Giving Thanks for The Cup of Redemption (Mark 14:24-25)

There were four cups at the Passover Feast. The four cups were to remind everyone of the four promises of Exodus 6:6-7: “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under of the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.’”

The Feast began with the first cup, the “Cup of Blessing or Sanctification.” This was a cup to remember how God had promised to bring them out of Egypt, which also pictures a promise that there would be sanctification from sin. The next cup was the “Cup of Praise.” As they remembered how God had delivered them, they were to give thanks. After the meal they would drink the third cup, which was called the “Cup of Redemption.” With this cup they were to remember how they were redeemed with “an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” It was the third cup that Jesus said was the cup of blood of the covenant.

The covenant that would be accomplished as Jesus stretched out His arms and took the great judgements for our sins was represented by this third cup. Jesus told His disciples, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:24). Moses had spoken of “the blood of the covenant.” It was a covenant made when they offered burnt offerings and peace sacrifices of oxen to the Lord at the foot of Mount Sinai after the law had been given. However, the book of Jeremiah had spoken of a new covenant. The new covenant would not be written on stone. The new covenant would be written on the heart. With the new covenant came the promise, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 32:34).

When Jesus took the cup He gave thanks. The Greek word for “giving thanks” is  euchariste. According to HELPS Word-studies it means, “acknowledging that ‘God’s grace works well,’ i.e., for eternal gain and His glory; to give thanks-- literally, “thankful for God’s good grace.” Jesus took the Cup of Redemption, gave thanks, and then gave it to His disciples. The covenant that had been established in the wilderness after the first Passover was a covenant based on the law, but on the night before He died Jesus spoke of a covenant of grace,

We have an invitation to have communion with Jesus, to give thanks, and remember. What do we remember as we take the bread and wine? Remember what God promised, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of sin. I will deliver you. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” I remember that God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only son for my redemption. By faith I see the outstretched arms of Jesus and I give thanks for the Cup of Redemption.

But there is a fourth cup...