And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave to them, and said,
Take, eat: this is my body.
All Commentaries on Mark 14:22 Go To Mark 14
John of Damascus
AD 749
Human beings have a compound nature: body and spirit. So it is fitting that the new birth should correspond to that compound nature, and also that the food of faith be compound. We were therefore given a birth both by water and by the Spirit, that is, in holy baptism, and with it food that is the very bread of life, even our Lord Jesus Christ, who came down from heaven. For when he was about to take on himself a voluntary death for our sakes, on the night on which he gave himself up, he offered a new covenant to his holy disciples and apostles, and through them to all who believe on him. In an upper chamber, then, on holy and glorious Zion, after he had eaten the ancient Passoverwith his disciples and had fulfilled the ancient covenant, he washed his disciples’ feet in token of the holy baptism. Then having broken bread he gave it to them saying, “Take, eat, this is my body broken for you for the remission of sins.”
