Matthew - Day 34: The Last Supper and First Communion

Read Matthew 26:1-35

The Lord has asked His people throughout all generations to celebrate a meal that has deep meaning, significance and remembrance. Every year, the Jews celebrated the Passover meal to remember their Exodus from slavery and oppression in Egypt. Like all Jewish people, Jesus celebrated the Passover meal. However, in a startling alteration of the thousand-year tradition, as He and the disciples ate the unleavened bread, Jesus announced that the bread was His body (Matthew 26:26). As Jesus and His disciples drank of the wine, Jesus identified it as His blood to be shed for the new covenant, or forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28). In fulfillment of the Passover, Jesus was “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Revelation 5:12). At this particular Passover, Jesus shows that the great Jewish feast, which for so many years was the central act of ritual observances under the Mosaic Law, would be superseded by another religious meal: Communion. At the Last Supper, Jesus also points to the Feast’s ultimate fulfillment found in the Wedding Feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19).

Q: Why does Jesus choose to institute communion for his church? What does the bread represent? What does the cup represent?

Q: How do you think the disciples felt when they first heard Jesus share this at the Last Supper? When do you anticipate that they made the connection with these elements that Jesus had intended?

Q: How can we strive to more frequently remember the significance of Jesus’ death on the cross as the sacrificial lamb? How could this alter our daily decisions?

Q: Communion gives us a complete picture of the work of Jesus. His past, present and future ministry. Why do you think having an accurate and complete picture of Jesus is important?

For Further Study: John 13, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Jude 1:12, Revelation 19

For more, check out The Bible Recap on Matthew 26/Mark 14