By: Dale Weckbacher
Mark 14:24-25
And
he said to them, “This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is
poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I
will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it
new in the kingdom of God.”
(ESV)
The most unique aspect of the
Christian faith is the belief in God who did not remain distant in heaven but took
the unusual step of becoming one of us and living with us in the person of His
Son, Jesus (John
1:14). This means that God can
relate to what happens as we live in a post-Genesis
3 world but also that as God Jesus was empowered to change the post-Genesis
3 world in which He lived by performing miracles as a witness of the power
of God over the works of the enemy and ultimately, dying on the cross for the
sins that separate us from a relationship with God.
Two things are occurring in the
text of Mark
14:22-31 the first of which is the institution of the Lord’s Supper or
communion (Mark
14:22-25). While the symbolism
occurring during the Passover dinner was familiar to the disciples, Jesus adds
a twist to this dinner by connecting the symbolism of the breaking of bread and
the drinking of the cup with events about to occur the next day. Like the teaching in parables that was
designed to provide a visual picture of theological principles, Jesus is
setting the disciples up for a theological explanation of what they will
witness as Jesus is crucified the next day.
In addition to this picture
provided to the disciples at the Passover dinner, Jesus would say the beginning
verse of Psalm
22 which would have caused those witnessing the crucifixion, especially the
religious leaders that called for the crucifixion of Jesus to remember the rest
of the passage (Matthew
27:46; Mark 15:34). As they recited
this passage in their minds, they would witness it graphically displayed with
Jesus on the cross. In essence, Jesus
provides the ultimate parable to his disciples with the connection of the Passover
dinner to events occurring at the cross, and connection to those watching with
Old Testament scripture that describes one dying from crucifixion (Mark
14:22-25; Psalm 22).
The second section of the text in
Mark
14:22-31 is Jesus foretelling of the scattering of His followers and
specifically the denial by Peter. Jesus,
our Savior can relate to rejection for he not only suffered rejection and
denial from those closest to Him (Mark
14:43-50) but even suffered rejection from God (Matthew
27:46; Mark 15:34), something we as Christians will never experience (Matthew
28:20; Romans 8:38-39). While
Peter’s denial of Jesus and the scattering of Jesus followers could have ended
tragically, it was actually part of God’s plan and set the foundation for the
early church as these scattered followers came together after seeing the risen
Lord and receiving the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to turn their world
upside down (Acts
17:6).
You might ask how could rejection
and denial be a part of God’s plan? To
answer that question we must consider the hypothetical situation of the
disciples following Peter’s lead as he stated in Mark
14:29. Had the disciples decided to
fight for Jesus, there would have been a mass crucifixion of not only Jesus but
the disciples, and no one left to lead the early church. Jesus could not allow this to happen because
the crucifixion is the sacrifice of the perfect lamb of God and the beginning
of a new Covenant of grace with salvation coming due to God’s grace (Ephesians
2:8). In fact, when one of the
disciples took up arms to rescue Jesus, Jesus stepped in to stop him (Matthew
26:51-54). We could equate the denial and scattering of
the disciples which on the surface appears bad as something good just like the
selling of Joseph into slavery by his brothers (Genesis
37:12-36). Joseph’s betrayal by his
brothers would later provide salvation for his brothers through Joseph going
ahead of them to Egypt to prepare a path of salvation through the famine. As Joseph later told his brothers, what they
intended for harm to Joseph was part of God’s plan to save them (Genesis
45:1-15).
After His resurrection, Jesus
instructed his followers not to begin their ministry until receiving
empowerment from the Holy Spirit to be effective witnesses (Acts
1:8). As we look back in hindsight
at church history, we now understand what Jesus knew, the disciples would
encounter severe persecution with all, but John, martyred for their faith. Those seeking to defend Jesus at his betrayal
may have believed they were strong enough to endure any persecution for their
faith but, would abandon Jesus when facing death.
Thankfully for all believers
living today, Jesus preserved the disciples by stopping their attempts to use
force to stop Jesus from dying for our sins on the cross and preserved their
lives so they could spread the Gospel message and write the gospels and
epistles which still provide guidance in our life of serving the Lord. If you are reading this and have not prayed
to accept Jesus as your savior, I encourage you to do so now by praying with
me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
Congratulations on taking the
first step in becoming a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ, evangelization. While this statement of belief brings eternal
life (John 3:16), living a full and rich life as a believer in Jesus Christ also
requires equipping yourself with knowledge by study and meditation on the Bible,
God’s word. You will also need
encouragement that comes from regularly associating with other believers at a
local church or Bible Study. Like the
disciples whom Jesus commanded not to leave Jerusalem until receiving the
empowerment of the Holy Spirit, you also need the empowerment of the Holy
Spirit in your life. Receiving this
empowerment is not something difficult but available to every believer in
Christ from God for the asking. May God
bless everyone reading this post.
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