First Baptist Church Ottawa
Our Online Church School Lesson - March 3, 2024
A New Passover - Mark 14:12-25
Today’s Scripture: Mark 14:12-25
Today’s Theme: A New Passover
Opening Prayer: Dear God, thank you for allowing us to gather here today to learn more about Jesus. Please help our ears to listen, our minds to learn, and our hearts to love as we hear the stories of His work. Amen.
Today’s Lesson: What do you remember about the first Passover? I will say a few words to remind you: Egypt, slavery, Moses, lamb, doorpost, blood, firstborn. Is the story coming back to you now? The first Passover was described in Exodus 12. Today, Passover is one of the most important celebrations of the Jewish year which looks back on Israel’s redemption out of slavery in the land of Egypt. Israel’s dramatic rescue came about only after God sent ten plagues upon Egypt to loosen Pharaoh’s grip on his people. In the final plague, the firstborn child and beast of every household was set to die. After the sun went down, God would pass through the land and enact his judgment on everyone without discrimination, Jew and Gentile alike, by killing the firstborn child and beast. However, God made a provision, a way of escape. If a family put their faith in God’s provision they would be spared. The provision was a lamb, which could be slaughtered in their place and then eaten by the family. They were to put the blood of that lamb on their doorposts and when God went through the land they would be “passed over.”
It is no mistake that Jesus’s last meal on earth is the Passover meal. On that special night, Jesus introduces his disciples to “The New Passover”. In the original Passover, the Jewish people were instructed to kill a lamb and spread the blood on their door posts so God would see their faith and pass over the house with his terrible judgement. Jesus changes this goal, making the meal about him. He knows he’s soon to be betrayed, beaten within an inch of his life and killed. The significance of the wine and bread being the body and blood of Jesus is that Jesus is the new Passover lamb, the new sacrifice. The blood that Jesus will shed the next day on the cross will spare the blood of many, the same way the lambs’ blood on the door-posts spared the blood of the faithful.
Today’s scripture describes this final supper that Jesus shared with his disciples. In less than 24 hours Jesus will be delivered up to the authorities and on his way to the cross. Jesus spends his final day with his disciples breaking bread. We know this meal as “The Last Supper” but it is also, really, “The New Passover” since Jesus changes the meaning of this traditional meal by making himself into the sacrificial lamb. Let’s read these verses and then discuss them further:
Mark 14:12-25
12 On the first day of the Festival 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 room upstairs, 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, “Truly I tell you, 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 you don’t mean me?”
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.”
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 “This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.
25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
As the cross draws near, Jesus continues to show himself to be one who is in control of what is going on around him. Even in Jesus’ final days, there is no hint that he is desperate or frantic or in any way trapped in an evil plot against him. He knew what was waiting for him in Jerusalem and still he boldly entered the city. Jesus displays “a sovereign freedom and authority” to follow the course he has chosen for himself. No human being has ever experienced the sovereign freedom to decide what to do and the authority to carry it out precisely as desired. Jesus does. Jesus is sovereign not only over the timing of these events but even the precise details surrounding them. When he first arrived in Jerusalem, he sent a couple of disciples ahead of him to fetch a donkey, telling them exactly where to find it. When it comes time to prepare the Passover meal, he acts in much the same way, telling his disciples where to go to find supplies, what to look for, and what to say. Jesus knows what he is doing. Jesus is sovereign over even his betrayal. He knows that Judas is about to betray him and still he allows it. He is able to tolerate Judas to the end with enduring patience. He calmly eats with his betrayer. He is patiently aware of his enemy at his own table and does not let on. It’s one thing to be caught by surprise by someone’s betrayal. It’s another altogether to know that the betrayal is coming and still stay the course. Jesus knows that the betrayal is coming and chooses not to stop it. Jesus is not about to have his life taken from him; he is about to voluntarily lay it down.
"Eating the Passover" was considered important, and there was preparation to be done for this. This was not a dinner that was casually entered into, but one where preparation was needed. Jesus gives the disciples a set of instructions in verses 13 to 15. The disciples do not question Jesus’s words but follow his instructions to the letter. Again, the sovereignty of Jesus over the events that are happening only help to increase the disciples’ faith. From telling them how to find a donkey when he first entered Jerusalem to securing the supplies needed for this important Passover meal, Jesus knows exactly what he is doing during this final week of his life.
At some point in the meal Jesus directs the conversation to something no one would have wanted to hear…that one of the disciples will betray him. Can you imagine the shock and sting of these words? This is Jesus, the one that they’ve left everything to follow. The scripture tells us that they begin to feel sorrowful. Are they grieving for Jesus? No, they are grieving for themselves and the fact that any one of them might do this to Jesus. Rather than be sure of their devotion, they all believe Jesus’s words and express self-doubt. This is remarkable. Many of those present are deeply devoted to Jesus and some will eventually die for him, but even these disciples are cut to the heart. They take him at his word. Could it be me? Is he talking about me?
There are many surprising moments during this meal with Jesus. Certainly it was surprising to hear that one of Jesus’ own disciples would betray him, but now Jesus has another surprise. The disciples would have been intimately familiar with Passover and likely had celebrated it every year of their life. They knew what words were said when, what prayers were recited where, what food was eaten in which way. It would have been a well-worn path in their minds. And then on this night Jesus holds up a cup during the Passover meal and says “This is my blood” (v.24). This is surprising! Jesus is taking a thousand year old tradition and giving it a new meaning.
What we celebrate today as the Lord’s Supper is actually Jesus’ re-interpretation of the Passover supper. There are two parts to the Lord’s Supper. The first is the bread which Jesus broke and gave to his disciples and said, “Take; this is my body (v.22).” It is interesting to note that Jesus created a huge controversy when he said “this IS my body”. The medieval Catholic church began to teach that when Jesus said “this bread is my body” that he meant it was his actual physical body. This is still taught in the Catholic church today and is known as transubstantiation…that is that is that the bread and wine are the actual body and blood of Christ.
This didn’t sit right with the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. They taught that what Jesus really meant was that the bread and the cup represent his body and blood. These things are merely symbols. So at one end you have those who teach that the communion elements are the actual body and blood of Christ and at the other those who teach that they are just symbols.
There are several positions that fall between these two extremes. John Calvin taught that since Jesus in his human nature is confined to space and time, he cannot be in two places at the same time. Therefore, Jesus cannot be physically present in his body each time the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. However, when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper he didn’t say, “this represents my body,” he said, “this is my body.” What does Jesus mean by “this is my body”? Calvin taught that while in his body Jesus is not present, yet he is present in his divine spirit. This is known as the spiritual presence view of the Lord’s Supper. The bread and the cup are not mere symbols but they aren’t the actual body and blood of Christ either. When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, Jesus is spiritually present.
Jesus concludes with a promise, Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God (v.25). This is another dimension of the Lord’s Supper. Not only are we looking back to remember Jesus’ broken body and blood shed for us and not only are we taking his body and drinking from his cup in the present, but we also have the gaze of our eyes lifted to the future. The Lord’s Supper points us to that day when we will gather around the table in the heavenly kingdom where Jesus will be present in spirit and in body.
Today’s scripture started out with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus here has started a new feast. Instead of telling us of a great exodus from slavery, this new feast tells us and causes us to remember our salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus presents himself as the true Passover lamb, and just as God passed over the sins of Israel when they sacrificed the lamb, we have full assurance of a Passover through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. The disciples knew the significance of the Passover lamb as the substitute for their sins. Jesus is the true Lamb who was slain and everything about this dinner and this feast could be looked at again in light of His life and death and mission on the cross. He gives us his body and poured out his blood so that we may one day drink it new with him in the Kingdom of God.
Discussion Questions
Share what you know about Passover. What is the significance of this celebration? In what ways does Passover point to Jesus?
In what ways do we see that Jesus is in control of what is going on around him?
How would you react if you knew you were about to be betrayed by a close friend? How does Jesus respond?
How do the dinner guests respond when Jesus tells them that one of them will betray him?
Why do you think the Lord’s Supper is so important?
Closing Prayer: Dear God, thank you for the remarkable sacrifice of Jesus. We pray that we may always be mindful of the severity of that gift. We ask you for ways to serve others around us, every day, just as Christ served us. We ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.