Mark Reading Plan – W14D2
Week 14 | Day 2 | Mark 14:12-26
Check out all the previous readings here.
Pray
Thank God for something in your life and ask Him to speak to you through your reading and reflection today.
Bible Reading (read these verses three times slowly)
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?”
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. 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?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 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.”
They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”
“It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Manwill 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.”
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.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “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.”
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Reflection & Questions
It had been celebrated for hundreds of years. The cherished Passover celebration. All of Israel would break from their normal routine to remember a remarkable rescue. A lamb was sacrificed. Bread was baked. Families gathered. The streets would fall silent. And in each home, the story of God’s rescue of Israel was retold. It was one of the highlights of the year. A treasured tradition.
Given that, what Jesus does here is as shocking as it is remarkable. He takes this treasured tradition and makes it all about Himself. In fact, He replaces Passover with what we now call Communion. He takes the bread and says eat it, as it represents His body sacrificed for us. He takes the wine and says drink it, as it represents His blood spilt for us. And the lamb? There’s no mention of sacrificing and eating lamb. It’s no longer needed, because the Lamb of God was sacrificed once for all. And what we see as Jesus explains this to His disciples, is that all that had come before was just a shadow of the real thing. The first Passover and every treasured Passover since was just a foreshadowing. Jesus was the real lamb. His sacrifice is the real sacrifice. His rescue was the real rescue. And so Communion should be the truly cherished celebration.
- Is communion a cherished celebration for you? Why or why not?
Pray
Thank God for the gift of His Son! You might even consider taking communion as part of your prayer time.
Worship Song
You could use this worship song to worship Jesus today.
Bible Reading
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?”
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. 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?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 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.”
They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”
“It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 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.”
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.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “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.”
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Reflection and Questions
It had been celebrated for hundreds of years. The cherished Passover celebration. All of Israel would break from their normal routine to remember when God rescued them back in the days of the Old Testament. A lamb was sacrificed. Bread was baked. Families gathered. The streets would fall silent. And in each home, the story of God’s rescue of Israel was retold. It was one of the highlights of the year. A loved tradition.
Given that, what Jesus does here is pretty interesting, and very different from what everyone would have been used to. He takes this tradition and makes it all about Himself. In fact, He replaces Passover with what we now call Communion. He takes the bread and says eat it, as it represents His body sacrificed for us. He takes the wine and says drink it, as it represents His blood spilt for us. And the lamb? There’s no mention of sacrificing and eating lamb. It’s no longer needed, because the Lamb of God, which is Jesus, was sacrificed once for all. You probably haven’t ever celebrated the Passover before, and this is why! We don’t need the passover to celebrate God’s rescue of the Israelites from the Egyptians, we do communion to celebrate God rescuing ALL of us through Jesus, every week!
- Do you understand what communion means?
Prayer
Thank God for the gift of His Son!
Bible Reading
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?”
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. 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?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 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.”
They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”
“It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 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.”
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.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “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.”
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Devo Focus
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. Vs24
Devo
Sometimes movies will foreshadow what’s going to happen later on. It’s a way to build dramatic tension. This isn’t a new concept. God did it in the Bible many, many, many years ago! It had been celebrated for hundreds of years. The cherished Passover celebration. All of Israel would break from their normal routine to remember a remarkable rescue. A lamb was sacrificed. Bread was baked. Families gathered. The streets would fall silent. And in each home, the story of God’s rescue of Israel was retold. It was one of the highlights of the year. A treasured tradition. Given that, what Jesus does here is as shocking as it is remarkable. He takes this treasured tradition and makes it all about Himself. In fact, He replaces Passover with what we now call Communion. He takes the bread and says eat it, as it represents His body sacrificed for us. He takes the wine and says drink it, as it represents His blood spilt for us. And the lamb? There’s no mention of sacrificing and eating lamb. It’s no longer needed, because the Lamb of God was sacrificed once for all. And what we see as Jesus explains this to His disciples, is that all that had come before was just a shadow of the real thing. The first Passover and every treasured Passover since was just a foreshadowing. Jesus was the real lamb. His sacrifice is the real sacrifice. His rescue was the real rescue. And so Communion should be the truly cherished celebration.
- Is communion a cherished celebration for you? Why or why not?
Prayer
Thank God for the gift of His Son!