In this most important passage, Mark records the instituting by Jesus of what was to be the central act of worship of the Church, the Lord's Supper. Through the shared broken bread and wine, Jesus gave to his followers the means by which spiritual union with him would always be possible. In 1 Corinthians 11 :23-25 we have the earliest record of what took place with Mark's record following this, and then the records of Luke and Matthew, totaling four in all.

The disciples did not fully understand the meaning of what Jesus did and said, neither did they realize that it was their last meal with him before his death. The betrayer was already beginning his evil work but Mark does not say when Judas left the meal to go to the priests, A little later the words of Jesus revealed that the continual spiritual incomprehension of his disciples was part of the agony of the last day of his earthly life (14 :37).