Commentary - Mark 14:22-25

Bird's-eye view

In this brief, dense passage, we are standing on holy ground. Mark gives us his account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper, a meal that would become the central ordinance of worship for the New Covenant people of God. Jesus, in the upper room with His disciples, on the night He was betrayed, takes the ancient elements of the Passover meal and invests them with radical new meaning. He is not tweaking the old ritual; He is fulfilling and replacing it. The bread and wine, once symbols of deliverance from Egypt, now point directly to His own body and blood, given for the sins of the world. This is the inauguration of the New Covenant, sealed not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with the precious blood of the Son of God Himself. The passage is a profound declaration of substitutionary atonement, covenant faithfulness, and eschatological hope.

What Jesus does here is establish the pattern for our weekly covenant renewal worship. This is not a mere memorial, a wistful look back at a past event. It is a real participation, by faith, in the benefits of Christ's death. When we take this supper, we are communing with the risen Lord and proclaiming His death until He comes. He gives Himself to us in these elements. The meal is therefore both a remembrance of a finished work and a foretaste of the future marriage supper of the Lamb. It is a meal that looks backward to the cross and forward to the kingdom, and in so doing, it nourishes and strengthens us in the present.

Outline

Context In Mark

This passage is the calm in the eye of the storm. It is situated immediately after Jesus identifies Judas as His betrayer and just before Peter's coming denial is predicted. The cross looms large over this entire scene. Jesus is not a victim of circumstance; He is the sovereign orchestrator of His own sacrifice. He is the great High Priest, and He is also the Lamb. In instituting this meal, Jesus is interpreting the meaning of His impending death for His disciples and for the Church throughout all ages. He is establishing a new Passover, with Himself as the Passover Lamb. The context of betrayal and abandonment only serves to highlight the magnitude of the grace being offered in this meal. While His closest friends are about to fail Him spectacularly, He is establishing a covenant meal that will forever speak of His unfailing faithfulness.

Key Issues

Mark 14:22

And while they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.”

The setting is crucial. They are in the middle of the Passover Seder, a meal saturated with redemptive history. Every action is significant. Jesus takes the bread, which at Passover was unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, reminding Israel of their hasty departure from Egypt. But Jesus is about to completely redefine it.

He takes the bread. This is an act of sovereign authority. He is the host of this meal, and He is the substance of it. He blesses it, or gives thanks for it. This is not a magical incantation that changes the physical properties of the bread. Rather, He is setting it apart for a holy use, consecrating it through thanksgiving to God. This is the pattern for our own table fellowship. All of life, and especially our worship, is to be received with thanksgiving.

Then He broke it. The breaking of the bread is a vivid picture of the violence His own body was about to endure. His body would be broken for them on the cross. This is not to say His bones were broken, for Scripture says they were not, but His body was torn, scourged, and pierced. The wholeness of His life was to be shattered in death.

He gave it to them. This is the essence of the gospel. Salvation is a gift. He does not offer it for sale. He does not set it on the table and tell them to earn it. He gives it. Our part is simply to receive, which is what "Take it" means. This is a command to receive the grace being offered.

And then the monumental statement: "this is My body." Now, we must not be wooden literalists here, as the Roman church has been. His body was sitting right there with them, whole and intact. He was not holding a piece of His own flesh. This is sacramental language. The sign is so identified with the thing signified that it can be called by its name. The bread is His body in the same way that a map of Idaho can be pointed to, with the words "this is Idaho." The bread represents His body; it is a visible sign of an invisible grace. But it is more than a mere symbol. Through faith, as we partake of the bread, we are genuinely nourished by Christ. We are feeding on Him in our hearts by faith, with thanksgiving.

Mark 14:23-24

And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

Just as with the bread, Jesus takes the cup. In the Passover meal, there were several cups of wine. This was likely the third cup, the "cup of blessing." He gives thanks for it, again consecrating it for this holy purpose. Notice the emphasis that "they all drank from it." This is a communal meal. It is a sign of their unity in Him. We come to the table not as isolated individuals, but as one body, sharing in one cup.

"This is My blood of the covenant." Once again, this is sacramental language. The wine represents His blood. But what blood is this? It is the blood of the covenant. This language throws us back to Exodus 24, where Moses sealed the Old Covenant. He took the blood of oxen and threw half on the altar and half on the people, saying, "Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you." That covenant was sealed with the blood of animals. But Jesus is inaugurating a New Covenant, as Jeremiah prophesied, and this one is sealed with His own blood. This is a better covenant with better promises, established on a better sacrifice.

This blood is "poured out for many." The word "for" signifies substitution. His blood is shed on behalf of, in the place of, many. This is the heart of the atonement. He dies the death we deserved to die. And it is for "many." This doesn't mean a limited few, but rather it emphasizes the vast, innumerable multitude from every tribe, tongue, and nation who will be saved through His sacrifice. It is an effective, successful atonement. His blood was not shed in vain; it accomplishes the salvation of all for whom it was poured out.

Mark 14:25

Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

After these solemn words of institution, Jesus makes a vow. He is looking past the cross, past the suffering and shame, to the consummation of all things. This statement is thick with eschatological hope. The Lord's Supper is not just a backward-looking meal; it is a forward-looking one.

"The fruit of the vine" is a clear reference to the wine in the cup. Jesus is saying that this is His last supper before His death. His fellowship with them in this earthly mode is coming to an end. But it is not the ultimate end.

He looks forward to "that day," the great day of the resurrection and the final consummation of His kingdom. On that day, He will drink it "new" with them in the kingdom of God. This is a promise of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The fellowship they are experiencing now is just a foretaste of a far greater, more glorious feast to come. The wine of this supper points to the new wine of the fully realized kingdom, where we will feast with our resurrected Lord in a renewed creation, face to face.

Every time we come to the Lord's Table, we are not only remembering the cross, but we are also anticipating that great feast. We are proclaiming that our King is coming back, and that a great celebration is prepared for us. This hope is what fuels our faithfulness in the present. We eat this meal as pilgrims, as sojourners, looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.

Application

First, we must recognize the profound reality of what happens at this Table. This is not an empty ritual. It is a means of grace, a genuine communion with the living Christ. When we come, we must come with faith, expecting to meet with Him and be nourished by Him. We are not just remembering a fact; we are feeding on a Person.

Second, this meal is a declaration of the gospel. The broken bread and poured-out wine preach substitutionary atonement more powerfully than a thousand words. It tells us that our salvation was purchased at an infinite cost, the very body and blood of the Son of God. We should therefore come with repentance for our sins and overflowing gratitude for His grace.

Third, the Supper is a covenant renewal ceremony. As we eat and drink, we are reaffirming our allegiance to Christ as our covenant Lord. We are saying, "All that the Lord has said, we will do." This means we cannot come to the table while cherishing sin in our hearts. We must come prepared to forsake our idols and walk in obedience.

Finally, this meal is a wellspring of hope. It points us beyond our present trials and struggles to the glorious future that awaits us. It reminds us that history is headed somewhere, to a great and final feast. So we come to this Table to be strengthened for the journey, to have our faith fortified, and to have our eyes lifted to the coming glory when we will drink the new wine of the kingdom with our Savior forever.