He took the cup, and gave thanks, and 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"

 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, and 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 our current readings, it is Holy Week, and Jesus is in Jerusalem.  Yesterday we read that on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.  When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.  Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"  He answered and 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, and 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.  This is the Passover meal, and Jesus institutes the Eucharist, giving us the "work" of the new Passover.  This is the "long-awaited messianic banquet," says my study bible -- to which Jesus admits even Judas (compare Esther 7), seeking by every means to save him.  God's work is always mercy, but Judas' refusal of this mercy, and choice to participate, leads to his condemnation (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).  These words of Christ are those heard in the liturgies of the Church, inviting the faithful to receive His body and blood.  Communion is the uniting of His people to Christ.  Jesus gave thanks:  the word "eucharist" is the root of the word for giving thanks in Greek.   My study bible says that in doing so, Jesus teaches us three things:  how we are to celebrate the sacrament, that He goes willingly to His Passion, and to accept sufferings with thankfulness -- knowing that God can use sufferings for ultimate good.  The Old Covenant was sealed with the blood of bulls and goats.  But Jesus' body and blood form the sacrifice and gift that seal the New Covenant.   Shedding His blood, He conquers sin and death, and reconciles us with God.  Powerfully, this new covenant is the promise and the fulfillment of the law.  My study bible notes that new covenant, which brings immortality and incorruptible life, is always going to have the quality of newness, of renewal.   He says He will not drink it again until He drinks it "new with you in My Father's Kingdom" -- the time of the wedding feast is initiated, the fulfillment of time, the eternal banquet of the Kingdom.  He drinks here the cup of His own blood which leads all believers into participation in His heavenly mysteries.

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.    Jesus quotes here from the prophecy of Zechariah (13:7).  Unfortunately, despite their best intentions voiced here, we know that the prophecy is true, and Jesus prophecies accurately precisely what will happen.

Here we have the most stunning of juxtapositions in today's reading, perhaps the most stunning of all of Scripture.  Jesus initiates the New Covenant, which we could even in some sense call the "covenant of the new," meaning of permanent renewal.  And at the same time, the most dire prediction of death, on levels of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual:  not only will the Shepherd be stricken, but the sheep will be scattered, in stumbling and denial.  It's so powerfully intriguing that Jesus institutes the Eucharist -- giving thanks -- in concurrence with this prophecy.  My study bible draws our attention to its very meaning in this context:  that we are to give thanks for all things, that even sufferings work with all things for God in the work of faith.  Indeed, what we know is that Jesus will "trample down death by death" (as the Orthodox hymn for Easter teaches us).  It is this sacrifice, as consciously entered into by Christ in accordance with total trust in the Father, which will enable the defeat of death, the enemy, evil.  Despite what the disciples are going to see, despite their own denials, and betrayal, and stumbling, and terror -- the work of faith is worked through all things.  The act of thanksgiving must come through all things.  This is, ultimately, acceptance, which may be the most difficult surrendering of all in our struggle for faith.  The rational mind wishes to struggle to change all things, to fix all things.  But when it is time to learn this transcendent lesson about the life that allows us to participate in the time that is beyond the worldly time we know, there also is a time for this kind of surrender to mystery, to acceptance, to God at work within us even when things look so bad.  It is, in some sense, what has been called by at least one theologian "the defeat of the rational."  That is, it is a truth that points to truth beyond what we already know, the place where contradictions come together.  Mathematically, we could call it the point where two parallel lines (and all lines) meet.  That ultimate truth is Christ.  He is the One who tells us, in Revelation:  "I am always making all things new" (in the literal translation of the Greek).  In this ultimate truth, in the Person who is Truth, even all those things that deny the good are used to work for good.  But that is the great place of deepest mystery which intersects our hearts:  faith.  It is the place of the true future, the one thing necessary, the place where we are united beyond the time we know.  Let us remember His words each time we are united in communion, and let us truly give thanks.