The Last Meal of Jesus Mk 14:12-25

GOSPEL OF MARK SERIES.

The Bible: Gospel of Mark icon.

During 2019, each week, I will write a weekly post about the Gospel of Mark, as I review and explore each of the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. If you are following this series for the first time, you will find this series under Scripture- New Testament- Gospel of Mark. 

Click here to read the first post in the series. I have written this series in different years (2012, 2015, 2018) with some irregularity, but am determined to complete this series this year since I am more than half way through this Gospel.

My goal is to understand and pray the Gospel of Mark. I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel through the liturgical season.  In today's post we explore chapter 14:12 -25 which is called The Last Meal with His Disciples

THE LAST MEAL WITH HIS DISCIPLES. (14:12-25). 

Mark presents the last meal of Jesus with His disciples as a Passover meal of thanksgiving, and tells the story of its preparation as a way similar to the preparation for the entry intro Jerusalem. (11:1-6).  Marks says nothing explicitly of the killing of a lamb and the other things needed for a Passover meal.

In the evening when they take their places around the table, Jesus announces in strong language ‘’truly( amen), I say to you’, that one of the twelves eating with Him will betray Him.

This last meal of Jesus with His disciples is framed before and after, by their infidelity.  He speaks first of His betrayal by one of them and later of the public denial of Him by another.  Jesus is not threatening His disciples, but emphasising the unfaithfulness among His close followers who gather to eat with Him at the same table.

The last of meal of Jesus reaches its climax in the ritual actions of Jesus with bread and wine taken from the table.  These gestures of Jesus and His accompanying words have been recognised from the earliest years of Christ faith as the institution of the Christian Eucharist or thanksgiving meal.

Jesus took some bread from the table, said a prayer of praise to God over the bread, and then broke it for His disciples to eat.  He told them that this eating together was the visual embodiment of His own person in the world.  Then He did the same with a c up of wine, which He called own blood fo the covenant (ex 24:8) to be poured out by Him for all.

At the end of the meal Jesus emphatically assures the twelves that He will eat with them again in a new manner, when the Kingdom of God has come, that is, when God show the fullness of His power in glory.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In our journal and/or our discussion group we may wish to reflect on this passage as follows:

• Name the key points that you have learnt about the person of Jesus in this passage of scripture?

• Imagine that you are the disciples- What do you see and hear and feel. What can I learn from this?
• Imagine sitting at the table with Jesus and being told that you are going to betray Him. hat do you feel?
• Imagine being the one of the disciples watching and listening to the action of Jesus at the meal. What questions do I want to bring to Jesus? 
•  What is reading the Gospel passage with the eyes and ears of disciple mean to me?

• How does Jesus make clear His teaching to me in this passage?
• Consider a situation in your life today where the teaching of Jesus needs to be applied. Why is it difficult to be challenged on a long-held view and be open to viewing it differently? 

• Consider how much my faith means to me especially related to the Mass and what does my faithfulness/unfaithfulness to my church/parish mean to me and others?

• What are the areas in my life I need to bring to Jesus in the light of this teaching?
  
  
• Am I willing to look into myself with honesty and ask how much do I grasp what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus in the light of this teaching?