The Last Supper Series

Matthew 26:26-29. 26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 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.” (ESV)

As people love to make, give and receive cards, they often reflect key moments in our lives. The common life events on the cards are like the card with a picture of a small boy wearing a straw hat and floating on an inner tube on a tranquil country pond. His head was thrown back. He was in perfect peace. The caption read: “Each life needs its own quiet place.” Matthew 26 is like that. The verses are a quiet place at the center of the storm that is about to break. The rulers of the people are plotting how they might take Jesus’ life. Judas has offered to betray Jesus to them at the earliest possible opportunity. Evil is afoot. But while it is gathering, Jesus collects his disciples for one final time of fellowship and teaching before the crucifixion. The center point of these last moments is the institution of the Lord’s Supper (this Last Supper), recorded in verses 26–29 (Boice, J. M. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (pp. 557–558). Baker Books.).

Matthew 26 itself is devoted to preparing for the cross. Before chapter 26, has been the preparation that God had made, the preparation of the religious leaders, the preparation of Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus who anointed Jesus with costly perfume, and the preparation of Judas. And now, beginning in verse 17, we come to the preparation of the Lord Himself as He begins to prepare for His own death. It involves the last Passover, the establishment of His table. It involves a time of exhorting the feeble disciples. It involves a time of intercessory prayer before the Father in the garden of Gethsemane. All of these elements Matthew gives us as parts of the preparation for the death of Jesus Christ, which, of course, is a climax of His life and ministry. But in Matthew 26 the Passover Jesus was now concluding with the disciples was the last divinely sanctioned Passover ever to be observed. No Passover celebrated after that has been authorized or recognized by God. Significant as it was under the Old Covenant, it became a remnant of a bygone economy, an extinct dispensation, an fulfilled covenant. Its observance since that time has been no more than a religious relic that serves no divinely acknowledged purpose and has no divinely blessed significance. To celebrate the Passover is to celebrate the shadow, after the reality has already come. Celebrating deliverance from Egypt is a weak substitute for celebrating deliverance from sin. In fact, Christ ended the Passover and instituted a new memorial to Himself. It would not look back to a lamb in Egypt as the symbol of God’s redeeming love and power, but to the very Lamb of God, who, by the sacrificial shedding of His own blood, took away the sins of peoples around the world that would believe in Him. In that one meal Jesus both terminated the old and inaugurated the new. By historically linking Passover and Lord’s Supper so closely together Jesus also made clear that what was essential in the first was not lost in the second. Both point to him, the only and all-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of his people. Passover pointed forward to this; the Lord’s Supper points back to it.( Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew (Vol. 9, p. 908). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.)

As we see Jesus nearing the cross in this passage, we can remember the great love he has for his children. His body (but not his bones (Jn. 19:31–36)) were broken, like bread, for us. His blood was poured out, like wine, for us. Our Savior was betrayed, denied, abandoned, beaten, cursed, spit upon, and mocked. His faithful endurance secured our redemption and forgiveness. Today, we can praise our Savior for not abandoning the path to the cross, and thank him that, although we—like Judas—have often betrayed him, He will never leave us or forsake us. (Nielson, J., & Doriani, D. M. (2020). Matthew: Making Disciples for the Nations (Chapters 14–28) (D. M. Doriani, I. M. Duguid, R. D. Phillips, & P. G. Ryken, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 102). P&R Publishing.)