Daily devotion – future celebration
Matthew 26: 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus takes some bread and offers a blessing of thanks to His heavenly Father, as He always did before eating. Why is why we say ‘grace’ before our meals today.
The unleavened bread was baked in large, flat, crisp loaves which Jesus broke into pieces before He gave it to His disciples – saying “Take, eat.”
Shortly after that, “….when He had taken a cup and given thanks again, He gave it to them saying, Drink from it, all of you….”
The verb behind ‘given thanks’ is eucharisteo, and it is from that term that we get Eucharist, as the Lord’s Supper is sometimes called.
All eleven disciples drank of it – Mark 14:23
These two acts of Jesus were normal features of the Passover, in which unleavened bread was eaten and diluted wine was drunk at several points during the meal.
This was most likely the third cup, called the cup of blessing. Paul refers to it by name in his first letter to the Corinthians: “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?” 10:16
In the KJV of this we get (“….is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?) another name for the Lord’s Supper.
Jesus told His disciples He would “drink it new with them in His Father’s kingdom.”
Jesus instructed them to remember Him in the eating of the unleavened bread, which represents His sacrificed body, and in the drinking of the cup, which represents His shed blood as a sacrifice for sin.
The Lord’s promise to drink with His disciples (you and I) in that future kingdom was another assurance to them of His return, an assurance that would take on an intensified meaning after His death, Resurrection, and ascension.
“When I return to establish My kingdom,” He promised them, “..you will all be there and you will all drink the cup new with Me.”
In other words, the Lord’s Supper not only is a reminder of our Lord’s sacrifice for our sins but also a reminder of His promise to return and share His kingdom blessings with each of us!
From those words we also learn that the end of this present age does not signal the end of this observance.
What a glorious promise for each of us as we approach Easter 2023. To know that we will all be celebrating in glory this amazing gathering of Christ and His followers.
We can look forward with absolute assurance of being part of this amazing time that awaits each of us today.