The Lord's Supper

March 17

Numbers 14

Psalm 35:1-8

Proverbs 8:14-16

Mark 14:1-26

The Lord’s Supper

“And while they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is My body.’  And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.  Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’” 

Mark 14:22-25 LSB

In the Upper Room, Jesus and His disciples were celebrating the Passover with the traditional Passover meal that the Jewish people have done every year since the Exodus.  The Passover is one of the Feasts of the Lord that God established when the children were wandering in the wilderness before they entered the Promised Land.  It commemorates the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt and how God “passed over” the homes that had the blood of the lamb over the door posts during the plague of the first born.  The Passover pointed to the future Messiah, Jesus, who would become the sacrificial lamb shedding His blood for their redemption.  At this meal with His disciples, He was showing them that the Passover meal pointed to Him and He was giving the meal a new purpose. 

            The bread used for the meal is Matzah bread.  Matzah is unleavened.  Leaven or yeast is a symbol of sin and corruption.  God instructed them to prepare their bread without leaven when they left Egypt to signify that they were beginning a new life, set apart and holy.  The bread was prepared on a grate over a fire causing the bread to have stripes and it was pierced to ensure that it remained flat as it was baking.  As it cooked, the fire caused dark places on the bread resembling bruises.  So the bread that Jesus held up was pierced, striped and bruised and Jesus said, “Take it; this is My body.” perfectly symbolizing what was about to happen to Him. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and by His stripes we are healed.”  (KJV)   

            Then Jesus took a cup of wine.  During the Passover meal there are four special cups of wine that are shared, each representing part of the Exodus from Egypt: the cup of sanctification,  the cup of instruction, the cup of redemption, and the cup of praise.  The cup of wine that Jesus held up was the third cup of redemption.  In this context redemption is referring to the purchase of a slave’s freedom.  God redeemed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.  Jesus came to purchase our freedom from the slavery of sin.  Jesus told them that this was His blood which confirmed the covenant between God and man.  The wine was symbolic of His blood that would be shed on the cross the next day.  Hebrews 9:22, Romans 5:9, I Peter 1:18-19, and Revelation 12:11 are just a few of the verses that explain the power of Jesus’ blood to bring about forgiveness, justification and salvation to all who believe in Him.  When we observe the Lord’s Supper we are remembering His suffering and dying on the cross paying the penalty for our sin and the covenant we now have with God made possible by His sacrifice.