3
Mark 14:12-31
Means to grace: The table for those who betray the Lord
What does it mean to be in the presence of God?
What does it mean to come before the Holy? Into the Sanctum sanctorum of God himself. We speak so often of God and we use his name in casual and even flippant conversation that we forget what should happen when we come before him.
The presence of God. Awesome.
Before us sits the table of the Lord. It is prepared for you. It is designed for you to eat, to feast, to be filled.
And yet, we treat it so casually. Even, I fear, irreverently.
What would it mean to you if I were to withhold this meal.
Kelly, Carl, Pete—you may not partake. Would this bother you.
“Big deal, I can eat at home; its not like this drop of juice and this tiny piece of wafer will fill me.”
Could you go several months without the supper? Is it merely a symbol that can be ignored if you have the fulfillment of it?
When we remove people from communion, does it hurt? It is supposed to be a powerfully painful move that will make the insides of Christians church. They cant handle the lack. They must have it.
The Lord’s Table. One of the most significant symbols in all the world. It is a symbol of fellowship, a symbol of sacrifice, a symbol of participation. It is a table prepared for those who are unworthy to partake.
Do you hear this? The table has been prepared for people who have no right to eat from it.
Put yourself in a similar story.
I want to have over some friends for an intimate birthday gathering. Only my closest friends. The people who mean the most to me. I am inviting Joe and Denise and Jennifer and Brad and Don and Joyce, and Robert and Vivian and John and Mark and Steve and Sandy and Dan and Michelle and Al and Vicki and…okay, I can only pick 12. And you are one of these. I am inviting you for a lavish meal because you mean a lot to me and you have been listening to my words now for 3 years both from the pulpit and on Sunday nights and in Sunday school and during the week too. You know me well, you know my wife well, you know my kids well. You desperately want to follow in my footsteps. You cling to my words and put them to action and you are willing to do anything in the world for me. You are so close to me that you would never say anything negative, you would never be opposed to me, you would truly be willing to die for me.
Only my good friends are invited. But you can’t eat. You aren’t worthy. Not even of a scrap. Because even you, my best friends, will betray me. You don’t know it, you won’t even believe it, but for the sake of my story, let’s pretend that I know all things. I know full well that you will betray me, that none of you will stand with me, that you are completely and inexorably unworthy of dining with me and yet, even knowing all that, I invite you and eat with you to one of the most significant meals in the history of celebration.
Our story this morning is about the Lord’s Supper, but I don’t want to get into the details of the supper this morning. I want to tell you the story from Mark’s eyes. For Mark, the words of institution are only 5 verses long while the surrounding story is 15 verses. It’s another one of those sandwich texts. The main story being interrupted by the words of institution.
Let me read the whole passage this morning:
12 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.
14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?'
15 He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."
16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.
18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me-- one who is eating with me."
19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?"
20 "It is one of the Twelve," he replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with me.
21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
Now the words of institution
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."
23 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them.
25 "I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."
26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then the story continues again from verse 21—It would be better for him if he had not been born…
27 "You will all fall away," Jesus told them, "for it is written: "'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'
28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."
29 Peter declared, "Even if all fall away, I will not."
30 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "today-- yes, tonight-- before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times."
31 But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same.
Pray
God knows and controls all things
I want you to note one very important thing from this first section of text. Jesus is fully in control. He knows exactly what is going to transpire
He sends his disciples to prepare for the feast on the first day of the celebration. Now this preparation is important. If you don’t prepare, it’s not going to happen. Jerusalem gets packed during Passover. I mean really packed. Josephus tells us that in 66 AD, 255,600 lambs were sacrificed during Passover. Ten people usually consume a lamb which would make somewhere in the vicinity of 2.5 million people in Jerusalem. Even if that is an exaggeration, Jerusalem would have been at full capacity. Even half that would have been full capacity.
So the two disciples go in and they are looking for a man carrying water. That might be a bit strange since it’s usually a woman, but still, this wouldn’t have been easy to spot—even if it was prearranged. But Jesus had it all worked out. They follow him and mention the Teacher. THE TEACHER. And the man will show them the room furnished and ready.
And it all happened just as Jesus said and they got the room ready for what was needed.
The key to this first part. God was in control.
Do you ever wonder about this? When things aren’t working out and you are depressed and lonely and just want to break out and be free of all this worlds lousy constraints.
Just a quick reminder, that if God is aware of who to meet in a packed Jerusalem and then works out the details so the meeting takes place and so cares about even the details of a Passover meal with his mighty men then, he is well aware of you and your concerns and is working things out for his greatest glory.
Eating with your best friends, but one will betray
So now the best friends, the teacher and his prized students will eat. Even the tone of the passage is intimate. Jesus arrived with the Twelve. These are his friends. For three years, the twelve have followed him and listened to him and been devoted to him. And now they recline together for a meal.
I can imagine the talk was casual and friendly. It’s the Passover. It’s a celebration. God showed mercy on his people. The music in the background is upbeat and there are smiles and maybe some outloud laughing at something stupid Peter said or Bartholomew doing his impression of the holy Pharisee. Then it all stops. The music comes screeching to a halt as he turns and says,
"I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me-- one who is eating with me."
One of them? Certainly an outsider might turn Jesus in, but not one of these in this room. Not one who eats with Jesus.
The smiles you see in your portrait of the Last Supper disappear. Looks of horror replace them. “surely Not I, Lord?” they each ask.
But then the confirmation—one of the Twelve will be the betrayer.
Then again, “the one who dips bread into the bowl with me.
He isn’t giving any answers as to who it is and the disciples are confused. They were all dipping bread into the bowl. It could be any one of them. Who could it be?
Of course, just as Jesus knew about the preparations that were to be made, he knows also who his betrayer is. In fact, from the beginning of time, he has known he will be offered up. Verse 21 says that it had been written about him long ago.
And then a word of warning. Woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.
I wonder here if this is not spoken with Judas directly in mind. I wonder if this isn’t a warning for Judas to even now repent from his sins and follow him for real.
Interrupted by grace
For it is at this time that Mark begins the words of institution. From “Better that he would not be born” to “this is my body”
From “woe to him” to breaking the bread and handing it to him.
As he breaks the bread he may have repeated the traditional blessing
“Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the world, who brings forth bread from the earth.”
Then he would distribute it in silence.
But here he adds these deafening Aramaic words: This, my body”
Paul adds “which is for you” and Luke says “which is given for you”, but Mark keeps it short and sweet. “This, my body”
Obviously this is not his body since he is standing there in his body. But to say that it simply represents his body is perhaps weakening it too much. The connection is profound and glorious and so much more than a mere symbol for he institutes something that is to be done from then on, whenever we gather.
He is the bread of life. He is the bread in the wilderness. His sustaining power is not simply symbolic, it is our daily food.
And the wine as well. As they headed for that third cup of wine mixed with water. They drink. He says This is my blood. It is not his actual blood, there is no Roman Catholic Transubstantiation taking place—its fundamental essence remains unchanged.
He is referring to the blood in himself which will be shed for the remission of sins. Which will be poured out for many. It’s the blood of the covenant from Exodus 24 when Moses threw blood on the people to seal them. But this is not thrown on them, it is imbibed into believers and it is for many.
But it’s not over when he pours out his blood. They will all drink again together in the kingdom of God. His death will not be the end.
Then they sung a hymn and left.
What a glorious ending to a glorious evening. But its still not over. Mark has begun the story and interrupted it with the supper, but he comes back to it here.
Not one, but all will fall away
And his first words are hard hitting.
Before the interruption he had said that it would be better for his betrayer to never have been born.
Now he hits them with
“You shall all fall away”
They will all stumble or fall. It’s not as much a willful defection as something that is brought about by external factors. In the safety and comfort of the upper room, only one will willfully defect. But real life takes place outside the room. And when times get tough, people fall away. In this case, all will fall away.
It’s almost as if it had to be that way. In fulfillment of prophecy even. God will strike the eschatological good shepherd, the one who stands next to God in Zech 13 and in his striking the sheep will be scattered. God will scatter the sheep.
Once again, Jesus is in control of all things. He knows who to meet to prepare the Passover, he knows that Judas will betray him. He knows that he will be struck by the father and he knows that all will fall away. And most importantly, he knows that he will gather them back together.
Well, we said all would fall away, but obviously there is one exception. Never Peter. Not Super-Peter; all will fall away, but he will never deny Christ—he will die for him.
But Jesus assures him. All will fall away. Even Peter. Before the rooster crows twice, Peter will deny him three times. Not a momentary slip. A consistent denial—three times.
This hammers into Peter and hopefully to us how quickly the most noble convictions can wilt before a serious onslaught.
Peter’s claims are easy to make in safety, but hard in the crucible of temptation and opposition.
All the disciples say the same thing Peter does-- They all drank the cup, they all confess their allegiance and they all flee.
I am overpowered by the overall message of this text. Jesus has twelve friends. Twelve students who proclaim his authority and stand by him and love him. Twelve intimates of which I would love to have any one of those relationships. And all of them will turn their back. God himself will strike him down and he will be betrayed by his best friends. Not only will this happen, but Jesus knows it will happen. And he keeps going forward. Don’t forget that this is a man who is overwhelmed with emotion and feelings that beg him to some other course of action.