On this day in the Gospel
of Mark, Jesus and the disciples celebrate the Jewish Passover. While they were eating Jesus instituted what
we now call the Lord’s Supper. Jesus
took bread and wine blessed and gave thanks (εὐχαριστήσας, eucharistesis),
whose root is the same for the word Eucharist.
Bread and wine are not only associated with Passover, but also with the
Feast of First Fruits, which is the Jewish feast associated with the
covenant. Afterwards, Jesus and his
disciples went out to the Mount of Olives.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, he prays, and is betrayed, arrested, and
falsely accused: “We heard him
say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I
will build another, not made with hands.’ ”
The Eucharist will become the capstone of Jesus’ sayings and actions
regarding the Second Jewish Temple.
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| Mount of Olives: the building in the center is the Church of All Nations. Slightly to the left is a garden and olive grove. The picture was taken during summer 2017 trip to Israel (LFL). |
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| Church of All Nations: picture from BeinHarim Tourism website. |
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| These are two ancient olive trees in the garden next to the Church of All Nations. They reminded me of the two witnesses. The trees are around 900 years old. There are olive trees around the Mediterranean that are nearly 2000 years old and some are said to still bear fruity olives (LFL). |
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| More trees slightly north of the Mount of Olives (LFL) |
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| This is a closeup of one of the two ancient olive trees. The center reminded me of the unity of the two hearts. |
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