Matthew 26:26-30
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Devotion
In the passage above, we see Jesus initiating a church ordinance that we call The Lord’s Supper or Communion. This ordinance would act as a physical reminder to His disciples of the sacrifice He would make to reconcile them to God. It is obvious from the text that the bread and fruit of the vine represented His body, which would be broken for them and His blood which would be shed for them. Jesus did not cut His flesh and ask them to eat it. Jesus did not drain His blood and ask them to drink it. The bread and the fruit of the vine represent His sacrifice on their behalf.
According to this text, the Passover celebration will be reinstituted in the new kingdom. The Lord said that He would drink the fruit of the vine again in the kingdom. This means that apparently the Passover during that time will look back to His death on the cross. The Passover, which had looked forward for centuries to His coming, will also during the new kingdom look back to His coming. Today when we celebrate The Lord’s Supper, we look back and remember what He did to secure our salvation.
This was a very important moment for Jesus and His disciples. The time for His departure was at hand. That night He would be arrested and their sweet fellowship with Him would be broken. In this passage, He is letting them know that their fellowship with Him would never be broken because of the sacrifice that He was going to make. Communion is a reminder of what Jesus did for us and a promise that nothing can ever break our fellowship with Him.
Questions to Ponder
Do you regularly participate when the church celebrates the Lord’s Supper? When you partake of the elements, what do they mean to you? How do you think the disciples felt after Jesus’ arrest? Do you think they were thinking of Jesus’ words in the upper room during His arrest, crucifixion, and death? If so, would Jesus’ words have brought them comfort? Do Jesus’ words bring you comfort? If so, why?
Spend some time in prayer meditating on what God revealed to you today.