Mark 14

Posted on Feb 28, 2017 in Bible (NT) in a Year |

Tuesday

The final hours have begun. Jesus meets with friends outside of Jerusalem, in a place called Bethany.

This is the home of Simon the Leper. During his stay there, a woman anoints Jesus with some very expensive perfume. Jesus then moves to the next place, the Upper Room. A place where he will share his last mean with the disciples.  All the while in the background, plans are being made to find a way to get rid of Jesus. Judas has made his deal with the Pharisees.

The table is set for the Passover Meal, a Jewish celebration of the Exodus. (See Exodus 12) The table would have been only a foot or two off the floor, not like we picture it. The people eating would be reclining on cushions laid out around the table, half-sitting, half-lying down. The meal would consist of a sacrificial lamb, (which would have been prepared by a priest) – Remember in the Exodus, the lamb was sacrificed and the blood put on the doorpost to prevent the Angel of Death from entering. They would have had unleavened bread, (because they left in a hurry during the Exodus) there would be wine, salt water (to remind them of the bitter tears shed by their ancestors while in slavery and/or the salty waters of the Red Sea). Bitter herbs would remind them of the bitterness of slavery. A pasty fruit called “charoset” reminded them of the clay used to make bricks while they were slaves in Egypt.  

During the meal, Jesus announces that one of them would betray him. If you are familiar with Leonardo Di Vinci’s painting of the last supper, this is the moment that he has painted. The moment when Jesus announces that someone would betray him and all of them ask – is it I?

Have you ever felt like you have betrayed Jesus, let him down… denied Him? If you look at the life of each of the disciples, I am sure that anyone of them could have felt that Jesus was speaking to them. They all had moments of “not getting it” – We all have moments of falling short… But we don’t have to respond to our mistakes or misunderstandings as Judas did. Instead we should know that Jesus only wants to forgive and to take us to be with Him.

So Jesus finishes the meal, but using two very familiar items from the Passover meal, the wine and the bread. And with these two things Jesus establishes the New Covenant. The Covenant that will take us from slavery to sin and death and bring us life. Remember Jesus, when you take communion. Remember this moment. Ask yourself, is it I? Have I betrayed Jesus in any way? What must I do to restore my relationship with Him… the answer is not complicated. Ask for forgiveness, accept it and believe in Him and in His great love for you He will declare you are forgiven.

Praising Jesus!

Pastor Kathy