The Upper Room: Body, Blood, Betrayal, and Grace

Sing to the Lord and declare his salvation: the assembly opens with praise, confession, and a longing for God's transforming grace. A historic conversion—Jonathan Edwards reading Scripture in the woods—models how conviction and repentance expose personal sin and turn the heart toward Christ. Corporate confession follows as an earnest appeal for grace, mourning pride and self-righteousness while pleading for faith, healing, and affections that burn toward God. The narrative then moves to the upper room where Jesus prepares Passover, foretells betrayal, and institutes the Lord’s Supper: bread as his body given wholly, cup as his blood of the covenant poured out for many.

Mark’s account highlights the shocking intimacy of betrayal—one who shares bread lifts up his heel—and the wider desertion of the disciples, setting the stage for the cross. Scripture links the Son of Man to the suffering Servant and shows human plots interwoven with God’s sovereign plan; human responsibility remains real even as divine purpose prevails. The Exodus and Levitical covenant rites frame the Lord’s Supper: blood in the Old Covenant sealed the vow by sprinkling altar and people; now Christ’s blood seals the new covenant, fulfilling what animal sacrifices could only foreshadow.

The Lord’s Supper functions as both remembrance and sacrament. Remembering must recognize what the covenant cost; the meal calls worshipers to receive grace by the Holy Spirit, feeding faith and devotion beyond intellectual assent. The assembly receives an invitation to come humbly and in true profession of faith, to bring confessed betrayals and need, and to be strengthened by Christ’s offered presence. The service closes with prayer, benediction, and an invitation for pastoral prayer or counsel for those seeking further conversation with God.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Come with confessed sin Each approach to the table must begin with honest exposure of failure and the willingness to be known by God. Confession does not drum up merit; it clears the ground so the cure can be applied, allowing repentance to name exact guilt and receive precise grace. The posture of coming broken prevents sacramental flippancy and opens the heart to true restoration. [09:55]
• 2. Jesus gives his whole person The bread signifies more than flesh; it signifies the entire being offered without reserve. The incarnation, obedience, suffering, and death all belong to the gift—no fragment held back—so covenant life flows from total self-giving. Meditating on that whole-person gift reorients trust from self to the crucified Christ. [48:17]
• 3. Covenant blood seals a vow Old Testament rituals dramatized covenant with blood on altar and people; the New Covenant finds its fulfillment in Christ’s shed blood. That blood does what animal offerings could only point toward: it establishes a final, purifying bond between God and those he redeems. Remembering this prevents sentimental cheapening and summons sober gratitude rooted in actual cost. [52:19]
• 4. Communion as means of grace The table works mysteriously by the Spirit to strengthen faith and devotion, not merely as memorial theatre. Receiving requires reliance on the Spirit’s work—faith’s object matters more than its size—and the sacrament nurtures perseverance and holiness. Approach with true profession and expectancy, not casualness. [57:41]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:24] - Call to Worship and Praise
• [05:39] - Prayer for Acceptance and Service
• [08:44] - Jonathan Edwards: Conversion in the Woods
• [09:55] - Corporate Confession and Need for Grace
• [18:56] - Boldness to Approach the Throne
• [29:46] - Reading: Mark 14 (Upper Room)
• [31:21] - Prediction of Betrayal at Table
• [37:46] - Preparation for Passover and Upper Room
• [47:02] - Institution of the Lord’s Supper
• [50:19] - Covenant Blood: Exodus and Leviticus Context
• [57:41] - Communion: Remember and Receive
• [63:35] - Invitation to Come Forward
• [75:21] - Communion, Prayer, and Benediction

Bible reading: Mark 14:17-24 (ESV)
And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

Observation questions

1. What specific action does Jesus say his betrayer is doing with him at that very moment?
2. How do the disciples react to Jesus’s announcement that one of them will betray him?
3. What two elements does Jesus use to institute this new meal, and what does he say each one represents?
4. For whom does Jesus say his blood is being poured out?

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus connects his title "Son of Man" with a prophecy of betrayal and suffering. What does this reveal about the nature of his mission and how it might have conflicted with the disciples' expectations of the Messiah?
2. The act of betrayal comes from someone sharing a meal, an act of intimate fellowship. Why is this kind of betrayal particularly shocking and painful, and what does it reveal about the nature of sin?
3. In the Old Testament, blood was used to seal covenants (Exodus 24:8). What does it mean that Jesus calls the cup “my blood of the covenant,” and how does his blood accomplish what the blood of animal sacrifices could not?
4. Jesus says his blood is poured out "for many." How does this phrase contrast with the idea that his sacrifice was only for a small, exclusive group?

Application questions

1. Coming to the table must begin with honest exposure of failure and the willingness to be known by God [09:55]. What does it look like to practically "clear the ground" through confession before taking communion, rather than just going through the motions?
2. The bread signifies the entire being of Christ offered without reserve—his incarnation, obedience, suffering, and death all belong to the gift [48:17]. In what areas of your life are you most tempted to trust in your own reserves and efforts instead of meditating on and relying on Christ's total self-giving?
3. Covenant blood seals a vow; it establishes a final, purifying bond between God and those he redeems [52:19]. How does remembering the actual, bloody cost of this covenant protect you from treating God's grace sentimentally or cheaply?
4. The table works mysteriously by the Spirit to strengthen faith and devotion, not merely as a memorial [57:41]. What would it look like for you to approach communion with true expectancy this week, actively relying on the Spirit to feed and strengthen your soul?
5. The room was full of deserters that night, and this room is full of them [37:05]. How does acknowledging your own capacity for betrayal and desertion change the way you receive the invitation to come and be fed by Christ?
6. This is a table not of merit but by grace [46:42]. When you feel far from God because of your failures, how can the truth that this meal is for betrayers and deserters draw you back to him in humble faith?