Lord’s Supper Replaces The Passover

Mark 14:17–26
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Once there was a little boy who was in church when the wine and wafers were passed out. His mother leaned over and told him that he was not old enough to partake in the lord’s supper. Later on, when the offering basket was passed around she leaned over once again to tell hi … More

Lord's Supper

In the church today the Lord`s Supper (also referred to as Communion) replaces the Jewish Passover. For the Jews, the Passover feast was the memorial of a past victory, but Jesus would institute a new memorial of His death. It all began at this last Passover eaten by Jesus and His disciples. It was Friday when Jesus and His disciples met in the Upper Room. As they sat around the table, Jesus could see into the heart of Judas and He knew what Judas was going to do even though the other disciples didn’t seem to suspicion anything (vv. 17-21). This should be a reminder to us that we may succeed in keeping a secret from our fellow men, but we can not keep a secret from Jesus Christ.

As they were eating, (Jesus took the bread and blessed and brake it). He said, “Take eat: this is my body” (v. 22). Since Jesus is physically present in His body it is obvious that He meant “this represents my body.” The same is true when He said, “This is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many” (vv. 23-25). The word covenant is a common word in the Jewish religion. The basis of that religion was that God had entered into a covenant with Israel. The word means something like an arrangement, a bargain, a relationship. The acceptance of the old covenant is set out in (Ex. 24:3–8). It was a relationship entirely dependent on the law and on obedience to the law. Since no man can keep the law the people were ever in default. But Jesus says, “I am introducing and ratifying a new covenant, a new kind of relationship between God and man. And it is not dependent on the law, it is dependent on the blood that I will shed.” That is to say, it is dependent solely on love. God does not stop us from sinning. He seeks to make us love him so much that his voice is more insistent to us than other voices which call us away from Him. After partaking in the Lord’s Supper they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives (v. 26).

Application

This is a good time to point out that, just like Judas, I never do anything in secret that Jesus doesn’t know about. At the same time, my relationship with Him is dependent upon me confessing my sin to Him, each time I take the Lord’s Supper, and asking Him to put it under the blood.

Mark 14:17-26 (English Standard Version)

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