Preparation for the Meal
Mark 14:12-16
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?”
So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions: “As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.
- What is the significance of the Passover meal? Why was it important to Jesus to observe the Passover with his disciples at this time?
- What was unusual about the circumstances associated with this Passover meal?
Partaking of the Meal
Mark 14:17-26
In the evening Jesus arrived with the Twelve. As they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me here will betray me.”
Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one?”
He replied, “It is one of you twelve who is eating from this bowl with me. For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”
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 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 they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many. I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”
Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
- How was it significant that one of those eating with Jesus would betray him? What do you make of the disciples’ reaction and response?
- What new elements did Jesus introduce into the traditional Passover observance? What does this mean to you?
- What significance did the bread have in Jesus’ prior ministry? What about the “blood” of Jesus? How might the disciples have reacted to Jesus’ declaration of the bread and wine representing his body and blood?
- Why do we observe this meal when we gather together as Christians? What does communion mean to you?
Predicting Peter's Denial
Mark 14:27-31
On the way, Jesus told them, “All of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,
‘God will strike the Shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’
But after I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”
Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
“No!” Peter declared emphatically. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the others vowed the same.
- What do you think of the disciples’ reaction to Jesus’ prediction of their desertion? What might have been encouraging to them in the midst of this prediction of failure?
- Have you ever been like Peter in your (misplaced) confidence? What do we learn from this?
