Mark 14:22-25-- Living in God's Kingdom

While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

As is usual in the Passover celebration, there would be bread without yeast and wine served.  Jesus blessed the bread and broke it and handed it to the disciples.  There is nothing unusual in this, except an emphasis on Jesus’ breaking it—Jesus may have pointed out the breaking of it.  But he said something unusual—“This is my body.”  Given what Jesus had said about the cross and his immanent death, Jesus was probably giving a picture of his death, and saying that the broken bread is his broken body.  He also, though, emphasizes that the disciples are to take it.  They themselves are to receive of Jesus’ broken body—so they are participating in Jesus’ death.  

Then he takes a cup and gives thanks and hands it to all of them and they all drink of that cup.  Again, nothing unusual in a Passover celebration—a common cup was fine among families, which Jesus considered his disciples to be (Mark 3:35).  But then Jesus makes an allusion to Moses—“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”  Jesus is alluding to a very important passage in Exodus (24:3-8) in which Moses is creating the covenant between Israel and God.  This covenant is a contract between an emperor (in this case, God) and a lesser king or a people (for instance, Israel or the disciples).  A mediator acts as a representative of the Emperor (Moses or, in this case, Jesus) and brings blood to establish an agreement between them.  The agreement, or covenant, is that this people will now be under the rule of the Emperor and will receive of his blessings.  The blood is to indicate that a sacrifice is made which symbolically says, “If I ever break this covenant, I will be like this animal, I will die.”  Jesus is acting as the mediator, or the representative of God, but he also says that it is his blood that will establish the covenant.  

In summary, what Jesus is saying is: “I am going to die, but my death is establishing the kingdom of God, which you are now a part of.”  He also mentions that many others, beside the twelve, would participate in God’s kingdom through Jesus’ death.  Then Jesus says that he will never feast or drink wine again until the coming of that kingdom.  This is a major statement, since Jesus has been drinking wine with the disciples almost every night since he called them.  At the time, it would indicate to them that he is now disappearing, but he is saying that his death would happen before their next meal.

To be in Jesus is not just to be a part of a church, or to live according to new rules, or to have a new connection to God.  To be in Jesus is to be a part of a nation that has a unique government.  Jesus is now our king, and we are now a citizen in the kingdom of God.  Yes, there are new rules-- the law of love, primarily-- because we are living in a new kingdom.  Yes, there is a connection to God, because God is the emperor of the kingdom.  When we are baptized, we immigrate from the kingdom of this world to the kingdom of God.  When we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we are remembering that we are primarily citizens of Jesus, participants in Jesus' death and suffering.

In Jesus, we bring that kingdom wherever we go. We live in the kingdom no matter what other nation we are in, no matter what situation we find ourselves in.  When we meet another in the kingdom, it is unlike any other meeting, for the two of us are transported together to God's presence, and Jesus is there with us, leading us.  This kingdom has no borders, except the artificial ones we put in our hearts.