"Take, eat; this is My body"

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?" And He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us." So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.

In the evening He came with the twelve. Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me." And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one. "Is it I?" And another said, "Is it I?" He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him. But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

- Mark 14:12-25

Because today is Maundy Thursday (in the West and some Orthodox churches -- in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Holy Week is next week), the lectionary skips forward. Yesterday's reading was in Mark chapter 12. Jesus was in the temple, where He was challenged by the chief priests, scribes and elders. He told a parable, before both the leadership and the crowds there for the Passover, about the vinedressers who sought all the fruits of harvest for themselves, keeping them from the vineyard owner. The owner sent many servants; some were beaten and some killed. Finally he sent his son, the heir. The vinedressers reckoned they could kill the son, and take the inheritance for themselves. Jesus said, "So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?" And He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us." So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. The events of today's reading follow many events of teaching in the temple that we skip over in the lectionary. Here, Jesus' omniscience is displayed, another sign of His divinity. We also note how He prepares a place for His disciples. He is as the father of a family; all are taken care of under His wing and guidance. In an earlier reading in Mark's gospel, He has said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." In this sense, we can look at these events and see in them the idea that He prepares a place for each of us. That which He prepares may be set in motion, acted upon through His servants, those who love Him, who seek to do His will.

In the evening He came with the twelve. Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me." And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one. "Is it I?" And another said, "Is it I?" He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him. But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born." Here is a bold taste of so many of the realities of God, what we understand of our faith. First of all, Jesus' omniscience is again on display. He knows there is one who will betray Him, and that it is one of the twelve who eats with Him this night. None of the disciples seems to have any clue who will do this, but Jesus quite literally knows exactly the man, even down to the fact that he "dips with Me in the dish." He also quotes the Scriptures, the prophecy that teaches what will happen. So, we have a second evidence of the hand of God at work in the world through the prophets, and the vision given. Finally, there is the understanding of Judgment, a great paradox and mystery. We have the free will to make our decisions, to betray our Creator. It doesn't matter what is known or not known: God gives us the choice in our freedom to return God's love or not. But Judgment will happen, and this is also a promise to us. It is also a warning, and a stark one: It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." Even as He assures them of the betrayal that is to come, Jesus institutes the Eucharist -- that which will be the greatest evidence and power of "God with us." He will never leave us, and in this sacrament, this great mystery, is our deepest participation in His grace, in His mystical body and blood. It tells us of the depth of the covenant, deeply within us, and sealed by the power of the sacrifice that He will make. He will die for us, knowing what is to come, and also knowing that this will be the seal of the covenant between us all.

The depths of this mystery are so profound that we cannot consider them all. It is a mystery that continues to this day, profound as it is that 2,000 years later, and for millenia to come (if you ask me), it will continue to unfold, to be explored, to pose to us the greatest mystery of our faith. How is God become human? How is He to be betrayed, and by one of His own? Why is all this -- the great events of this Gospel, of this week -- brought to us, given to us, lived for us? Perhaps the greatest paradox and mystery of them all is the mystery of Incarnation. Our God is human. He has come into the world as one of us, and also as divine. He lived His life with attributes of the divine, and as one in the flesh with us. He taught us, He teaches us, He is with us still. We cannot forget that our religion is one that teaches us of the incarnational nature of this dispensation and grace. As He lived His life, so He taught us to live ours. If there is anything cemented in this mystery of the Eucharist, it is that. We live out our lives as His disciples, participating in His mysteries, in His Spirit, the reality of body and blood given identity in spiritual truth. There is no separation of the ethereal and the worldly: as disciples, our life in the world -- every bit of it -- is meant to be defined, transformed, realized through participation in Him. No matter what we go through in life, He has been there. Let us remember His betrayal, and what it means for us: that we are never alone. Whatever we may experience, He is here with us. He has given us the gift of the spirit-tinged life, and all of it that we can give back to Him becomes sacrament. Let us remember in all the betrayals of our lives, that He is there and invites us always to His life for us. Perhaps the greatest gift we have is this knowledge that here and now, in a world far less than perfect, we are with Him and He with us. This is the place to which we are called for Him, here and now, in all our choices and experiences. Ours is not a "pie in the sky" faith, but one in which our Savior in the flesh has led His life, so that we may lead ours, through all things.