Mark 14:22-26 – The New Covenant enacted

At the climactic moment in the Passover meal, the Lord took bread and wine and turned them into object lessons for His disciples and us believers. Just as the Passover reminded the Jews of what God had done to deliver His people from their Egyptian bondage, this bread and cup was to remind us of what Christ had done to free us from the bondage of sin, and made us a member of His new community – the church. This breaking of bread and partaking of the cup eventually came to be known as the Lord’s Supper or communion. Every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are acting out the story of redemption and recalling what He had done for us. We are presenting and re-enacting the Gospel.

The bread is a symbol of the Body of Christ and by breaking it, we visually recall that His Body was mutilated and broken for us. The pain and suffering He went through was for us. The experience that should have been duly ours, was laid on Him. So when we eat of the bread, we partake in His life. Through the communion, we also participate in the life of one another. And while we are celebrating it, we are also making an invitation for others to join us in in this life.

What does Christ mean when He said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many”? The wine in the cup is a symbol of His atoning blood. Being “poured out for many” recalls what was said in Isaiah 53:12. There the Messiah was seen to have “poured out his life unto death.” It was a violent death. Here the Lord was also referring to the fact that it would benefit many.  The blood of Christ sealed the new covenant, and through the shed blood redemption is provided for, when we rest our faith in His atoning blood. Hence, the cup is a symbol of His blood being shed for us.

The communion tells us that Jesus took the place of us believers in His death. Our sins were dealt with at the cross and we are now no longer slaves to sin, and no longer separated from God. It declares our faith and belief in the death, resurrection, ascension and the second return of Christ. It also shows our reliance on Him and that apart from Christ, we cannot experience true life. It also points to our hope of drinking with Him again in the Kingdom of God.

May the words of Frances J. Crosby echo in our hearts:

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice, and it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith And be closer drawn to Thee.

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to Thy precious, bleeding side.

Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord, by the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and my will be lost in Thine.