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THIS IS MY BLOOD OF THE COVENANT

Mark 14:12-26

Key Verse 24

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.”

Introduction

Last week we learned the beautiful story of a woman who poured her perfume on Jesus. Some people criticized her harshly. In particular, Judas who valued money more than anything else could not understand why she had to do so. However, Jesus accepted her act as a beautiful thing. No doubt, what the most beautiful thing is “the love of Jesus.” Today’s passage teaches us the love of Jesus whose blood was poured out for many. Today Jesus invites us to His Table of true friendship. The hearts of people get colder and colder. But Jesus’ love shines more and more! Praise Jesus! May God bless us enter into the blood covenant relationship with Jesus.

Read verses 12-16. What question did the disciples bring to Jesus? (12) What was Jesus’ reply? (13-15) What might they have learned by obeying Him? (16)

1-1, Read verses 12-16.

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.

1-2, What question did the disciples bring to Jesus? (12)

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?”

Two days had already passed. Now it was the first day of the Feast 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?”
Eating the Passover was very important to the Jews. It had a historical meaning. It commemorated the deliverance of the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt.

1-3, What was Jesus’ reply? (13-15)

Jesus instructed his disciples how to look for a room to eat the Passover. Outwardly it was a very strange instruction.
This was an unusual sight. Women usually carried a jar of water. Men normally carried liquids in animal skin containers.
Therefore, a man carrying a jar was a kind of noticeable sign to the disciples. Jesus says, “Where is the guest room”
The scene here implies secrecy, and Jesus had good reason to quietly make arrangements for Passover.
Jesus didn’t want Judas to betray Him before He could give a final important talk to the disciples.
The Lord Jesus Christ must have had many unknown disciples, upon whom He blessed them to serve Him and God’s work.

1-4, What might they have learned by obeying Him? (16)

The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

The disciples went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. The upper room in the house belonged to the mother of Mark, the writer of this book.
This upper room was later used as the gathering place for the Jerusalem Church. (Ac 1:13)
In this way, Jesus himself prepared the Lord’s Supper, a historical event in the New Testament.

Read verses 17-21. What did Jesus mention about one of His disciples? (17) What can we learn from His answer to His disciples? (18-21)

2-1, Read verses 17-21.

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.”

2-2, What did Jesus mention about one of His disciples? (17)

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.”

They were ready to eat the Passover. This is called “the Lord’s Supper” or “the Last Supper.”
Eating together with Jesus at the same table-this table fellowship was an act of deep friendship and intimacy with one another.
It was a sign of love and unity with each other. But there was a betrayer. Nothing is more difficult than bearing such a betrayer in such a table!

2-3, What can we learn from His answer to His disciples? (18-21)

19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

Surely it was a shocking statement of Jesus Christ. Jesus had 11 disciple-friends to be friends and to bond with in a love relationship.
The next day he would die for them. But for now, he wanted to seal his friendship with them in a blood covenant that they might be his friends forever.
Later such friendship and love grew stronger and stronger until the point that the majority of them became martyrs for Jesus’ name.

Jesus did not single out Judas (though Judas, sitting in the place of honor, would have been given the special portion).
All the disciples dipped with Him, so this phrase identified the betrayer as a friend. In Middle Eastern culture, betraying a friend after eating a meal with him was and is regarded as the worst kind of treachery.
In the warning of Jesus we see a profound love for Judas. This was his last, fleeting opportunity to turn back from his evil plot.
A remarkable thing to remember is that Jesus loved both Mary and Judas. We almost want to think that He loved Mary and hated Judas, but that isn’t the case.
If we miss His love towards Judas – rejected love, to be sure – if we miss that love, we miss the whole story.
Judas was obviously loved by Jesus as a friend. Jesus did everything to befriend this man and to bless his life and to make him a friend of God.
At first when Judas whose hometown was different from others seemed distant to Jesus and the others,
But fundamentally Judas’ love for the world grew stronger and his passion for Jesus grew colder.
One day Judas realized that there was not much more he could get from Jesus. He looked around and found a few priests who paid Judas to trap Jesus.
He did not consider the value of friendship with Jesus. He had no use for a friendship that could no longer offer him anything in this world.
So he betrayed his friend and teacher and now the Lord. He sold Jesus for 30 silver coins. But Jesus was not ready to sell Judas. He loved him.

Read verses 22-26. What did Jesus do and say while they were eating and drinking? (22-24) What does it mean by drinking in the kingdom of God? (25) Where then did they go? (26)

3-1, Read verses 22-26.

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[c] 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.”

26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

3-2, What did Jesus do and say while they were eating and drinking? (22-24)

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 covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.

Jesus continued the meal. He offered the bread to all of them. Being fully aware that he would be betrayed,
Jesus offered them friendship, unity and love anyway. He did not turn them away. Then Jesus offered them a new covenant.
“Take it; this is my body.” Jesus broke the bread, symbolizing how his body would be broken.
“Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.” Jesus says, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”
The main meaning of the “new covenant” refers back to the old covenant. The old covenant was based on animal sacrifices.
This covenant of the blood reveals God’s character and the heart of the gospel well. God is holy and righteous.
The wages of sin is death. If God forgave us our sins without demanding the wages, he would not be righteous.
So God provided the way for sinners both to pay the wages of sin and to be forgiven–that is, through the blood of the covenant.
Under the old covenant, countless lambs and bulls were sacrificed. But God himself provided us with the perfect sacrifice for our sins, Jesus the Lamb of God.
When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he exclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
Jesus came to this world to be the Lamb of God and to pour out his holy blood to cleanse our sins.
When we accept his blood for our sins and apply it to the doorposts of our hearts, our sins are forgiven ‘freely’ through his Son Jesus Christ.
It is indeed free because our Lord Jesus paid all the wages of sin for us in our place.
This is the blood covenant with Jesus. It is not a covenant that was established through our goodness or through our faithfulness.
It is a covenant made possible by God’s grace. This is the covenant offered to all sinners.

3-3, What does it mean by drinking in the kingdom of God? (25)

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.”

Through the shedding of his blood, Jesus not only cleansed our sins but also opened the way for all men to have a living hope in the kingdom of God.
So nothing is more important than drinking Jesus’ blood. Nothing can be added until we enter the kingdom of God because Jesus has finished to cleanse all sins

3-4, Where then did they go? (26)

26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Obviously Jesus and His disciples did sing a hymn. It is quite remarkable that Jesus could sing on this night before His crucifixion.
Satan tries to make God’s people depressed. When we love someone we want to do the things that please them. It really doesn’t matter if it does please us.
Again, it is wonderful that Jesus sang, but what did He sing? A Passover meal always ended with singing three Psalms known as the Hallel, Psalms 116-118.
Surely the words of these Psalms ministered to Jesus as He sang them on the night before His crucifixion.
They went to the Mount of Olives: “Jesus tarried with them in the Upper Room for the wonderful discourse and prayer in John 14 to John 17.
“Our Lord knew that his time had now come when he must be actually delivered into the hands of his enemies.
But with the whole picture from God’s perspective, it was a part of God’s plan and the victory will follow for sure.
That was why Jesus must have sung a song and went out to the mount of Olive to pray, and later would wait for Judas.

Conclusion

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1Peter 2:24, 25) It is based on or stemmed from His Father in Heaven, God’s love for all sinners. Jesus, the Son of God, knew His Father’s heart desire. He wanted to take part in God’s love through His willing obedience to die on the cross. Also friendship with Jesus is priceless for those who know its value. It’s like the two friends whose friendship was thicker than blood so that they look more like brothers rather than friends. Also, Jesus’ blood has the power to break the chains of all our sins and set us free. Jesus’ blood has life-changing power. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” Through his blood we have forgiveness, deliverance from darkness, and purification. Daily we must accept Jesus’ invitation to enter into the blood covenant relationship with Jesus. We must believe that the blood of Jesus can cleanse away all our sins so that we can live as holy servants of God in this generation. We must believe that the blood of Jesus can cleanse all the sins of young students and raise them as Bible teachers and for the whole world.

One word: The blood covenant of Jesus our Lord!