Here is the last of my ponderies...

“A jar full of bitter wine stood there; so putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a twig of hyssop, they raised it to his lips.”

This would mean Jesus drinks the cup of completion on the cross. Completion of the new covenant. He even clarifies it by saying “It is finished” or “It is complete”

Jesus drinks the new wine in the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Love that was displayed most perfectly with his sacrifice on the Cross

But there is more still, the hyssop stick, this was used to spread the blood on the door posts, on that first passover night, now at the last supper Christ has already declared during the meal that the wine is his blood, therefore when they raise the wine on the hyssop stick to Jesus it is like this spreading of the wine on the door post's. Jesus is the gate to heaven, we can only go to the Father through Christ!

It is also important to notice that at the first passover God did not just demand a sacrificed lamb from the Hebrews but a first born son from the Egyptians, through Christ's sacrificed on the cross as both the sacrificial lamb and the first born of son God he redeeming both Jews and Gentiles with His new covenant, and just as the sacrifice of the passover lamb was not enough for the Hebrews, they had to eat it, so too do we become part of the sacrifice of Christ, as we consume Him as the Blessed Sacrament.

I think it is important and so exciting to see how Christ completed his revelation to his apostles, by really understanding what those last moments would have meant to the apostles who would have understood all of the passover symbolism.

Hum... You have a point Patricious (see comments) but then there is this, how does this fit in?

If Jesus is instituting the new liturgy, calling himself the bread of affliction. Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life in John 6. He is identifying the bread of affliction with the bread of life. The actualisation of the passover event also confirms that “This is my body” is not just a symbolic thing but a statement of fact.

Then looking at the Cups of Wine again this could be significant for Catholics

“Then he took a cup and after he had given thanks, passed it to them and they all drank from it. And he said, “This is my blood, the blood of the Covenant, which is to be poured out for many.””

At the passover they drink from four cups. The cup of sanctification, the cup of deliverance, the cup of blessing (or redemption) and the fourth cup is the cup of completion.

In this passage it is very significant which cup Mark is talking about. We have a couple of clues as to which it is:

“ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ?”

“After singing psalms of Praise, they went out to the mount of Olives.”

The singing of psalms does come directly after the third cup therefore they have just drank the third cup, the Cup of Blessing.

After this there would normally be some more prayers and the drinking of the fourth cup, the cup of consummation, the Cup of Completion and then the service ends. But Jesus does not do this, after the third cup he says:

“Yes, I say to you: I will not taste the fruit of the vine from now until the day I drink new wine with you in my father’s Kingdom”.”

And then they go to Gethsemane as we see in Matt 26:30 above. There He begs that he does not have to drink of the cup, that it be taken from him. The he refers to is the cup of Completion of the Passover sacrifice. This is because the sacrifice has not been completed. Jesus is then arrested, and crucified the next day. John’s Gospel especially describes Jesus’ death in Passover terms. Jesus' legs were not broken, just as the Passover Lamb's were not in the passover account in Exodus.

Ponders to continue...

Hum... You have a point Patricius (see comments) but then there is this, how does this fit in?

If Jesus is instituting the new liturgy, calling himself the bread of affliction. Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life in John 6. He is identifying the bread of affliction with the bread of life. The actualisation of the passover event also confirms that “This is my body” is not just a symbolic thing but a statement of fact.

Then looking at the Cups of Wine again this could be significant for Catholics

“Then he took a cup and after he had given thanks, passed it to them and they all drank from it. And he said, “This is my blood, the blood of the Covenant, which is to be poured out for many.””

At the passover they drink from four cups. The cup of sanctification, the cup of deliverance, the cup of blessing (or redemption) and the fourth cup is the cup of completion.

In this passage it is very significant which cup Mark is talking about. We have a couple of clues as to which it is:

“ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ?”

“After singing psalms of Praise, they went out to the mount of Olives.”

The singing of psalms does come directly after the third cup therefore they have just drank the third cup, the Cup of Blessing.

After this there would normally be some more prayers and the drinking of the fourth cup, the cup of consummation, the Cup of Completion and then the service ends. But Jesus does not do this, after the third cup he says:

“Yes, I say to you: I will not taste the fruit of the vine from now until the day I drink new wine with you in my father’s Kingdom”.”

And then they go to Gethsemane as we see in Matt 26:30 above. There He begs that he does not have to drink of the cup, that it be taken from him. The he refers to is the cup of Completion of the Passover sacrifice. This is because the sacrifice has not been completed. Jesus is then arrested, and crucified the next day. John’s Gospel especially describes Jesus’ death in Passover terms. Jesus' legs were not broken, just as the Passover Lamb's were not in the passover account in Exodus.

Ponders to continue...

There is speculation as to whether Jesus' last supper was a passover seder meal. More on that here

Though I would never substitute the Maunday Thursday Mass with a passover seder meal I do think that there are some interesting points to be made.

Whether it was a passover seder or not I still feel there are points that can help our understanding of the wonderful mysteries of the Mass...

We all know the story of the Passover, the Hebrew people were enslaved by Pharaoh and Worked as slave labour making bricks until God sent Moses to free His people. Pharaoh did not want to loose His slave labour so God sent a series of plagues to try to persuade him, the last being the death of all first born sons. God did not want to kill the first born of the Hebrew people so he asked for a lamb to be sacrificed instead, with its blood spread on the door posts so the angel would 'pass over'. This celebration of freedom was commemorated every year by the Hebrew/Jewish people.

The meal is celebrated in the family and was a re-actualisation of the event, not a commemoration – the same as our celebration of the Pascal Mystery.

The first pretty obvious thing is that they eat unleavened bread. This is because before the Passover the houses were cleaned of all the yeast. Firstly, because at the first Passover they didn’t have time to let the bread rise, before they left in haste and secondly the way you got yeast was by leaving a little piece of the dough you used to one side. The yeast would grow in the dough and you could mix it in with the next batch of bread. Therefore clearing out all your yeast is symbolic of a new start, like leaving Egypt. Just as we have new life in Christ.

So at this re-actualisation that Jesus is celebrating with his followers he holds up the bread, what he would usually say is:

“This is the Bread of affliction, which our forefathers ate in the land of Egypt. All who hunger let them eat. All who are needy, let them come and celebrate the Passover with us”

But Jesus holds up the unleavened bread and changes the words:

“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. And he said. “Take this, it is my body.””

To be continued...