Mark 14:12 begins the account of the Last Supper, and it will end at verse 31, since in verse 32, another episode begins: Jesus praying in Gethsemane. Plans to arrest Jesus and to put him to death were already in motion (14:1-2). Judas, one of the Twelve, agreed to betray Jesus for a price (vv. 10-11). In this atmosphere of death, Jesus was anointed at Bethany (vv. 3-9). The section that makes up verses 12-31 can be divided as follows:
- 12-16 The preparation of the Passover meal
- 17-21 The beginning of the meal; the prediction of the betrayal
- 22-25 The institution of the Eucharist
- 26-31 On the way to Gethsemane; the prediction of the disciples' desertion and of Peter's denial
The Preparation for the Meal
The narrative begins with a temporal clause "On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed..." During the time of Jesus, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread and that of the Passover have been joined. It was on the Eve of the Passover, 14 Nisan. Family representatives would go to the temple to have the passover lamb sacrificed -- at around 2:30 PM -- so that these can be eaten by the whole household for the feast. It must be noted immediately that in John's gospel, Jesus dies at the moment when the paschal lambs were being slaughtered for sacrifice. Scholars point out that John had in mind a festal calendar that was different from that of the temple; it was a calendar known to the Essenes. Here, we see how the motives of the evangelists were not wholly journalistic; their interest was to show the theological meaning of the death of Jesus.
In Jerusalem, pilgrims would be celebrating the passover in places that are designated. Jesus and his group were pilgrims from Galilee and so they take advantage of the hospitality of the citizens of Jerusalem during this festal period. To the question of the disciples about where they are to prepare the paschal meal, Jesus gives them directions that lead them to a dining hall which scholars identify as in a large house somewhere in the Upper City, among the well-to-do. The indications given are the following: (a) a male water-bearer (b) a second-floor guest room. Male water-bearers will stand out since it is usually the women who fetched water; a male water-bearer indicates a slave. Second, ordinary houses did not have a second floor; a house with a second floor indicates a large house. The two disciples who were sent to prepare find the place just as Jesus told them. The situation is similar to the preparation for Jesus' entrace to Jerusalem. Here, the evangelist emphasizes the fact that no one except Jesus knew what was about to happen. All has been prepared before hand. The Passover meal with the disciples was part of a plan that Jesus was about to carry out.
The Betrayal of Judas and the Denial of Peter
The Passover meal was celebrated with the family. Jesus celebrates it with his disciples, those who constitute his family (see Mark 3:32-35). Mark narrates the announcements of Judas' betrayal and the denial of Peter in a structure that puts the account of the meal sandwiched as it were between these two announcements. Behind the accounts of these "defections" is an allussion to a Psalm, 41:9 "Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted who ate of my bread has lifted the heel against me." An enemy may cause one hurt, but a friend's betrayal hurts the most.
The Meal Itself
Mark has compressed the account of Jesus' last meal with the disciples into a very short narrative. The Jewish passover meal followed a family ritual where the children are catechized, the paschal lamb eaten with unleavened bread and a cup of wine that was passed around at certain points in the meal with the last one being the cup of blessing. Here, Jesus takes the place of the pater familias as he takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and distributes the pieces to those present. The words used here are similar to the ones used in the feeding of the multitudes (6:41). In fact, the meaning of the feeding of the multitudes -- something that the disciples missed (6:52) -- can only be understood in Jesus' gestures at this Passover meal. Jesus changes the traditional catechetical words at the breaking of the bread. Instead of reminding the disciples that what they were about to eat is the bread of suffering that Israel ate in the bondage of Egypt, he tells them that it is His Body. Then with the last cup, the one taken after the meal, he says that it is the blood of the covenant poured out for the many. The "blood of the covenant" until that time referred to the blood that Moses poured over the altar and the people after ratifying the covenant at Sinai (Ex. 24:1-8). With Jesus' words over the cup, he refers to the New Covenant forged on the cross. The bread is his Body, torn and broken apart; the wine is the blood that pours out of his wounds for the forgiveness of all. As the blood that Moses poured on Sinai establishes the people of Israel, so now the death of Jesus establishes a new people of God. Finally, the words of Jesus about not drinking the fruit of the vine again until "that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God" (v.25) is a promise that death is not the last word, that the "Last Supper" actually points to another banquet in the Kingdom of God. Thus, the meal that he shared with his disciples carries with it an assurance about the eschatological banquet. Jesus looks beyond death and the cross to the feast that God reserves for those He loves.
The Eucharistic Meal and Community Life
What we find in Marks' narrative of the Last Supper is the eucharistic tradition that his community of faith knew. Paul, too transmits the tradition in his communities as we find it in 1 Corinthians
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1 Cor 11:23-26
Paul repeats this tradition within the context of an admonition to the Corinthians regarding the "factions" that exist among them. He tells them to partake of the meal worthily, to examine themselves first so as not to eat and drink to their own condemnation (cf. 1 Cor. 11:28.34).
In Luke 22:14-23, we find Jesus presenting the bread between two givings of the cup. As, in Mark, we find the evangelist contracting the account of the Supper, but the same elements are there: (a) the assurance of another banquet in the kingdom of God (v. 17) (b) the presentation of the bread as His Body, given "for you" (v. 19) and (c) the Blood of the new covenant in the wine that is poured (v.20). The narrative precedes a dispute among the disciples about the one who is greatest and Jesus' teaching that the disciples -- those who partake of the eucharist -- should serve one another. In John's Last Supper account, we find the order reversed: first the teaching about service (the washing of the feet) and then the meal 1. As in Paul, we find the idea of the eucharist in Luke and in John presented as a motive for a community life that is based on love expressed in mutual service.
The Text for the Liturgy of Corpus Christi
For the solemnity of Corpus Christi, a selection of the passages from Mark's account of the Last Supper is presented for meditation. The announcements of Judas' betrayal and Peter's denial are taken out because these were already read during the Holy Week. The emphasis is placed on the meal that was already prepared and the institution of the Eucharist itself. The focus made on these contiguous events serves to highlight the fact that the Last Supper was "intended" by the Lord and what transpired there was not some after-thought. It was then that he institutionalized the Eucharist as a memorial.
Indeed, with regard to this sacrament, He said to the Apostles, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19), that the especial, unique, and manifest memorial of His most excellent love, with which He loved us, might be for us this supreme and august sacrament. Miraculous is the memorial ... in which the sign is renewed and the wonderful things are transformed, in which is contained all delight, in which certainly we obtain support of life and salvation. This is the saving memorial, in which we bring to mind the dear memory of our redemption, in which we are brought back from evil and built up in goodness, and attain an increase of virtues and graces, in which we most certainly approach the bodily presence of the Savior Himself.
( Denzinger 846 based on "Transiturus")
