This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

'I will strike the Shepherd,

And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

"But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble." Jesus said to Him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And so said all the disciples.

- Matthew 26:26-35

In yesterday's reading, we read about the Last Supper of Jesus and His disciples. He is in Jerusalem, and has predicted the eventual destruction of the temple, and also taught about His Second Coming. He has taught them of His imminent Passion and crucifixion. The disciples asked Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?" Jesus gave detailed instructions on meeting a man and telling him, "The Teacher says, 'My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.' " After they sat down at dinner, Jesus told them: "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me." Each asked, "Lord, is it I?" Jesus said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. 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 not been born." Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?" He said to him, "You have said it."

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." My study bible says that here is the institution of the Eucharist, "the long-awaited messianic banquet, to which He admits even Judas, seeking by all means to save him. These words are repeated in the Divine Liturgy at the invitation of Christ to receive His body and blood. Thus it is clear we are invited to a feast, to the Last Supper, at which we become truly united to Christ. He gave thanks to teach us (1) how we should celebrate this sacrament, (2) that He comes willingly to His Passion, and (3) whatever we may suffer, to bear it as He did: thankfully." In His words there is the immediacy of His sacrifice: He is going to the Cross to give His body and His blood for this Covenant that He is instituting. My study bible points out that the Old Covenant was sealed with the blood of bulls and goats. "The New is sealed by the gift of Christ, who shed His own blood to reconcile us with God and reunite us to Himself. He calls it the blood of the new covenant, that is, God's promise, the new Law. By new He means we now have immortal and incorruptible Life. For many is a Semitic idiom meaning 'for all.'"

"But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. At the Last Supper we encounter a sense of overlapping time, the eventual fullness of this moment that is initiated at the Supper. Jesus speaks of the eventual great feast of the Kingdom. My study bible points out that He drinks of the cup Himself, "His own blood, in order to lead the disciples into participation in the heavenly mysteries. In My Father's kingdom relates the Eucharist to the age to come, for the Last Supper inaugurates the future messianic banquet." This Covenant is a promise on many levels, of the abundance of the Life that He adds to ours, in so many ways that they are uncountable.

Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'" Jesus quotes from Zechariah, and predicts their stumbling, that they will be scandalized, literally in the Greek, because of what is to come to Him -- the Passion and death to which He willingly goes. As we step closer and closer with Jesus toward the climax of the Gospel, the different elements before us are almost daunting, and overwhelming to consider. What must the human Jesus be going through? The divine nature of Christ understands what is happening and why; He understands what will happen. He puts His faith and and trust in the will of the Father. But we can't ever forget the very human side of Jesus. One betrayal is coming -- that we read about in yesterday's reading. Here He knows full well they will all be scandalized, caused to stumble. And to take it even further, it will be "because of Him!" In addition to the burden of emotional pain and turmoil (and temptation) this must place on Him, we have also to understand the possibility that He could lose them all. Christ's faith in this case teaches us, and this is yet another factor of His Passion we must think about as teaching to all of us through the Father's will.

"But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee." Here is the promise, the silver and gold lining around the dark clouds that gather before dawn. What could this mean? One wonders how the disciples could have taken it all in, at all.

Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble." Jesus said to Him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And so said all the disciples. One disciple, Judas, is actively betraying Him at this moment. Here, even as He knows what is coming, the rest promise they would never desert Him -- never be scandalized nor made to stumble -- no matter what comes, even to the point of death, even if all others stumble! Never, used here by Peter, is a very strong word, a very bold declaration. But Jesus knows Peter and knows what is coming. This, too, we must add to the mix of all the pressures building on Jesus, building through the Father's will, through His willingness to meet this world and its ruler through the Way the Father has chosen.

There have been times in my life when I thought I was risking all for the sake of following what I believed God wanted me to do. How could I have faith like this, except because of the Lord and His grace in my life? I simply had no choice but to follow in faith where I felt my prayer life was leading, and just hope I was doing the right thing. Sometimes faith asks of us great things that seem counter-intuitive, destined for failure, and especially to cost us dearly in terms of the ones we love and value, in whom we've placed our hopes in life to a great extent. I can't explain it any other way than to compare it to what is written here in the Gospel. A leap of faith is sometimes all that we have to go on, we don't really know a better way. I've had the experience of betrayal, and of loss, and of those who were scandalized by my choices. But in the end, faith builds life. It is just that simple, and that is my experience. His promise of the life He adds to us is just that: a promise of abundance that we simply don't know about. Perhaps others will never understand this. But in faith we just may find that what seems entirely out of order is simply the Way, and the only way. It might offer us (and by grace, others) so much more than we think we may be losing. Sometimes this faith is what we have, and everything else rests upon it. Let us follow His example and trust in that relationship, knowing He was there before us, with so much more thrown into the balance than we can ever imagine.