Mark 14

17In the evening Jesus arrived with the twelve disciples. 18  _ As they were sitting around the table eating, Jesus said, “The truth is, one of you will betray me, one of you who is here eating with me.”

19  _ Greatly distressed, one by one they began to ask him, “I’m not the one, am I?”

20  _ He replied, “It is one of you twelve, one who is eating with me now.£ 21  _ For I, the Son of Man, must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for my betrayer. Far better for him if he had never been born!”

22  _ As they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God’s blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.”

23And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24  _ And he said to them, “This is my blood, poured out for many, sealing the covenant£ between God and his people. 25I solemnly declare that I will not drink wine again until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.” 26  _ Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mark 14:19

Judas, the very man who would betray Jesus, was at the table with the others. Judas had already determined to betray Jesus, but in cold-blooded hypocrisy he shared the fellowship of this meal. It is easy to become enraged or shocked by what Judas did; yet professing commitment to Christ and then denying him with one’s life is also betraying him. It is denying Christ’s love to disobey him; it is denying his truth to distrust him; it is denying his deity to reject his authority. Do your words and actions match? If not, consider a change of mind and heart that will protect you from making a terrible mistake.

Mark 14:20

It was often the practice to eat from a common bowl. Meat or bread was dipped into a bowl filled with sauce often made from fruit.

Mark 14:21

Cross References:

Mark 14:21—Psalm 22:1-21; Isaiah 53:3-8

Mark 14:22-25

Mark records the origin of the Lord’s Supper, also called Communion or Eucharist (thanksgiving), which is still celebrated in worship services today. Jesus and his disciples ate a meal, sang psalms, read Scripture, and prayed. Then Jesus took two traditional parts of the Passover meal, the passing of bread and the drinking of wine, and gave them new meaning as representations of his body and blood. He used the bread and wine to explain the significance of what he was about to do on the cross. For more on the significance of the Last Supper, see 1 Corinthians 11:23-29.

Cross References:

Mark 14:22-25—This passage parallels Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:15-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

Mark 14:23—1 Corinthians 10:16

Mark 14:24

Jesus’ death for us on the cross seals a new covenant between God and us. The old covenant involved forgiveness of sins through the blood of an animal sacrifice (Exodus 24:6-8). But instead of a spotless lamb on the altar, Jesus offered himself, the spotless Lamb of God, as a sacrifice that would forgive sin once and for all. Jesus was the final sacrifice for sins, and his blood sealed the new agreement between God and us. Now all of us can come to God through Jesus, in full confidence that God will hear us and save us from our sins.

Mark 14:26

The hymn they sang was most likely taken from Psalms 115–118, traditionally sung at the Passover meal.