Edible Words

In Mark 10:35-44 we are given a fascinating insight in to what is going on at the communion table today. This communion meal today is an invitation to be part of the eternal kingdom of Christ but we must first understand more about what we are doing when we eat and drink.

On the road to Jerusalem, the disciples, James and John, ask Jesus a foolish question. They want to be great in the kingdom of the Son of Man, but they don't know yet how to be great.

"... and take this holy sacrament to your comfort, meekly kneeling upon your knees" wrote Cranmer in the Book of Common Prayer.

Mark 14:17-31 is not, on the surface, a particularly comforting section of Mark. It is, in fact, a profoundly disturbing portion of his gospel. Mark sets Judas and Peter alongside one another as two examples for us. Judas is the one failure - yet what he does in betraying his Lord is so serious that non-existence would be a better prospect than what awaits him.

Jesus then predicts that all his disciples will disown him. This is a far less dramatic form of letting down Jesus, but it is to let him down nonetheless. This time it is not one disciple who will do it - they all will. If Judas was earlier the one spectacular failure, here Peter thinks he will be the one success story. He will be the one who does not disown. But not even the Rock is immune from letting down the Lord Jesus.