As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”
And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
Keeping in mind that Jesus and His disciples were celebrating the traditional Passover meal, what Jesus does and says here is a little surprising. Seder meals (the Passover meal) are scripted, kind of like a play. Every year the same words get said at the same times in the course of the meal. The meal is a remembrance of the Israelites' deliverance from bondage in Egypt. They remembered how God had orchestrated their escape through Moses, and how He had provided for them in the wilderness and how He had brought them into their land. Jewish people had celebrated this meal/play every year since ancient time. In fact, modern Jewish people still celebrate the Seder meal.
Because Jesus' disciples were Jewish men, they had each celebrated this traditional Seder meal every single year of their lives. They knew the script by heart. So, it was surprising when Jesus picked up the bread in the middle of the meal and instead of saying the traditional words, He said, "This is my body, given for you...take it and eat it." The disciples evidently obeyed, but were, no doubt, a little confused. What did this mean? They didn't understand.
A while later in the same meal, Jesus took the cup of wine -again, instead of reciting the familiar words of the Seder, He said, "In this cup is my blood -a new covenant between God and His people. It is poured out for the forgiveness of sins....Take and drink." Awkward, confusing, frightening words.
At the time, the disciples did not understand. They did not yet know that the Kingdom Jesus talked of so often was not an overthrow of the Roman government -it was an overthrow of all political, social and religious systems for all time. They did not know that yet -but they would learn it soon enough.
They would learn it, but I often wonder, have we learned it? Do we know what it means that the first will be last and the last will be first? Do we know what it means to treat everyone else as better than ourselves? Have we learned to care for the widows and orphans and poor and broken of this world? Do we treat the marginalized and hopeless with the same dignity and respect that we treat the prosperous? Can we pray sincerely that Father will forgive our sins to the same degree that we are willing to forgive others when they sin against us? Can we even pray sincerely that His will be accomplished here on earth in the same way it is is heaven?
This covenant in the shed blood of Jesus is about so much more than where we go when we die. It is about how we live our lives here and now. Yes, the Kingdom is coming. But at the same time, the Kingdom has come -it is here. It is at the same time, here and not yet. We must not wait until Jesus returns to begin living in the Kingdom. He shed His blood and gave His body so that we can begin living in the Kingdom now as we await the glorious fulfillment of the Kingdom later.
Lord, help me live today as a Kingdom person -seeking first your Kingdom and righteousness; help me trust You for anything else I need along the way. Amen.
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