(Dave Snoke)
Matthew 26:17-29 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
20When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”
26Now 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.” 27And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28for this is my blood of the[c] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I 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.”
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All four of the Gospels focus in on the final week of Jesus’ public ministry in Jerusalem, with an even greater focus on the death of Jesus on the Cross. The story in today’s passage is another focal point. After this event, known as the Last Supper or Maundy Thursday, Jesus will be mostly silent as he moves toward the Cross. But at this point, he explains the meaning of the Cross to his disciples.
The Gospel of John gives some of the lengthy discourse by Jesus at this Passover supper. But Matthew focuses in on a few short but crucial statements by Jesus.
“The Son of Man goes as it is written of him…”
Jesus here says that the Cross was not a mistake, a Plan B, or a failure. Instead, it is “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).
“Take, eat; this is my body.”
“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…”
Jesus takes the Passover bread and wine, which were part of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, and puts himself in the position of the sacrificial lamb, whose flesh was eaten by the Israelites (Exodus 12:8) and whose blood was poured out, to be used to avert the curse of death (Exodus 12:13). Jesus says that his death will be the sacrifice of the new covenant made by God with the nation of Israel and the Gentiles who are brought in. [Note: the parallel passages in Luke and 1 Corinthians 11 indicate that Jesus called it the “new” covenant, which is also the wording of Hebrews 12:24, and the prophecy of Jeremiah 31. Jesus is clearly establishing a new covenantal relationship here.]
“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.”
Here Jesus predicts his own Resurrection, and the resurrection of believers to join him in the future eternal kingdom. The Cross is not the end of the story, but its climax, the atonement for sin which leads to eternal life (John 6:51). In that future eternal life, there will be eating and drinking, that is, feasting and rejoicing in our resurrected physical bodies.
In Matthew 5:17, we read that Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to “fulfill” them. While the universal moral principles of right and wrong in the Old Testament still apply, we do not follow the ancient sacrificial code of the Temple, because Jesus has once and for all satisfied the need for sacrifice for sin; he has fulfilled the sacrificial law for us. He is the “propitiation” for our sins, once and for all—there is nothing we can add or subtract from his work (Romans 3:24-25, Hebrews 7:27, 9:26).
All churches throughout the world practice the Lord’s Supper following the pattern Jesus set up at the Last Supper, which the Apostle Paul quotes in 1 Corinthians 11. There are different views about how to understand “eating” Jesus. The Roman Catholic church would say that the bread and wine actually in their essence turn into the flesh and blood of Jesus. Some Protestants would take the opposite view, that the Lord’s Supper is only a memorial service. Our church would say that Jesus is “spiritually present” in the Lord’s Supper—not physically localized in the bread and wine, but nevertheless “with” us in a special way, such that we are “on holy ground.”
Take a moment to ponder the weightiness of what Jesus says and does here. Not only during this Easter, but also at every Lord’s Supper, let the thought of Jesus voluntarily taking on the sins of the world make an impact on your soul, and take him into your heart, absorbing him like food, so to speak, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
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An audio version of each devotion will be posted on our church podcast “Life Together at CRPC,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.