Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 14:23

"And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them: and they all drank of it." — Mark 14:23 (ASV)

The cup Jesus referred to is the third cup of the Passover meal, which was drunk after the meal was eaten. Again Jesus gave thanks (the verb is eucharisteo; GK 2373), from which “Eucharist” is derived). The meaning of the cup, unlike that of the bread, is clearly placed in a sacrificial context. The phrase “my blood of the covenant” echoes Ex 24:8. “Covenant” (GK 1347) signifies the relationship of God’s love for us and our response of obedience, a relationship brought into existence by Christ’s blood. Jesus’ death inaugurated a new covenant, a new era. Jeremiah had prophesied of just such a new day (Jeremiah 31:31– 34). The blood that establishes the covenant would be “poured out” (a clear reference to Christ’s death) for the entire human race (cf. Isaiah 53:12).