Mark 14:12-25
Big Idea: Jesus is the Sacrificial Lamb of the New Covenant
Read Mark 14:12-16
It is Thursday of Holy Week, and all of Jerusalem is preparing to celebrate the Passover feast. A little last minute to start making plans if you ask me, but as we see here, Jesus had already been working behind the scenes to make it happen. It seems a bit cryptic, like Jesus is taking extreme measures to keep things a secret. There’s a few reasons for this. First, remember that Judas is looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. By keeping it a secret, this takes the opportunity away from Judas to alert the authorities to where they’ll be eating. Second, remember also that in the course of the week, a couple million Jews would be coming and going in and out of the city. Jesus had created quite the stir in the temple in the days prior, and surely people would recognize Him and His gang of followers if they rolled into the city in broad daylight.
Jesus sends 2 disciples into the city. Luke tells us in his gospel that it was Peter and John. Now, you’re talking about thousands of people walking the streets at this time, and the disciples are supposed to just go and find this man. It would seem, though, that Jesus had already made plans ahead of time, and had given this man a specific sign. That sign was a jar of water. We might read this and breeze right past until we know that contextually the women were those who would go and draw the water. A man carrying a jar of water would have been just discreet enough that most people walking past would not have noticed or thought much of it. On the other hand, it was just unique enough that Peter and John would have seen him and known.
It happens as Jesus said, and they follow him back to a house. We have more indication that this was a pre-planned event by Jesus. Peter and John were to refer to Jesus as “The Teacher,” which would imply that this man was a follower of Jesus. We also see that the room was already set up and ready. All they had to do was make preparations for the Passover meal. This was a huge undertaking. From a historical commentator:
The day of sacrifice was given entirely to festive preparations. A massive assembly of priests arrived at the temple early. Their first duty was to burn all the leaven that had been ceremonially collected by candlelight and spoon the preceding night. By noon all work ceased. At mid afternoon, 3:00 P.M., the ritual slaughtering began. This was completed in three huge shifts. When the first group entered in and the temple court was filled, the gates of the court were closed. A priest’s shofar played a sustained blast, and the sacrifices began. The pilgrims approached two long rows of priests holding basins of silver and gold. Each Israelite slaughtered his own offering, and the priest caught the blood, which was then tossed at the base of the altar. As the offerer left the temple, the slain lamb and its skin was draped over his shoulder.
That evening the Passover was observed in a home or room reserved for the occasion. The lamb was roasted on a pomegranate spit. Inside, the company dressed in festive white and reclined at tables with the leader at the head. In Jesus’ time the celebration had added elements beyond the Old Testament’s prescriptions. There was a seder, a set order of service. It was the host’s duty to interpret each of the foods on the table as it related to their deliverance from Egypt. The bitter herbs recalled their bitter slavery. The stewed fruit, by its color and consistency, recalled the misery of making bricks for Pharaoh. The roasted lamb brought to their remembrance the lamb’s blood applied to the doorposts, their eating of the lamb within their house, and the death angel’s passing over them as it destroyed the firstborn of Egypt.”
Now, as we move forward in our text, we’ll see that Mark focuses on 2 things, Jesus calling out the betrayer, and His teaching on the bread and the cup. In John’s gospel, he spends 5 chapters on the teaching of Jesus in the upper room, but Mark wants us to remember these 2 things. At the very beginning of our journey through Mark, we talked about how he set out to portray Jesus as the suffering servant. This is emphasized in both the betrayer and the communion elements.
Read Mark 14:17-21
The Betrayer
We are going to pull from some other gospel accounts to get a more complete picture of this moment. Jesus and His disciples have arrived, and the Passover meal has begun. Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, including Judas. Jesus would then lead the traditional Seder elements.
It’s an incredibly intimate meal, and we have hints at the seating arrangements. We see in John 13 that John himself would have been to the right of Jesus. We know this because it says that he leaned back against Jesus to ask him who the betrayer was. We also have evidence that to Jesus’ left would have been Judas. This is evidenced in the fact that, again in John, we see that Jesus dips bread and hands it to the betrayer. This shows a really close proximity.
So they are right in the middle of this meal, one of the most meaningful meals of the year for the Jewish people, and Jesus drops a bomb. “Truly I say to you, one of you will betray me.” One of you 12, my closest friends for the last 3 years, is going to betray me. And so, naturally, they are speechless, but they really want to know who it is! They go around asking Jesus, is it me?! Surely it’s not me! Finally, Jesus says, “yes, it’s one of you 12, one who is dipping his bread into the dish with me.” This is a reference to Psalm 41 in which David was betrayed by Ahithophel, and David talks about his betrayer sharing bread with him. And then Matthew gives us the final statement. He tells us that Judas asks the question as well, and Jesus says, “you have said so.”
“Woe to that man! It would have been better if he had not even been born!” One commentator says that “woe” reveals a “misery which Love itself could not prevent.” And oh how Jesus loved him right up until the end.
1.. When He washed the disciples’ feet, He washed Judas’ feet. While washing their feet He actually said, “And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For He knew was to betray Him; that was why He said, ‘not all of you are clean (John 13:10-11).” “Judas,” He was saying, “you’re not clean.” It was a loving appeal to Judas’ conscience.
2.. Jesus alluded to Psalm 41 about Ahithophel, the betrayer who hung himself. He was again saying, “Judas, think of what happened to Ahithophel. You don’t have to go through with this.”
3.. He had given Judas an honored seat to his left.
4.. John 13, Jesus says “it is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.”
In the culture of the day, to take a morsel from the table, dip it in the common dish, and offer it to another was a gesture of friendship. Jesus was reaching out to Judas. In effect he was saying, “here is my friendship and forgiveness. All you have to do is take it.”
After all of these acts of love of Jesus towards His betrayer, Scripture tells us that Satan entered into Judas, and he left. With Judas gone, and the evening hours disappearing, Jesus moves into one of the most important moments in Scripture.
Read Mark 14:22-25
The Lord’s Supper
Remember they are in the midst of the Passover Seder. According to Tim Keller, “It included four points at which the presider, holding a glass of wine, got up and explained the Feast’s meaning. The four cups of wine represented the four promises made by God in Exodus 6:6-7. These promises were for rescue from Egypt, for freedom from slavery, for redemption by God’s power, and for renewed relationship with God.”
Jesus begins this next section by breaking bread, passing it around, and referring to it as His “body.” What does Jesus mean by this? It’s really an all encompassing statement about His life. Born in Bethlehem, the City of Bread, referring to Himself as the Bread of Life. His Incarnation would provide life for all who would receive it. That body, that was sinless, that took our sins to the cross. That body, that rose from the grave. That body, that sits at the right hand of God. In 1 Corinthians 10:16, Paul tells us that when we break the bread together, we are participating in the body, the life, of Christ. Through the bread, therefore, we see his life, death, burial and resurrection, and our partaking of it symbolizes our participation in that life, death, burial and resurrection.
They have now come to the 3rd cup, the cup of Redemption. Don’t miss this! Jesus raised the cup of redemption, the cup that symbolized His blood. The blood that was poured out to redeem us! And this blood was one that enacted a new covenant. The Old Covenant required the blood of an animal to cover sins.
After pieces of the sacrificial animal were laid across from one another, the individuals who were cutting covenant would walk between the flesh. It was a testimony by each covenant partner that if either broke the covenant God would take their life, even as had been done to the sacrificial animal. We see the gravity of entering into and then breaking covenant. A covenant was a pledge to death. A pledge cut in blood. In covenant the shedding of blood demonstrated as nothing else could the intensity of the commitment. By cutting covenant the two parties were bound for life. The shedding of blood established the gravity and binding nature of this transaction.
Jesus became the sacrificial lamb and shed His blood to ratify the covenant between God and man once and for all! The New Covenant is a Covenant between God and Jesus Christ in which His blood is absolutely binding, a blood covenant that cannot be broken. And anyone who places their faith in Jesus enters into the covenant promise. So when we take the bread and the juice, it is far more than simply remembering the sacrificial death of Jesus, it is a celebration of the WHY. The shedding of blood once and for all for the redemption of humanity.
After this cup, Jesus doesn’t drink the 4th and final cup, the cup of consummation. He would wait, because this cup represented the promise of God that one day all His people would be gathered to Him. This cup Jesus will drink at the great Marriage Feast of the Lamb with all who have been redeemed.
Application:
Big Question: Is It I?
The answer to this question for each of us is, “yes.” The answer to this question also leads us into a deeper appreciation for what Jesus went through for us. Judas betrayed Jesus, but by morning all the disciples would betray Him. Judas betrayed Him because of greed, but the rest would betray Him from weakness, fear and cowardice.
And while that is true of the disciples, we are all guilty of betrayal because of our sin. But this is the beauty of the New Covenant. Our betrayal is covered by the blood of Jesus. The covenant that Jesus enacted between He and the Father means that when we turn our back on God, because of Jesus, He will never turn His back on us. This is grace. Undeserved grace. And coming to the table together is a chance for us to remember and celebrate the covenant promise that we live under.
