We are at Mark 14:22. The twelve disciples are eating the Passover meal. Jesus has said one of them will betray him. He also takes some bread, breaks it, and tells them, "Take it; this is my body." He equates his body with the bread they are eating, not the lamb. He also does not say his body will be broken.
Next he takes the cup, gives thanks and they pass it around. He says this is his "blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many." "Blood of the covenant" is a reference back to Exodus 24 where Moses sprinkles the blood of sacrificed bulls on the people and calls it the blood of the covenant. Frankly, it seems to me that such a statement would appear blasphemous or rude to other Jews, almost as though Jesus is mocking Moses. The text implies they are drinking wine (fruit of the vine), because Jesus says he won't ever drink it again until he drinks it in the kingdom of god. (There is wine in the kingdom of god?) Jesus does not tell the disciples to repeat this ceremony in remembrance of him.
A note about the churches of christ: some extremely fundamentalist churches use this as one of their justifications for using only one cup to drink out of during communion service, which is also often called "the lord's supper," but is not actually a supper at all. They also insist that fruit of the vine refers to grape juice and not wine. Though where they would have gotten grape juice in early spring is a mystery. Strangely enough, their "supper" consists of a tiny piece of cracker and a swallow of grape juice. No lamb or other food to dip their unleavened bread into.
Next they sing a hymn and go out to the Mount of Olives, which is between Jerusalem and Bethany. It is still Passover night. There should be a full moon. Jesus predicts his disciples will abandon him, but "after he has risen" (from death or sleep?) he will go to Galilee ahead of them. Peter proclaims he will not fall away from Jesus. Jesus claims he will, that very night. Before the rooster crows twice, Peter will disown Jesus three times. Peter and the others insist they would die with Jesus before they would disown him.
Jesus and his disciples are in Gethsemane, which is located at the base of the Mount of Olives. As the name suggests, there was an olive grove. Jesus was there to pray. Was Gethsemane considered a sacred grove? If it wasn't then, it appears to be now. As far as we know from the text of Mark, all twelve disciples are present. Mark has not told us Judas left. Jesus tells most of them to sit in one place, then takes Peter, James, and John to another part of Gethsemane. He expresses That he is overwhelmed with sorrow and asks the three to remain in one spot while he moves on even further.
Then Jesus prays prostrate on the ground. He calls god his father, tells him that everything is possible for him, then asks god to "take this cup from me." Which seems to mean he knows what is about to happen and is not enthusiastic about going through with it. This and the preceding pronouncements by Jesus would actually make a lot of sense if he had engineered his own martyrdom. Having second thoughts is very human of him. Very few healthy people want to die. He seems to sincerely believe that god could stop it if he wanted to and declares his submission to the will of the father. Jesus is obviously not the same being as the father.
Next Jesus goes back to where he left Peter, James, and John, and rebukes them for falling asleep and not keeping watch. Keeping watch for what? Was Jesus expecting something to happen? If he planned it that way, of course! He left them again with an admonition to keep watch and pray. He repeated his previous prayer, then went back to the three. They were asleep again. Can you blame them? It's night time, they've had a full day, just eaten a meal, drunk wine, and walked to Gethsemane. They are sitting in an olive grove. It's probably very quiet, except for the rhythmic sounds of spring frogs and insects. Jesus is off by himself doing who knows what while they snooze. According to the way the story is written, the narrator is omniscient, but there are no actual witnesses
to Jesus's words and actions.
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