Matt 26:26-30 - REMEMBERING HIS SACRIFICE
Jesus made THREE very remarkable statements while eating with His disciples.
• HE POINTED TO HIS DEATH, saying He would be sacrificed in flesh and blood.
• HE MADE A NEW COVENANT, saying it would be established in His blood.
• Finally, HE FORESAW HIS RESURRECTION, saying He would next eat with them again in the feast in heaven.
This meal was Jesus’ last meal with His disciples and also His very last night with them, before He was arrested, tortured and crucified.
• As we have read, in this last meal, Jesus drew attention to His impending death, the cut of a new covenant, and a future with Him in the Father’s Kingdom.
• All three statements were unique and could only come from Jesus, not any ordinary man. Jesus is the Son of God and He is fulfilling the will of God.
And all these statements have to do with us - not just to the few disciples then but all disciples of Jesus Christ.
• Let’s think through them one by one. First, the words of the Holy Communion.
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JESUS POINTS TO HIS DEATH
He instituted the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion) when He was having, not just any ordinary dinner with His disciples, but the Passover meal.
• This was timely and significant because of the meaning of the Jewish Passover meal.
• The Passover meal was a meal that the Jews observe every year, to commemorate the deliverance of their forefathers, the Israelites, from their slavery in Egypt.
• It was to remember God’s miraculous deliverance of Israel from bondage, and how they were given the freedom to worship God and a new life in the Promised Land.
Jesus, very appropriately and in God’s ordained time, used this to institute a new remembering – not just to remember the past deliverance from Egypt but the upcoming one – their deliverance from the bondage of sin.
• Jesus knew He would soon be arrested, tortured, crucified and died for the sins of the world.
• Hence Jesus used the elements in the meal – the bread and the wine - and directed His disciples’ attention, and all believers of Christ subsequently, to His death.
To appreciate what Jesus did, we need to recap the PASSOVER - what happened at the first Passover and why has it become a memorial for Israel.
• When we understand that, we will appreciate why Jesus said these words at this point in the meal.
The first “PASSOVER” event was recorded in the book of Exodus chapter 12 when God instructed His people (through Moses) to prepare themselves to flee from Egypt.
• The Jews had been suffering as slaves in Egypt when God commanded Pharaoh to let His people go. Pharaoh was defiant and God sent plagues against them.
• The last and final plague (10th) would mean the death of all firstborns and Pharoah was forced to let the people go.
Moses was instructed to tell the Israelites to slaughter an unblemished lamb and mark their houses that night with its blood.
• Exo 12:7 7“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.”
• Exo 12:12-13 12“For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”
The judgment of God “passed over” the Jewish families where the blood of the lamb was seen on the doorposts and the lintel of those houses.
• They survived the curse and fled from Egypt. They were saved because a lamb has been sacrificed and its blood spilt.
• The Lord said in Exo 12:14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”
Hence for the past 1300 years, the Jews have been observing this Passover every year.
• But at this Passover meal, Jesus elevated the meaning from remembering a past event to remembering an upcoming one – His death on the cross.
• From the sacrifice of a lamb and its blood to the sacrifice of Himself and His blood.
He instituted the Holy Communion and directed His disciples’ focus from the slaughtered lamb of the OT to the “Lamb of God” who was about to die for them.
• Jesus took the unleavened bread, broke it, gave it to His disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 26:26
• After dinner, He took the cup, gave thanks and gave it to His disciples saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” 26:27
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JESUS MAKES A NEW COVENANT
With His sacrifice, Jesus cut a new covenant with us.
• Luke recorded it this way: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20)
In the Ancient Near East, treaties or covenants are sealed with the slaughtering of animals and the shedding of their blood.
• This means that the parties to a contract or agreement would keep their promises and fulfil them.
• Any party that breaks the treaty broke the treaty can expect the same fate as these animals, if they violate the oath. That’s the punishment for breaking the promise.
Jesus cut a new covenant with His blood, promising the forgiveness of sins for all who believe in Him.
• All who believe Jesus as his atoning sacrifice will be forgiven of his sins and saved from condemnation because Jesus paid the price for our punishment.
• Heb 9:12 Jesus “entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
Under the old covenant, the Jews have to offer animal sacrifices again and again.
• Heb 10:4 “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
• But Jesus Christ, the sinless and perfect Lamb of God, the eternal Son of God, died for us once and for all time. He secured for us an eternal redemption.
This new covenant in His blood guarantees our salvation. It has been accomplished by Christ and can never be changed.
• Eph 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not by works, so that no one can boast.”
This is the reason we take the bread and cup. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We are made righteous and therefore we can live righteously for God.
• Our lives belong to God. He bought us at a price. The sacrifice of Jesus is complete and final. No other sacrifice is needed.
Jesus did not ask us to remember His birth or miracles but His death.
• Dear friends, Jesus is our Saviour. He died in our place to save us from being eternally separated from God.
• There is no other way. Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
• Jesus did not die for any crime or sin. He did no wrong. He died to pay the penalty for our sins. Receive Jesus as your Saviour and you will be forgiven.
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Let me close with the LAST comment. JESUS FORESEES HIS RESURRECTION.
Matt 26:29 29“I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
This was His last meal – His last meal with the disciples and probably the last meal of his life - if he was not given any food throughout the trial before the cross.
• After this meal, they left for the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus was arrested.
At the end of this meal, Jesus looked beyond the gloom to the glorious moment He would have with His disciples in the Father’s Kingdom.
• Jesus knew He would be resurrected and one day dine with His disciples again.
• The location would be different but they would see one another again.
• Not just His disciples but all believers of Jesus Christ. That’s where we will go. That’s where we belong.
Jesus was sure of His RESURRECTION and also the resurrection of His disciples.
• John 11:25-26 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” NIV
• His death will not be an end, neither will ours. We shall all see Him again in the Father’s house and live with Him forever.
Traditionally, the Passover meal ends with the singing of hymns and Jesus sang with them (26:30). He praised God even when He knew what was about to take place.
• Jesus set us a good example. He knows the will of God and He submits to Him willingly. He trusts in the sovereignty of God over His circumstances.
• He was determined to obey God and do His will, revealed to us in His prayer at the Garden of Gethsemane.
CONCLUSION:
What can we learn today from these statements made by Jesus?
Be forever grateful. We are saved today because of Jesus Christ. All these remarks were made with us in mind.
Let me sum up at least THREE takeaways:
1. God’s FORGIVENESS is sure.
• Our sin has been paid for in full. Don’t take for granted what Christ has done. Examine ourselves each time we take the bread and cup.
2. God’s PROMISE is sure.
• The new covenant reminds us that we are saved by God’s grace, not our good works. We are redeemed by Christ to be children of God.
3. God’s GIFT is sure.
• We shall meet Jesus and our heavenly Father in the eternal home in heaven, made possible by Christ. This relationship is unbreakable and eternal.
This is the GOSPEL - that God, in love, did for us what we could not do for ourselves.
• “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).
A long time ago there was a very poor woman who lived near Windsor Castle in England. She lived so close that she could look over the palace gardens and see grapes growing there.
Her little child became very sick one day and she thought how good it would be to have a few of those grapes for nourishment. She took a shilling and went to the Queen’s garden, ‘My little girl is sick, can I buy a shilling’s worth of grapes’.
‘Do you not know that those grapes belong to the Queen, Madam and the Queen does not sell grapes.’ the gardener said.
It so happened that one of the Queen’s children overheard what was said. He came over and said, ‘My good woman, my mother does not sell her grapes, but she will give you just as many as you need.’
Salvation is not for sale, the price is too high. Jesus paid it all.
• It is a gift. You can only take it or leave it.
• It is all of God's grace. We cannot earn it. We can have nothing to boast.
