Question

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The Last Supper (The blood Covenant)

Mark 14:12-26

Key Verse: 14:24

1. Read verses 12-16. What was the significance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover to the people of Israel? (Dt 16:1-7; Ex 12:1-8,12-14, Jn 1:29; 1Co 5:7) How did Jesus and his disciples prepare to celebrate the Passover?

2. Read verses 17-19. What serious problem did Jesus bring up during the Passover meal? How did the disciples respond? Read verses 20-21. How did Jesus warn the betrayer? Why?

3. In what sense was his death the fulfilment of his Messianic mission? (Mk 10:33, Jn 1:29; 1Cor 15:3,4) What did Judas do? (Mk 14:43-44;14:10-11)

4. Read verse 22. While they were eating, what did Jesus do and say? Why did he give thanks? What did the bread symbolize? What does it mean to eat this bread? (Jn 6:35, 51,53)

5. Read verses 23-26. What did the cup symbolize? (Mt 26:28) Why “new” covenant (See footnote)? What is the effect of drinking the cup Jesus gives? (Jn 1:29) Do you have a blood covenant with Jesus? What is the result in your life?

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Attachment

• Mk14-12-26-q-2024-easter.docx

Message

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The Blood of the Covenant

Mark 14:12-26

Key Verse:14:24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.

We’ll study two stories before the Easter Bible Retreat 2024. The first story is about the covenant in Jesus’ blood, and the second one is Jesus’ prayer at Gethsemane. While studying these two stories, we want to renew gospel faith and to prepare for the message of crucifixion. In today’s passage we learn why Jesus established a new covenant in his blood and what the blood covenant means to his disciples and to us today.

First, Passover ( 12-16) Look at verse12. “On the first day of the Festival 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?” There are three main festivals in the Jewish calendar. The first one is the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The second one is the Festival of Harvest which is also called the Festival of the Week. The third one is the Festival of the Ingathering which is also called the Festival of the Tabernacle. (Ex 23:14-19) God commanded Moses and the Israelites to keep these three festivals right after they came out of Egypt. The Festival of the Unleavened Bread is to commemorate the hasty departure from Egypt and to prepare for the Passover. From the fourteenth day of Aviv, the first month of the Jews, they had to eat unleavened bread for seven days and the Passover lamb. The word ‘Passover’ starts when the Lord’s angel passed over the houses which were stained by the blood of the lamb. Exodus 12:11-13 says, “This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.’ 

Jesus also wanted to eat the Passover meal with his disciples. So he sent his disciples to prepare for the Passover meal. Look at verses 13-15. “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. 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?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, unfurnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” Jesus coached his disciples what they have to do as if all things are reserved in advance. He did the similar thing when he entered Jerusalem. Jesus sent his disciple to bring a colt as if all things were programmed by a movie director. When the disciples obeyed, all things were done as Jesus told them to do. Indeed, in God there is no by accident or by chance. In all things and all happenings God intervenes. You think that your life has been driven by your own will and choice. But when you review your lives carefully, God has intervened in each single moment and all events of your life. Our God is the Almighty Sovereign God. Jesus said that God knows everything about us, and he counts even the number of our hairs. (Mt 10:30)

St. Augustine said, “The New is in the Old concealed and the Old is in the New revealed.” In other words, what was hidden and prophesied in the Old Testament is revealed and fulfilled in the New Testament. The secret of the Passover which was hidden is now revealed and explained in Jesus and through Jesus. The lamb which was used for Exodus was the shadow of Jesus Christ who would become a Passover Lamb in the future. All stories in the Old Testaments aim to Jesus and talk about Jesus. (Jn 5:39, Lk 24:27, 2 Co 1:20) Jesus said to the Pharisees, “you study the Scripture diligently, but the very Scripture testifies about me.” (Jn 5:39). Paul said, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (2 Co 1:20) How many books are in the Old Testament? All these 39 books talk about Jesus and are explained in Jesus and through Jesus. 

John the Baptist said when Jesus came toward him, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29) God showed us in advance how he would save us through the blood of Jesus when the angel passed over the houses stained by the blood of animals. In Exodus the blood of the lamb was the sign for God’s people. In the same way the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, was the sign for God’s children. In the future when God judges this world, the angel of God will pass over us because of the blood of Jesus, the sign for our salvation. No destructive plague will touch us when God strikes this world because we are his children. Amen! Do you have the mark of the blood of Jesus in your heart? Paul called Jesus in 2 Corinthians 5:7 ‘For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been crucified.” Jesus did not need to eat the Passover meal because he himself is the Passover Lamb. But Jesus wanted to eat the Passover meal to obey the Scripture and to teach his disciples who he really is. Look at verse 16. “The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.”

Second, the destiny of the betrayer (17-21). Where the work of God is, there is always the work of the devil. Judas Iscariot took the role of the devil. Look at verses 17-18. “When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me–one who is eating with me.” Jesus foretold the betrayal from one of his disciples. It was shocking news to all of them. How was the response of his disciples? Verse 19 says that they were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?” They wanted to prove their faithfulness and loyalty for Jesus. What was Jesus’ answer? Look at verses 20-21. “It is one of the Twelve, he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to the man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Jesus did not reveal the name of the betrayer, but hinted to them who would betray. The betrayer is one of the Twelve and the one who is very close to Jesus. Why didn’t Jesus reveal the name of the betrayer right away? Jesus wanted to give him a chance to repent and be saved. Judas’ betrayal had been planned when he had decided to sell Jesus to the religious leaders. And Jesus knew what Judas’ destiny would be as a betrayer. Judas hanged himself later. So, Jesus wanted to save Judas to the end. Jesus did not expose his name, but waited until Judas repented.

Some may ask God why God made Judas betray Jesus in advance and punish him. They say that Judas is not responsible for the death of Jesus, but he is only the victim for God’s plan. It sounds reasonable, but not true. Of course all things are in God’s control, still God gave us freewill, the freedom of choice, as our gift. In the beginning God did not make us robots which are programmed and operated by God. But God gave us freedom, freewill to choose between what is good and evil. In the same way Jesus gave Judas a chance to choose to do what is right. Jesus gave him one more chance. But Judas chose to do what is evil. He chose the wrong one. So Jesus said that it would be better if Judas had not been born. We have no excuse for our wrong choice. We are responsible for our choices. So we must use our freedom wisely and prayerfully. We must pray to God and choose to do what is right. Our destiny is determined according to what we choose between good and evil, life and death, heaven and hell. 

Third, the blood covenant (22-26) While Jesus and his disciples were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying,” Take it; this is my body.” (22) Taking bread, giving thanks to God, and giving them to his disciples were a familiar picture to them. When Jesus fed the five thousand and the four thousand, he did the same. Jesus also compared himself to the bread of life saying, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (Jn 6:35) Taking bread and giving it to his disciples is symbolic of his death on the cross. Jesus meant that his body will be broken on the cross and that his life is given for the sins of the world. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (Jn 6:51)

Look at verses 23-25. “Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Jesus did the same with the cup. The cup is the cup of suffering which indicates his death on the cross. Drinking the same cup with Jesus means becoming one with Jesus, being united with his death. Indeed, the disciples followed Jesus where he went. They were all martyred except for John. We are not sure if they knew the meaning of the cup when they drank it with Jesus. 

  Jesus would shed his precious blood on the cross. Jesus wanted to establish a new covenant in his blood. What is the old covenant and why is it established in the blood of Jesus? The old covenant appears in the book of Moses. After delivering his people from Egypt, God established his covenant with Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. So we call it ‘Mosaic covenant’ or ‘Sinaic covenant’. The content of the covenant is that if they obeyed God’s command, the LORD would be their God and they would be his people. (Ex 19:5,6) They would be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. But the Israelites did not observe the law. They broke the covenant. As a result, it was impossible for them to be saved by observing the law. High priests killed an animal and offered its blood in the temple once every year for their redemption. But it was not perfect. It was only the shadow of the perfect redemption which is coming in the future. So, now Jesus wants to provide a new way, the perfect way of salvation, not with the blood of animals, but with his own blood, and not only for the Israelites, but also for the whole world. This is because Jesus is the Son of God who was sent to save the whole world. 

Why is the covenant in his blood? Why is it not on the stone tablet or on the paper? God said that blood was the sign for salvation. “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you!” Blood symbolizes life. Blood has the power to cleanse our sins. Hebrews 9:22 says that everything is cleansed with blood. And without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. This is the reason why high priests took the blood of animals and entered the Most Holy Place for his own sin and for the sins of his people. But Hebrew says that the blood of animals is not perfect and it is only the shadow of the perfect sacrifice. For this reason Jesus took his own blood and entered the Most Holy Place once for all for our eternal redemption.1 John 1:7 says, “the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

The covenant is validated when both sides agree like a marriage vow. At Mount Sinai when God established the covenant with Moses and his people, the people agreed to it by saying ‘Amen’ (“We will do everything the LORD has said.”) (Ex 19:8). Jesus established a new covenant in his blood. Now this blood covenant becomes activated and validated when we believe in his promise. Through faith in Jesus’ promise we are under the power of the covenant. The blood of Jesus has power and authority to set us free from the power of evil spirits. The blood of Jesus has the power to drive out demons. The blood of Jesus enables us to restore our freedom which we lost and which was taken away by Satan. We deserve to enjoy our freedom. The blood of Jesus gives us freedom from captivity. It cuts off the chain of curse which was endowed from our ancestors. The blood of Jesus has the power to change the course and destiny of our lives. Amen! The blood of Jesus gives us freedom from addiction, depression, and delusion. The blood of Jesus gives us freedom from sickness. What is it which Satan is most afraid of ? It is the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus contains God’s covenant. It carries the power of God. So, when we call in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and sing the hymns of the blood of Jesus, Satan runs away. “Would you be free from your burden of sin? There’s power in the blood. Would you o’er evil a victory win? There’s wonderful power in the blood…There is power, power, wonderworking power in the precious blood of the Lamb.” (Hymn 449) In the past those who had the stain of the blood of animals escaped from God’s punishment. Today those who have the mark of the blood of Jesus will be free from the power of sin and death. In the future those who have the blood of Jesus will sing the song in the Revelation, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain.” (Rev 5:12). At that time, the Lord Jesus will be our God and we will be his people. Amen!

How did his disciples respond to Jesus’ words? Look at verse 26. “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Today we learn that we become children of God when we believe in the covenant of the blood of Jesus. No destructive plague will touch us when God judges this world. The blood of Jesus has power to cleanse our sins, heal our sickness, and set us free from the power of evil spirits. Above all, the blood of Jesus became a mark for us to enter the kingdom of God in the future. Amen!

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• Mk14-12-26-message-Easter2024.docx