As Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, he made some simple statements that I think we can frequently overcomplicate based on our religious traditions and misunderstanding of the bigger picture of what Jesus was about to do, both in the next few hours as well as in the coming centuries:
First, as they were eating dinner together, Jesus picked up some bread, broke it, and began to hand it to his disciples:
Take it; this is my body.
Mark 14:22
Very simply, Jesus was telling his disciples that his body would be broken, just as he had broken the bread.
Next, he picks up a cup of wine and passes it to the entire group and they all drank from it. He told them:
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many
Mark 14:24
There are a few things to note here. First, he says that is the blood of the covenant. What covenant?
God made covenants – or you might in another way say “agreements” – with his people. He would be their God and they would be his people. He did it with Abraham. He did it with Moses.
God would be their God: watching over them, leading them, protecting them, guiding them, and more. Meanwhile, they would obey him. They would follow his commands and do what he said that they must do.
This was the essence of the old covenant, an agreement between God and his people, the people of Israel.
Now, Jesus is saying that he, himself, is establishing a new covenant. He is now making a covenant that will supersede the covenant that was made previously between God and the Israelite people.
Keep in mind…only God can make a covenant between God and his people. And yet, here is Jesus making the covenant, demonstrating that he himself is God. He is saying that this wine within the cup that he is sharing with his people represents his blood that is being poured out for the people. This blood is what will bring redemption. It is what will cleanse his people, giving them forgiveness for their sins. This wine represents this new agreement, that anyone who puts their faith in the blood will now be his people. This is the agreement: Through Jesus, God will be our God and we will be his people.
But there is an even bigger picture to this story than Jesus offering salvation. There is an even bigger picture than Jesus revealing his identity in this moment. Jesus makes a prophetic statement to finish his point to the disciples with the lesson that he gives through the bread and the cup:
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.
Mark 14:25
Even at this moment, we are waiting on Jesus to return. He is the bridegroom and his people are his bride, and there will be a great marriage in heaven with a great banquet to celebrate the marriage of the Lord to his people. In fact, if we read in Revelation 19, we can see a representation of exactly that for which we are waiting:
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Revelation 19:6-9
There will be a great banquet for the bridegroom and for the bride. Jesus will be at the wedding banquet as will all of those who are the Bride of Christ, those who are part of his kingdom. Jesus is the Lamb that was slain. It is his banquet!
So this is the time in which he will drink the cup anew in the kingdom. That is the day in which the Bride will be united with her Bridegroom, the day in which the fulfillment and completion of the kingdom of God will come to pass.
As we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we must keep in mind that there are profound things that Jesus is saying. He is declaring things that have already happened. He is declaring the agreement that God now makes with his people through the blood of Christ. And he is foreshadowing that which will yet happen as we look to the day that everything will be finished and we will one day be united with him. Maranatha – come Lord Jesus! May you drink the cup one day new in our presence as your Bride.