Tag Archives: cup

MARK’S GOSPEL…THE MEW COVENANT – 35

Bible Study, ,

Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭22‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“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.”

Just another Passover celebration in the life of Jesus…or was it?

I wonder if the disciples ever realised what a life-and-world-changing event was about to happen at that moment. Centuries before, Jeremiah had predicted that what Jesus Christ was about to do, to make a new covenant between the Father and Himself, was God’s solution to His people’s dismal failure as His own covenant nation. 

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭31‬:‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A New Covenant? Why? What was wrong with the covenant God had cut with Israel at Mount Sinai? Centuries of disobedience, lawlessness, and idolatry defined the Israelites despite God’s pleading, patience, and expressions of love and mercy towards His people. Israel’s history was stained with defiance and betrayal. 

There was nothing wrong with the covenant but everything wrong with the people. Their hearts were hard and incurably wicked. A new covenant, based on what God could do rather than on what they could never do, was the answer. 

Included in the promise of a new covenant was the promise of new hearts. 

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭36‬:‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Now, at this moment, in the Upper Room, in the presence of His eleven closest companions (Judas had left the company), Jesus set up His New Covenant, not another ceremony signed in animal blood but an eternal agreement between Himself and the Father, to be signed in His own blood. 

So significant was this covenant for the eternal redemption of the human race that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could not entrust to sinful humans the honour of being in covenant with God. The only perfectly obedient human who was eligible to be in covenant with Father was Jesus Himself. 

“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…”

An ordinary, everyday event…eating bread and drinking wine…was elevated, in this moment, to an eternal truth. Bread, the staff of life…wine, the blood of the grape, speaking of life and death…so, in symbolic simplicity, Jesus revealed the heart of God in the inauguration of His New Covenant…a covenant between Father and Son signed in His blood…with us, condemned sinners, as His beneficiaries. 

What so many of God’s people have sadly missed is that the New Covenant is not an addition to the Old but completely replaces it. 

“By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”

Hebrews‬ ‭8‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

According to Google, 

“Obsolete” means no longer used, in general use, or useful because something newer or better has been invented. For example, an old model of a cell phone might become obsolete when a new smartphone is released, or an old programming language might be deemed obsolete when it’s replaced by a more efficient one.”

God’s people need to get the impact of this word “obsolete”! If the Old Covenant is obsolete, outdated and discarded, why do many of God’s people still observe some of its laws, rituals, and practices as though they still apply…for example food taboos, Sabbath observance, holy festivals, even prayer rituals? 

This little scene in the Upper Room is a line in the sand, a deciding moment in history, a new dispensation in God’s dealings with humanity…law as a way of acceptance with God forever declared redundant…grace, the new way forever because mercy, redemption, and forgiveness are freely given through the body and blood of Jesus. 

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth….Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬, ‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The only safe place in which we can take shelter from God’s wrath against sin is in the body and blood of the one who is in covenant with the Father on our behalf. No law, ritual, tradition, or sacrifice can add or substitute for what Jesus has done for us. 

Paul issued a serious warning…

“Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Law and grace can never live in peace together because the one cancels the other. 

In this breathtaking scene in the Upper Room, history stood still, then made an about-turn, retracing its step to the moment when the Lamb of God was slain in eternity and the magnitude of that sacrifice cast its shadow across time. Instead of the covenant at Sinai, with its exposure of humanity’s evil heart, the cross of Jesus will always be the defining moment for every sinner…”Yes!” Or “No!”

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – PASSOVER FULFILLED

Bible Study, ,

PASSOVER FULFILLED

22 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. 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. Mark 14:22-26

In Luke 22:14, Jesus expressed His eager desire to share this final Passover meal with His disciples before He suffered. There is so much meaning packed into this ceremony. The entire Old Testament climaxed in that moment. Everything that Passover symbolised was being fulfilled.

The disciples, all Jews, would have understood the symbolism of the bread and wine, according to function and not form, not taking Jesus’ words literally, as some heretical branches of the church do, but interpreting what He was saying to express the stark reality of the events about to unfold. They may not have understood it all then, but after ave thanks. Pentecost it would all come alive to them. Then they would be able to “connect the dots” to see the whole picture clearly.

As we read the words of this simple ceremony, they don’t impact us a powerfully as they would have impacted those twelve men that night. Even Judas would have been riveted by Jesus’ disclosure. What thoughts ran through his mind as Jesus spoke of His broken body and poured out blood? How did he connect that with the dastardly act of betrayal that was already taking shape in his mind? Did he realise that he, in some perverted way, would play a part in the unfolding drama of redemption? His mind was probably fixed on the reward of his betrayal – a small fortune in a bag!

There is no fear, anxiety or distress in Jesus’ words. He disclosed the outcome of the next fateful hours with confidence, even expectation. He was not there to announce the end of His life but a transition into a new era with His friends – the kingdom of God. When would He share the Passover meal with them again? Would it be only after His return, when He wraps up this season of earth’s existence and restores everything to His original purpose? Perhaps, but is it not true that He shares that Passover experience with His people every time they celebrate the Lord’s Supper because, wherever His body is, there He is in the midst?

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE PRICE OF POSITION

Bible Study, ,

THE PRICE OF POSITION

5 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
39 “We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is n Mark 10:35-40

James and John were shrewd. Instead of being part of a squabble for the position of prime minister, they stood together and went straight to Jesus. Since arguing got them nowhere, they decided to secure their position by going right to the top. Reading their request leaves one with a feeling of outrage. They were bold and blatant and without any shame over their arrogance. They were not yet ECHAD!

Jesus seemed unfazed by their request but He was certainly aware of their naivety regarding their sense of top position. They thought it came by appointment. Jesus knew that it came through sacrifice, submission and suffering. He called it a “baptism”, and “drinking a cup”. These are concepts deeply rooted in the Old Testament. “Drinking the cup” was associated with God’s wrath over national and personal disobedience and sin. Baptism was a ritual washing to initiate a person into something.

For Jesus, baptism initiated Him into identity with the human race, including God’s judgment, and “drinking the cup” referred to His taking the wrath of God and the punishment for the sin of the whole world. According to Paul in Phil 2:6-11, Jesus would ultimately be accorded the place of highest honour because of His obedience to the Father from His place in heaven to death on a cross.

How could James and John be a part of that? How brash they were in boasting that they could drink of that cup and share in that baptism. What did they know, at that point, of the cost to Jesus? They refused to listen when He tried to tell them. Sadly, Jesus acknowledged that they would be part of that price in the future, not to secure God’s forgiveness but to spread the news to the ends of the earth. James would pay with his life before he even left Jerusalem. John would experience persecution and exile on a lonely island for the sake of the Master and His message.

Their request was evidence of their immature understanding but Jesus left it at that. He knew that life and experience under the tutorship of the Holy Spirit, would eventually lead them to understand the truth.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – STUPID PHARISEES

Bible Study, ,

STUPID PHARISEES

“When He had finished this talk, a Pharisee asked Him to dinner. He entered the house and sat down at the table. The Pharisee was shocked and somewhat offended when he saw that Jesus didn’t wash up before dinner. But the Master said to him, ‘I know you Pharisees burnish the surface of your cups and plates so that they sparkle in the sun, but I also know your insides are maggoty with greed and secret evil. Stupid Pharisees! Didn’t the One who made the outside also make the inside? Turn both your pockets and your hearts inside out and give generously to the poor, then your lives will be clean, not just your dishes and your hands,'” Luke 11:37-41.

Every religion has a standard of right and wrong. The religion of the Pharisees was no different. Although they believed that they were worshipping and serving the God of Israel, there had been a slow and subtle change in their understanding of who He was and what He wanted.

From the earliest time of their history, God had revealed to them the nature of His righteousness – doing what is right because of who He is. He is ‘gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and full of love and faithfulness’ – Exodus 34:6. His laws reflected His nature. He expected them to treat each other the way He treated them.

Because of their refusal to obey His laws, over time they were punished again and again for their idolatry and injustice by war and exile. They came to believe that God was only pleased when they obeyed the many petty and trivial laws that were formulated to ‘protect’ His Law. The heart of their religion became legalistic and God was reduced to the level of ‘rule-keeping’ as the standard of righteousness.

Jesus came to reveal the heart of the Father and hence He clashed with religious leaders because, like all religions, its devotees were ruled by fear. ‘Break the rules and you fall foul of the god whom you are supposed to be appeasing by keeping them.’   

Does it really matter to God whether we wash our hands before meals? For hygienic reasons, yes, but it makes no difference to the state of our hearts. What is it that really exposes what is in our hearts? Strangely enough, according to Jesus, it’s what we do with our money. Since money is the power that drives the world, who owns our money and our attitude to it reveals what is really in our hearts.

Jesus insisted that we cannot serve two masters. It is either God or money that is in the control centre of our lives. The love of money drives our selfishness, greed and attitude to other people. If money is our master, we will go to whatever lengths necessary to get it even at the cost of lives. If Jesus is our Master, money will be one of the currencies we use to make other people’s lives better.

Isn’t rule-keeping often a cover-up for wickedness in our hearts? Just like the Pharisees, we meticulously observe rules and rituals to appear ‘righteous’ but inside the ‘cup’ is the filth of greed we cannot hide from God. How do we break its power? Jesus said, ‘Be a giver, and you’ll become generous, like your heavenly Father.’ Generosity will not save us, but it will go a long way to setting us free from the ‘evil eye’ that rules the world.

The Cup And The Crown

Bible Study, , ,

THE CUP AND THE CROWN

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’

‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He asked. They replied, ‘Let one of us sit at your right hand and the other at you left in your glory.’

‘You don’t know what you are asking,’ Jesus said. ‘Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?’ ‘We can,’ they answered.

Jesus said to them, ‘You will drink the cup I drink and be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with, but to sit on my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they are prepared.’ When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John (Mark 10: 35-41).

What a cheek! James and John were shameless in their attempt to get ahead of their fellow disciples. Up to this point the disciples had jockeyed among themselves for the highest position in the kingdom of God. Jesus often caught them arguing and tried to instil in them the values of the kingdom but, apparently to no avail. In the same way as they ignored His repeated warnings about His impending death, they were deaf to His teaching about leadership and greatness.

Now James and John went straight to the top. One would have thought that they would have been careful about approaching Jesus on this subject seeing that He had clearly taught them not to seek greatness. The way up was down, He told them, but they had obviously not got the message.

Did you notice how they approached Him? “Will you say yes to whatever we ask you?” That’s what children do. They want to secure the parent’s agreement before they ask what they want. Jesus was smart. He was not about to fall into their trap. “Tell me what you want first and then I’ll give you an answer.” Their response was bold and brash. They had obviously schemed together to secure their place in the kingdom before the other disciples got in. “Promise us that we will have the places of honour beside you when you are crowned king.”

“You guys just don’t understand, do you?” I can imagine that Jesus was annoyed with them. What would it take to get it into their thick skulls that they had no right to ask for what they were asking? Matthew mentioned that their mother accompanied them when they came to Jesus with the request and voiced it for them. Did they think that their mom had more clout with Jesus than they had? This had even become a family matter.

Jesus’ response cut right across their way of thinking. There was a cup to drink and a baptism to be baptised with before they could receive a position of honour like that. What was the “cup” to which Jesus referred? It was a cup and a baptism He, first of all, was about to endure before they could experience it themselves.

Throughout the Old Testament the “cup” is mentioned – both the cup of God’s wrath (Jer. 25:15) and the cup of salvation (Psalm 116: 13). Without going into great detail, “cup” is a euphemism for the full experience of either wrath of salvation. Paul uses the same expression to refer to God’s blessing (1 Cor. 10:16). To “drink” implies to take it into oneself with all its effects.

“James and John, before you can participate in any glory that belongs to me, you must first drink the cup I must drink. Can you do that?” How blasé they were in their reply. “Yes, we can” they replied, yet they had no clue about what they were saying. Sadly Jesus agreed that they would drink the cup and go through the baptism but to give them the assurance of the honour they requested was not His right.

Jesus’ position of honour was given to Him by the Father but earned by His humiliation and suffering. He drank the cup of God’s wrath to the dregs so that He could offer the cup of salvation to anyone who received it by faith. Mere association with Jesus did not qualify the brothers. Only full participation with Him would allow them to share in His glory. The cup first and them the crown.

At that moment they had no idea what He meant but they would one day. John was killed at the hands of the despotic Herod and John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos. Yes, they had a cup to drink – the cup of suffering because they had been baptised into identity with Jesus.

Each of us has our own cup to drink and our own baptism to be baptised with. Only when we submit to Jesus and embrace the cup will we have a share in what has been prepared for us.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com