The King Prepares for His Passion

The answer to each disciple’s question—Is it I?—requires an answer of yes from each and every one of us. Yes, Judas betrayed Jesus, but by morning all the disciples would betray Him. Judas betrayed Him for greed (vv. 10-11), but the rest would betray Him from weakness (vv. 37-42), fear (vv. 50-52), and cowardice (vv. 66-72). But what about you and me? Each one of us is a Judas because every sin against Jesus is a personal act of betrayal. Yet this is where the grace of the gospel shines so bright: even those who betray this great King and glorious Savior can experience immediate and complete forgiveness through simple repentance and confession of sin (1 John 1:9). Godly repentance will grieve over the terrible thing it has done, but then it flees to Jesus who took that sin on Himself at the cross. In grace God forgives, and He provides the strength to move forward in the “family of the forgiven.” What a great family that is! If only Judas had repented of his sin.

Mark 14:22-25

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “He who would learn to serve must first learn to think little of himself.” And he quoted Thomas à Kempis as saying, “This is the highest and most profitable lesson, truly to know and despise ourselves” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 94). Jesus has already served His disciples on their last night together by washing their feet (John 13:1-20). Now He serves them again as He institutes what we call “the Last Supper” (cf. Matt 26:26-29; Luke 22:18-20; 1 Cor 10:14-22; 11:17-34).

However, we could also refer to it as “the First Supper,” as it inaugurates the “new covenant” (Jer 31:31-34; Luke 22:20), which God made with us through the Lord Jesus, the true Passover Lamb who had been sacrificed for us (1 Cor 5:7). His death made possible a new and greater exodus (see Luke 9:31), as we are set free from our slavery to sin.

The Passover meal was the proper occasion for the Lord’s Supper to be instituted:

This third cup, I believe, is the one in verse 23.

The Passover meal is proceeding as usual when suddenly Jesus departs from the normal script. What He says are the words of a madman unless He is the Son of God and the true Passover Lamb. Breaking the bread and blessing it, He says, “Take it; this is My body.” He takes the cup, blesses it, and “they all drank from it.” Then He says, “This is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many” (v. 24). The new covenant, like the old covenant, is a “blood covenant.” That it is “shed for many” informs us that the new covenant, promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34, is made possible by the death of Isaiah’s “Suffering Servant of the Lord” who “bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa 53:12). Hebrews 8:1-13 speaks of the new covenant in greater detail.

Jesus told His disciples that each time they gathered in the future to celebrate this meal, they were to do it “in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24). It is almost impossible to overstate how shocking these words are. Sam Storms helps us grasp the massive significance of what Jesus said:

Jesus brings things to a close by refusing to drink the fourth and final cup. It is the cup of consummation and life in the promised land of God.330 For that cup He will wait. First, He must drink to the last drop the cup of God’s wrath and justice. Apart from it, no cup of blessing would be possible.

In 1991 Christian songwriter and vocalist Twila Paris penned a song to accompany the observance of the Lord’s Supper by the Lord’s people. It has powerful words for reflection and celebration as we consider the King, His supper, and His passion.