The Fourth Cup

The Hebrews celebrate the Passover diligently and with precision. Among all the preparations, drinking wine is crucial (even children drink these cups diluted with water). The first cup is a blessing pronounced and drank in the early part of the meal (known as seder). After this, they wash their hands, dip the raw vegetables in salt water, and eat them. Then, they retell the original Passover story and drink the second cup of wine. After which, they rewash their hands and eat the bread and sandwiches. At this time, the parents who hid the afikomen (bread) send the children to search for this bread. As they find it, they eat it and drink the third cup, called “a blessing.” Soon after, they recite the Hallel psalms (Pss 103–108). The orthodox Hebrews don’t drink the fourth cup as they wait for the Messiah to come and establish God’s rule on earth. Unorthodox Hebrews, however, drink this cup. They conclude the Passover by saying, Nirtzah, “Next year in Jerusalem,” as they all hope they will be in Jerusalem for the following Passover.

As the disciples and Jesus celebrated the Passover, Jesus took the afikomen bread, which was usually hidden for the children to find, called blessing upon it, and gave it to them saying,

“Take this – it’s my body” (Mark 14:22)

Similarly, he took the third cup, a cup of blessing (14:23a), and gave it to them, saying,

“Drink out of it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, the blood poured for many” (14:23b–24)

With this symbolic act and weighty words, he established a tradition that we follow even to this day. The afikomen bread and the third cup were assurance of redemption and hope. That was why Paul said, “As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord until he returns” – an oxymoron: how could he be dead and return – for those who don’t understand that in between his death and return was his resurrection that gives us redemption and hope (1 Cor 11:26).

Or, in Jesus’s words,

“Amen, I say to you: I will no longer drink this fruit of wine until that day when I drink it anew in God’s rule.” (Mark 14:25)

The seder had four cups: the first (a cup of blessing), the second (a cup of recalling), the third (a cup of redemption and blessing), and the fourth (a cup of God’s rule). Jesus gave the third cup to the disciples to drink. But the fourth cup he didn’t drink until . . . he fellowshipped with the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:30). He had to resurrect to establish God’s rule. Only then could he participate in the fourth cup.

Whenever we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we drink the fourth cup (a cup of God’s rule) while remembering the third cup (a cup of redemption). That’s why we drink it often. It no longer needs to be a part of the seder, and since God’s rule has begun, we can drink it anytime. And whenever we do, we proclaim the fulfillment of the third and fourth cups.