The Last Supper

Imagine if I said this to you . . . “Go down into Lancaster City. When you see a man carrying a briefcase, follow him. Whatever building he enters, say to him, ‘Our pastor says, where is my guest room that I may eat a meal with my church members?’ He will then show you a large, furnished room. Make dinner preparations for us to eat there.”

How would you respond? Sounds kind of uncomfortable, doesn’t it? That is exactly what Jesus told two of His disciples to do in Mark 14:12-26. According to Luke’s account, the two disciples were Peter and John. They were to go into the city and look for a man carrying a pitcher of water and follow him. Whatever house he entered, they were to say, “The Teacher says, where is my guest room that I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” The disciples, in obedience, did this and exactly what Jesus said would happen, occurred. The man showed them a large, furnished upper room and they made Passover preparations there for Jesus and the twelve.

As Mark gives this account he abbreviates the events of the night in order to focus on the announcement of Jesus’ betrayal and the institution of the Lord’s Supper. The first part of this focus caused the disciple’s Passover celebration to be thrown into turmoil. As Jesus was reclining at a table eating with His disciples, he suddenly announced that one of the disciples would betray Him. The disciples were first shocked, then unnerved. They each began to respond saying, “It isn’t I, is it?” The tense of the verb would indicate that they repeatedly asked Jesus this question. Jesus now makes it clear that the Son of Man must die as a fulfillment to Old Testament Scripture (see Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53). He also makes it painfully clear that the destiny of the one who would betray Him would be so awful that it would be better if he had never been born.

Later in the meal, according to Mark, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. The disciples were used to the idea of the bread and the cup as part of the Passover meal, but the words Jesus used to describe the meaning of these elements had the disciples completely bewildered. He said that the bread symbolized His bodily sacrifice for the world. Certainly it does not mean that the bread actually becomes His body as you partake of it. It is common in Scripture for there to be figurative descriptions concerning Christ (i.e. the Lamb of God…John 1:29; the Vine…John 15:5). It was purely symbolic.

Jesus did the same thing with one of the cups that was part of the Passover celebration. This time, however, He told the disciples that this cup represented His blood, sealing a new covenant which promises forgiveness and fellowship. The word “covenant” that He used does not refer to an agreement between two equals but rather to an arrangement established by just one party…in this case, God. Jesus also told the disciples that He would not drink of this cup again until He does so in the new Kingdom of God which was another indicator and promise that though Jesus was about to die…He would live again! When they were all done, they went out to the Mount of Olives and sang. After all, can there be any other response to remembering the sacrifice of Christ than worship?