we pray to
God, and read his word, it should speak to us as a friend would speak. Sometimes our friend will rebuke us too, out
of love. This is the close relationship
of communion, and what a blessing it is that God has given such a thing to men
who were once in rebellion to God!
The meaning of the blood of Jesus is perhaps even
more wonderful. Let’s read verses 23
and 24.
23
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank
from it.
24
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he
said to them.
The wine in the cup symbolized Jesus’ blood. He said, “this my blood of the covenant.”
What does it mean?
Hebrews
9 explains in detail, exactly what it means:
15
Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive
the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them
free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
18
This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.
19
When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he
took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of
hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.
20
He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you
to keep."
Covenants are put into affect with blood. The people entered into the first covenant
when the blood was applied to them; it was sprinkled on them and then they were
in the covenant. So too, we enter the
new covenant when the blood of Jesus is applied to the doorframes of our
hearts, which is symbolized by drinking the cup of communion.
What is the difference between the first covenant
and the new covenant? John 1:17: “For
the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ.” The covenant of the Law says
that if you do these things, you will live by them. The covenant of grace saves us by what God has done, rather than
what we were powerless to do. The old
covenant had many sacrifices that were insufficient and so had to be repeated
again and again. The new covenant has
Jesus blood, who died once for all. The
old covenant was for Jews, the blood of the new covenant is poured out for
many. The new covenant is better in
every way. God did not change, but he
changed his covenant because we were not able to live up to the requirements of
the law.
Jeremiah 31: 31 to 34 anticipated Jesus’ sacrifice:
31
"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
32
It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them
by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I
was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
33
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that
time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write
it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, `Know
the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the
greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."
Jesus’ blood for our sins means that God himself
paid the cost of our sin. God can only
pass over our sin, if it has been paid for by his blood. .
Heb
9:22-- In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood,
and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Let’s verses 25-26
25
"I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine
until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."
26
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Here
we see Jesus hope in the Kingdom of God.
He would not drink wine again on earth.
But he would anticipated glorification in the kingdom of God. When we drink the fruit of the vine in
communion, we also share in his hope to drink the cup with him in the kingdom
of God.
As
I look at this passage, Jesus love keeps coming up. He loved us enough to eat with sinners. He loved us enough to die for us, in order to save us through the
new covenant. He loved us enough, as
God, to have communion with us, though we are dust and ashes.
Let’s
read the key verse, verse 24.
24
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he
said to them.
Let’s
pray.