Jesus has already finished warning the disciples that one of their own number will betray Him. Now He gives new meaning to some of the traditions of the Passover meal.
"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying: 'Take it; this is My body.'" (Mark 14:22) It is at this point that the head of the family would say, "This is the bread of affliction which our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. Let everyone who hungers come and eat; let everyone who is needy come and eat the Passover meal." But Jesus doesn't say that. Instead He introduces a new meaning for the broken bread. From now on His followers aren't to remember the afflictions of Egypt when breaking the bread at Passover. From now on the broken bread is to represent His body broken for them. (Matthew 26:26, Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24) The broken bread symbolizes His broken skin as He is beaten for sins He didn't commit and as a crown of sharp thorns rather than a crown of gold is forced onto His head and as nails rather than a king's scepter are forced into His hands. This is why the gospel writers Matthew and Luke add the detail that Jesus commands the Last Supper should be observed "in remembrance of Me". This is why the communion tables in our churches today usually have these words etched along the edge, "Do this in remembrance of Me."
In offering the bread which represents His body, Jesus is still keeping the spirit of Passover which says, "Let everyone who hungers come and eat." Everyone who hungers for a relationship with Christ can have it. The invitation is open and ongoing. The things of the world won't ever be able to satisfy the hunger of the human soul because we were designed for communion with our Creator. The world offers us many substances and activities and pleasures which are intended to numb the hunger, but these things won't ever make it go away. Only by accepting what Christ offers us can we be made full and whole.
"Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 'This is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many, He said to them." (Mark 14:23-24) The old covenant is that which was given to Moses by God: the law. After Moses communicated the law to the people, they agreed to keep it, so Moses took the blood of sacrifices and splashed half of it against the altar and sprinkled the other half on the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words." (Exodus 24:8) The blood that Moses sprinkled on that day was the blood of the old covenant, the covenant which said the people had to keep the law in order to be right with God. Because man was incapable of perfectly keeping the law, man was continually in violation of the law, hence the need for sacrifices of atonement. These atoning sacrifices were an admission by the people that, "We have sinned and fallen short. We know Your law, God, but have failed to keep it to the letter. Please accept the blood of this sacrifice as an admission of our guilt and as an appeal for mercy." Salvation under the law was by keeping the law, but because no human being could keep the law, the Lord accepted the blood of sacrifices as atonement for sin, "For the life of the creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." (Leviticus 17:11) In comparing the cup of wine to the blood He would shed for mankind, Jesus does away with the old covenant and replaces it with the new. He does away with animal sacrifice and replaces it with the sacrifice of Himself.
The Apostle Paul, a former Pharisee who knew the law inside and out, explains the blood of the new covenant to the Jewish people by comparing Jesus' blood to that of the animals which was sprinkled on the mercy seat inside the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle. This duty was performed by the high priest once a year on the Day of Atonement. No one but the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place to intercede on behalf of the people in the presence of God, and the blood he carried with him was for his own sins as well as the sins of the nation. This same ceremony had to be repeated year after year after year because the blood of sacrificial animals was not capable of cleansing people forever. Paul says that the Day of Atonement is good, but that Christ brought something better, "But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption." (Hebrews 9:11-12)
Moses was the mediator of the old covenant, sprinkling the altar and the people with the blood of sacrifices to signify that both God and the nation were agreeing to the terms of the covenant. But Christ is the mediator of the new covenant, sprinkling the altar of the Most Holy Place in heaven with His own blood, and symbolically sprinkling believers with His own blood, to signify that both God and believers are agreeing to the terms of the covenant. We don't have to go to a temple every year with sacrifices in order to roll our sins off us for another twelve months. Christ's sacrifice of Himself is so perfect that our acceptance of what He did on the cross is enough to roll our sins off us forever.
Because the sacrifice of Christ was acceptable to God, gospel writer Matthew tells us this happened at the moment of Jesus' death, "When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." (Matthew 27:50-51a) The curtain is that which separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple. No one could enter the room behind the curtain except the high priest. But at the moment Jesus gave His life for us, He carried His own blood into the Most Holy Place in heaven, so God the Father reached down and grasped the top of the curtain in the temple. The curtain is believed to have been about sixty feet tall and legend says that its multiple layers of twisted fibers was about four inches thick. God took hold of this curtain by its top edge and tore it in two all the way to the bottom. Because the veil of Christ's flesh was torn, we are all now able to enter the presence of God by the blood of Christ. Because Christ gave Himself for us, God no longer dwells in veiled secrecy behind a massive curtain, but He dwells in the heart of every believer. The way is now made open for every human being to enjoy intimate communion with the Creator, and that way is through the One who said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)
Under the new covenant we have the ability to know the Lord in a new way. He invites us into a close relationship with Him. He offers us a way in which we can be saved from our sins, not by bringing sacrifices year after year after year, but by accepting the sacrifice He made on our behalf.
Below is a worship song written about the veil that has been torn so that we may enter the presence of the Lord.
Let The Veil Down
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