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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_14:22-25
22While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Takeit; this is My body." 23And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24And He said to them, "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25Truly 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."
Mar_14:22 "took some bread" Notice it was not the Passover Lamb (nor bitter herbs), but the unleavened bread (azumos, cf. Mar_14:1). The Greek term here is artos, which is usually used to denote regular bread (cf. Mar_3:20; Mar_6:8; Mar_6:16; Mar_6:36-37; Mar_7:2; Mar_7:5; Mar_7:27; Mar_8:4; Mar_8:14; Mar_8:16-17). But it also is used of unleavened bread in the parallel of Mat_26:26; Luk_22:19. Probably the lamb had too much of a nationalistic connotation. For all the historical connections between the Passover and the Last Supper, there is a purposeful theological distinction.
If there is a sustained typology between the Exodus and Jesus, which seems to be true, then the bread takes on a special relationship to "manna" (cf. Exodus 16), given by YHWH during the wilderness wandering period. This provided a stable life-giving diet to God's people. Now YHWH gives the "true" bread of heaven, provides the "real" life-giving provision, sends the "perfect" leader, and inaugurates the new Passover from sin and death. The NT authors often used Christological typology in their presentations of Jesus as prefigured in the OT.
Wine in the OT was known as the blood of the grape and was often used in a judicial sense (i.e., the grapes of wrath). Now it is the sacrifice which brings eternal life. The imagery is clearly seen in John 6.
▣ "after a blessing" There was a set procedure for the Passover meal. In all probability the symbolism of the broken bread and wine occurred at the point in the ritual called "the third cup of blessing" (cf. 1Co_10:16).
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▣ "Take it; this is My body" Joh_6:22 ff and 1Co_10:16 show the strong theological imagery of this ritual. Jesus' words about His body and blood would have shocked these Jews. Cannibalism and the consumption of blood would be violations of Leviticus 11. These statements are obviously symbolic, but still startling.
Jesus was symbolizing the crucifixion by breaking the bread. As the color of the wine was similar to blood, the color of the bread was similar to human flesh. Jesus was the true Bread of Life (i.e., manna, cf. Joh_6:31-33; Joh_6:51), the true Passover, the new Exodus!
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Mar_14:23 "given thanks" The Greek term for "thanks" is eucharistç, from which we get the English name for the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist.
Mar_14:24 "This is My blood of the covenant" The color of the wine resembled the color of human blood. This phrase has three possible OT origins.
1. Exo_24:6-8, the inauguration of the Book of the Covenant by covenant blood
2. Jer_31:31-34, the only text in the OT which mentions "new covenant"
3. Zec_9:11, which is in the literary unit 9-14, the source of many prophecies (i.e., Christological typology) of Jesus' life
There are two variants in the Greek manuscript traditions.
1. "the covenant" following Mat_26:28, which is found in the Greek manuscripts à , B, C, D2, and L (and also D* and W with slight change). The UBS4 gives this shorter reading an "A" rating (certain).
2. "the new covenant" following Luk_22:20 and 1Co_11:25, which is found in MSS A and E and the Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian translations (cf. NKJV). This probably was an addition to relate Jesus' words to the "new" covenant of Jer_31:31-34.
In all of this discussion one thing is obvious. Jesus' death was crucial to the restoration of fallen mankind to fellowship with the Father (cf. Mar_10:45). Jesus came to (1) reveal the Father; (2) give us an example to follow; and (3) die in our place for our sin. There is no other way for redemption (cf. John 10, 14). This was the central aspect of God's eternal plan (cf. Act_2:23; Act_3:18; Act_4:28; Act_13:29).
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▣ "'which is poured out for many'" Jesus' death, symbolized by His poured out blood, was a sacrifice for sin (cf. Mar_10:45; Mat_26:28; 1Co_15:3; 2Co_5:21; Heb_9:11-15). The term "many" does not refer to a limited group, but is a Hebraic (or Semitic) metaphor for "all who would respond." This can be seen in the parallelism of Rom_5:18-19 as well as Isa_53:6 "all" compared with Isa_53:11-12, "many." See note at Mar_10:45.
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Mar_14:25 "'I will never again drink'" The Passover liturgy involved four cups of blessing. The rabbis established this procedure based on Exo_6:6-7. The third cup symbolized redemption. This is the one that forms the basis of the Lord's Supper. Jesus refused to drink the fourth cup of blessing because it symbolized the consummation. Jesus related this to the end-time Messianic banquet (cf. Isa_25:6; Isaiah 55; Mat_8:11; Luk_13:29; Luk_14:15; Luk_14:24; Luk_22:30; Rev_19:9; Rev_19:17).
▣ "'until that day'" This obviously refers to a future coming of Jesus in glory and power so different from His current situation in which He faced shame, pain, rejection, and death! The two comings of Jesus differentiate His tasks as redeemer (i.e., vicarious, substitutionary atonement) and victor/judge. This two-fold coming surprised the Jews. It was probably Jesus Himself, perhaps on the road to Emmaus, who showed the full significance of the key OT passages (i.e., Gen_3:15; Psalms 22; Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 9-14).
▣ "'the kingdom of God'" See Special Topic at Mar_1:15 c.