Explanatory Notes on Passion Week so far:
- Palm Sunday (Mark 11:1-11)
- Monday Money Changers (Mark 11:12-19)
- Tuesday Debates I (Mark 11:20-33)
- Prophecy on Destruction (Mark 13:1-23)
14:12 And on the first day of Unleavened [Breads], when they were sacrificing the Passover, his followers say to him, "Where do you want, having gone, should we prepare that you might eat the Passover?"
Mark's framing of the Passover is a little confusing. In Leviticus 23:5-6, the Passover is the day before the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins. Passover is one day on 14 Nisan, from sundown to sundown. Then the Feast of Unleavened Bread is an associated but separate feast that begins on 15 Nisan and is seven days long.
By contrast, Mark's text sounds like the first day of Unleavened Bread was the day before the Passover, which then began at sundown. Probably the best solution is to take Mark's language here as very informal. The whole process began when the Passover lambs were sacrificed, and this took place during the day before the Passover meal in the evening.
Despite that question, Mark clearly seems to identify the last supper as a Passover meal. The question is where they will eat it. As usual, Jesus' followers seem more concerned about the logistics than Jesus is. There were at least thirteen of them, and probably more. Where would they find such a space?
14:13 And he sends two of his followers and says to them, "Depart into the city, and a person will meet you, carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him. 14. And wherever he should enter, say to the house owner, 'The teacher says, "Where is my room, where I might eat the Passover with my followers?"' 15. And he himself will show you a furnished upper room prepared, and there prepare for us."
The same kinds of theories are around for this encounter with individuals in town as were for Palm Sunday. Did Jesus have something pre-arranged with certain people in Jerusalem. Was the man with the pitcher a clever way to make contact without anyone catching on?
The most obvious reading of Mark is that Jesus just knew these things would happen. He knew that there was a willing person with a large house and an upper room. He knew they would send someone out for water at the same time his followers arrived looking.
It is tempting to see this upper room as the same upper room as Pentecost (Acts 1:13). It is tempting to see this as the house where they were having the prayer meeting when Peter was miraculously released from prison (Acts 12). If so, this is the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. In other words, the upper room would be in the very house of none other than the reputed author of Mark, John Mark (Acts 12:20).
They had preparations to make, not least, the slaughter of a lamb and the preparation of the food. It is of course possible that the owner of the house invited them to celebrate the Passover together. Many Christians will be aware of the practice of the Jewish seder today. However, the rituals involved in the current seder meal did not likely exist at the time of Jesus. The first evidence for it dates to about 200 years later in a collection of Jewish teachings known as the Mishnah.
14:16 And the followers went out and came into the city and they found [things] just as he said to them, and they prepared the Passover. 17. And [it] having become late, he comes with the Twelve.
They went out from Bethany, where they had been staying. Perhaps they had been staying with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. The Gospel of John indicates that they lived in Bethany. Note how Jesus enjoyed the hospitality of these individuals in the early church, even while others were most inhospitable to him.
14:18 And them reclining and eating, Jesus said, "Amen I say to you that one of you will betray me, "the one eating with me."
They are "reclining." This was the standard way to eat in that culture. You did not sit on a chair. You were on the ground, almost lying down but perhaps propped up by your elbow as you casually ate. The Last Supper was indeed a supper. The condensed Lord's Supper we do today for communion is quite different from the meal Jesus and the early Christians ate.
As we have already pointed out, "Amen" is often translated as "truly." It is a word taken directly from Greek.
What a shock this statement must have been! If the evening were not already somber, it was now. They were in an anonymous upper room in Jerusalem. It is possible that they were seen coming into the city limits, but they may also have come after the sun went down. How would anyone find them unless they were betrayed?
We of course know it is Judas from earlier in the chapter.
14:19 They began to be grieved and to say to him one by one, "Surely not I?" 20. And he said to them, "One of the Twelve, the one dipping who dips in the bowl.
The sincere among the followers of Jesus begin to question themselves. Would I betray Jesus under pressure? Could I be the one? Jesus mentions the Twelve, but it is quite possible that there are more followers present, individuals like Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome (Mark 16:1). Those others could at least breathe a sigh of relief that it was not one of them.
Unlike John, Mark does not give much of a sense of the seating arrangement. We could easily read John 13:26 to imply that Judas is sitting right next to Jesus. All of the Twelve were presumably dipping in the same bowl as Jesus, perhaps with the bowl being passed around.
14:21 "Because the Son of the Mortal departs just as it has been written concerning him, and woe to that person through whom the Son of the Mortal is betrayed. Good for him if that person were not born."
We have already talked about the expression, "Son of a Mortal" or "Son of Man," as it is traditionally rendered. It has three main associations: 1) a generic self-reference Jesus used of himself, 2) an association with Jesus' suffering, 3) a reference to Jesus returning from heaven. Here, the connotation of suffering seems most present.
Jesus indicates that his suffering and death is a fulfillment of prophecy. The eternal consequences of Judas' actions are dire. Jesus surely indicates a fate worse than death. This is the greatest betrayal of all time.
Mark does not tell us which Scriptures from the Old Testament indicate that the Messiah would die. Paul indicates in 1 Corinthians 15:3 that it was very early Christian tradition that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." It is possible that Isaiah 53 is in view.
Lord's Supper
14:22 And them eating, having taken bread, having blessed [it], he broke [it] and gave them and said, "Take. This is my body. 23. And, having taken a cup, having given thanks, he gave to them, and all were drinking from it.
This is of course the first instance of the Lord's Supper. It was a meal, although the form we use today is easily seen here. He is indicating that his death will be a sacrifice like the Passover lamb. In Exodus, the blood of the lamb on the doorpost meant that the destroying angel would not touch their house. The angel "passed over." Similarly, the blood of Christ on the doorposts of our hearts will save us from eternal destruction.
The bread is of course a loaf, and the cup is a common cup. We do not necessarily have to remember Jesus' meal in exactly the same way. There are several variations in use in the church today, and they all help us remember Jesus' broken body and spilled blood.
"This is my body" is of course a metaphor. "Life is a rose." Some traditions of course want to make more of the "is" than it will bear in itself. "You're a chicken." Jesus is not dead yet. He has a body. To compare this bread to his body is thus a metaphor. [1]
[1] In other words, you cannot prove transubstantiation or any complex theology of atonement from the use of the word is. Transubstantiation is the idea that the bread and wine of communion (the "Eucharist" or thanksgiving) literally become the body and blood of Jesus--this is my body. But the semantics of this statement will not bear that much of a load.
14:24 And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many.
Another metaphor. The wine of the meal is like the blood Jesus is about to shed in the process of crucifixion. [2] Mark 10:45 has already said that Jesus was giving his life as a ransom for many. Here, again, Jesus says that his life will be poured out for many. This is not "limited atonement." It is simply that not everyone will choose to avail themselves of it. [3]
A covenant is a solemn arrangement where both sides commit deeply to the agreement. Jesus is making this covenant with his own blood. That agreement will save them from the Judgment. Luke 22:20 will echo Jeremiah 31:31 in its wording by adding the word "new" to covenant. We are reminded that the covenant that Jesus had in mind was especially God's covenant with Israel. The earliest followers of Jesus almost certainly understood Jesus' death, in the first instance, as a ransom for the sins of Israel toward the restoration of the people of Israel.
[2] In reality, crucifixion was not about bleeding. One died of suffocation. Our extensive use of blood language is as much about the comparison to animal sacrifice as it is about the actual process of crucifixion. In other words, it is deeply metaphorical.
[3] Limited atonement is the idea some Calvinsts have that sees Jesus as only dying for those God has chosen. In this perspective, Jesus did not die for the whole world but only for those he has predestined to save.
14:25 "Amen I say to you that no longer will I drink from the fruit of the vine until that day whenever I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
If all we had was the Gospel of Mark, we would assume that Jesus is talking here about the great banquet that will take place after his return. "They will come from east and west and from north and south and will recline in the kingdom of God" (Luke 13:29). However, Luke and John mention Jesus eating with his followers after the resurrection to show that he was not a ghost. In those Gospels, we get the impression that the kingdom of God began with his resurrection. It can be a both/and.
14:26 And having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Would that we knew what they sang and how it sounded! Perhaps, they sang one of the psalms. There were other songs. We know, for example, that one of the founders of the Essene movement wrote hymns too. There may actually be early Christian hymns in the New Testament (e.g., Phil. 2:6-11).
They seem to plan to spend the night at the base of the Mount of Olives, perhaps in the Garden of Gethsemane. There are actually some caves nearby.
1 comment:
Thanks for clearing up some items.
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