READING 34

  1. Read the headings in Mark 14:22-31.

  2. Find the Mount of Olives on the map of Jerusalem.  Find Galilee on the map of Palestine.

  3. Highlight verses 22-24 and 30 of chapter 14.

  4. Read Mark 14:22-31.

  5. Consider the following questions.

How else do we experience the body of Christ other than in Holy Communion?  Look at Romans 12:4-5.


"This is my blood of the covenant," says Jesus in verse 24.  Read Jeremiah 31:31-34 to find out more about this covenant.


FYI: A covenant is an agreement which establishes a relationship.  When God makes a covenant with us, God also gives us a sign to go with it.  In Holy Communion, therefore, the bread and the wine are the sign.  By the way, another word for covenant is "testament."  When the Jeremiah passage speaks of a new covenant, it is, therefore, speaking of a "New Testament."


When you partake of Holy Communion, are you supposed to be happy or sad or meditative or what?

Imagine that you are one of Jesus' disciples with him on the Mount of Olives when he says that all of you will desert him. How would you feel? Now read what Peter says about you in verse 29. How do you feel about Peter?

Have you made any promises to God that you have been unable to keep? What promises has God made to you?

Read Martin Luther's explanation of Holy Communion in his Small Catechism.