The Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:17–30)

[Stephan Choe]

September 16, 2026

Key Verses 26–28:     “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”

It is estimated that Jesus died around 30 AD. Then, on Thursday, April 6, 30 AD, he celebrated the Last Supper with the disciples.

 The Lord’s Supper is a central Christian sacrament in which believers commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ using bread and wine (or grape juice), personally accept the grace of Christ’s death on the cross, and share in fellowship with one another. Therefore, it is good to celebrate the Lord’s Supper frequently.

1. Preparation for the Passover Meal (17–19)

Jesus has come to Jerusalem with his twelve disciples to celebrate the Passover. The Jewish people celebrate Passover every year to commemorate their liberation from Egyptian bondage. In the past, the Jews were able to escape God’s judgment of death and be freed from Egyptian slavery by marking their doorposts with the blood of a slaughtered lamb. Consequently, they celebrated Passover annually to remember this event.

This time, Jesus has come to Jerusalem with the purpose of becoming the true Passover Lamb of God for the sins of humanity.

Normally, the Passover is celebrated within family groups. However, it is also customary for Jewish rabbis to celebrate the Passover together with their disciples.

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, Jesus’ disciples ask him, "Where shall we prepare the Passover meal for you?"

Jesus replies: "Go into the city (Jerusalem) to a man—'one carrying a jar of water,' according to Mark 14:13—and say to him: 'The Master says: My time is near; I will celebrate the Passover at your house with my disciples.'"

Jesus’ prediction comes true. The two disciples quickly find a man carrying water. It is unusual for a man to be fetching water, as this was typically women's work at the time (see John 4:7). The man then places a large room in his house at the disposal of Jesus and his disciples for the Passover meal.

2. Prediction of the Betrayal (20–25)

In the evening, Jesus and his twelve disciples sit down at the table and begin to eat. Everyone is in high spirits. Then Jesus says, “Truly, I tell you: one of you will betray me.” These words land like a bombshell. Not one of Jesus’s enemies, nor anyone from the crowd, but one of Jesus’s closest associates is going to betray him! The twelve disciples are shaken.

Then the twelve ask Jesus, one after another, “Lord, is it I?”

Jesus answers them, “The one who dips his hand into the bowl with me—he will betray me” (23).

By this, Jesus means that someone sitting at the table with him will betray him.

Jesus continues, “The Son of Man goes his way, just as it is written of him; but woe to the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had never been born” (24).

Although Jesus’s death occurs according to God’s plan for the redemption of humanity, Judas remains personally responsible for his betrayal. After his betrayal, he will hang himself. Physical death is not the final end for a human being. After his suicide, Judas must bear the responsibility for his betrayal for eternity and suffer divine punishment.

How does Jesus treat Judas, who intends to betray his Master? He could have killed Judas instantly with his power. Yet he does not do so. Instead, he offers him a chance to repent by stating, in the presence of all twelve disciples, that one of them intends to betray him. He wants Judas to repent of his evil plan of his own free will. Our Lord loves even Judas, who intends to betray him. That is why he gives him a chance to reflect on his intentions and to repent of his evil plan. When we harbor an evil intention, He offers us the opportunity to repent of that evil intent. To this end, He confronts us in two ways in order to save us from sin:

First, Jesus confronts us with the disastrous consequences of our evil intentions.

Just as He warned Judas of the catastrophic consequences of his betrayal, He confronts us with the consequences of our wrong decisions and appeals to our consciences:

"Look, this is what you are planning. The consequences of the deed you intend to commit are terrible. Do you really want to do this?"

The best protection against sin is to clearly perceive the potential consequences of our evil intentions and be horrified by them. Jesus wants us to realize the terrible consequences of our plans and to abandon our evil intentions. We are meant to reflect rationally and make the right decision.

Second, Jesus confronts us with His great love.

Just as He confronted Judas, He confronts us so that we may perceive His love. God created and raised us. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us to redeem us and grant us the Kingdom of Heaven.

He says to us: "Can you look into My eyes? Do you recognize My love and My devotion to you? Do you still want to go through with what you are planning?"

Jesus appeals to us to make us aware of the magnitude of His love for us and the appalling nature of our evil intentions. We ought to remember God's love and His devotion before we act. Then, we will not make a disastrous decision like Judas did.

Jesus loves all people, even a notorious criminal. In this regard, I would like to tell you about the transformation of one man. He is a Frenchman named André Levet. Jesus Christ confronted him with His love and brought him to his senses. In his testimony of faith, titled "I Am a Sinner, and He Is the Savior!", he recounts the following[1]:

"I was born into an atheist family and never heard anyone speak of God. At the age of 13, I ran away to Marseille and slept on the streets or in discarded railway carriages... That was when I first ended up in prison... Later, as a gang leader, I specialized in armed robbery.

One day, I was in a town called Laval to commit a crime. As I was walking through the town, I saw a priest wearing a long cassock on the other side of the street. I walked up to him, and—having never seen a priest in a long cassock before—I asked him whether he was a man or a woman. 'I am a man of God,' he replied. 'Where is your God? I’ve never seen him,' I said. 'I see that you don’t know God,' he answered, 'but if you ever have the time, come and see me so we can talk; 12 Solferino Street.' …A few months later, I was back in Laval …and visited the priest. He was at home and said, 'I’ve been waiting for you!' That priest became my friend. He gave me advice that I never followed, and every time he spoke to me about God, I would say, 'Leave your God where he is!'

Some time later... I was …sentenced to 15 years in prison. …I spent long months, long years in prison. But …my good priest... wrote me a letter once a month… He also sent me four large, bound volumes of the Gospels... 'Aha! "So, the pastor actually smuggled his Lord into my cell for me," I thought. To please him, I opened it nine times over the course of ten years... One day, the book came to mind again. And since I had waited in vain for a weapon or a file to break out with, only one option remained for me in this hopeless situation: Jesus. I then challenged this Jesus:

"If You really exist, if You really do all the things written in this book—well then, come and visit me. I propose a meeting: come tonight at two in the morning; then we’ll have some peace and quiet to talk. And if You are that powerful, I want just one thing from You: open these bars, and I’ll make a run for it."

…On the night of June 11–12, 1960, I fell into a deep sleep, as usual, facing the bars of my cell. …That night, someone shook me awake. I sprang out of bed, ready to strike down the intruder. But there was no one there. Yet, deep within me, I heard these words echoing as if in a tunnel: "It is two o'clock, André; we have a meeting!" I …shouted at the guard through the small sliding window: "Why are you disturbing me?" He replied: "Why are you getting so worked up? I didn't say a thing." Then I asked him: "What time is it?" "Two o'clock. Two o'clock sharp." I had no time to think, for the voice spoke again—even more powerfully—within me: "I am your God, the God of all people." I clenched my fist and shouted: "But how can You speak to my ears when I cannot see You, do not know You! Who are You?" "Leave me alone, get lost—or show yourself!" And then I saw—there by the bars I had always imagined myself breaking apart to escape—a glorious light... And in that light, a man I did not know, whom I had never seen before. He showed me his pierced hands, his pierced feet, his open side. And I heard the words, piercingly clear, right there in my cell: "This is for you, too." It was at that very moment that the scales fell from my eyes. The heavy scales of twenty-seven years of sin finally dropped away, and I saw clearly. In a flash, I grasped that I was a sinner and that He was the Savior! For the first time in my life, I bowed my head and fell to my knees. For the first time in my life, I wept; for the first time, someone wanted to love me!... At seven o'clock, the guards found me weeping on my knees, and I told them: "I will never spit at you again; I will never hit or steal from anyone again, for every time I did so, I would be doing it to Jesus." The astonished guards initially thought this was a ruse on my part, but very soon they saw that I was completely changed. After that encounter, I served another six years—a time God, that divine artist, used to transform me, a boulder of hatred and atheism, into a small, indeed truly insignificant, witness to His merciful love."

After his release, André Levet gave talks about his transformation throughout France and abroad.

Every person is weak and can fall into crisis. But God loves us deeply and sent Jesus. On the cross, Jesus shed His blood for us and died. We ought to gratefully accept God’s love and His forgiveness.

3. The Lord’s Supper (26–30)

While Jesus and His disciples are eating, Jesus takes a loaf of bread, gives thanks to the Father, breaks it, and gives it to the disciples with the words, "Take, eat; this is My body!" (26).

The fact that Jesus breaks the bread and distributes it to His disciples serves as a symbolic explanation of the meaning of His impending death. Bread is for life. Jesus intends to die so that we may live. That is why Jesus is the Bread of Life; through His death, He grants us eternal life filled with meaning, just as He said in John 6:35: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst."

We are called to accept Jesus as the Son of God and the Christ. To accept Him means to believe in Him. Through faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the Christ, we can possess eternal life.

Every human being longs for a meaningful, eternal life. If our lives were meaningful but only of short duration, we could not be truly happy. Or, if our lives were to last forever but be incredibly boring or even painful, it would be a source of great torment for us. To be truly happy, our lives must be both happy and eternal.

Unfortunately, worldly things such as wealth, career, or pleasures are fleeting; they can grant us neither eternal life nor a truly happy life. After Jesus has distributed the broken bread to the disciples, he takes the cup, gives thanks to God for it, hands it to his disciples, and says, “Drink from it, all of you! This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (27–28).

What does Jesus mean by the phrase “my blood of the covenant”?

To understand the meaning of this phrase, we must first understand the word “covenant.” We call the first part of the Bible the “Old Testament” and the second part the “New Testament.” The New Testament was written in Greek. In Greek, “testament” and “covenant” were the same word[2]. Thus, the main theme of the Old Testament is the Old Covenant, and that of the New Testament is the New Covenant.

What is the meaning of Jesus’ words, “my blood of the covenant”?

After the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, the Old Covenant was established between God and Israel on the basis of the blood of a sacrificial animal. At that time, Moses sprinkled the people of Israel with the blood of a sacrificial animal and said, “Behold, this is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Exodus 24:8).

Under this Old Covenant, the blood of animals had to be sprinkled upon the people for the forgiveness of sins. Consequently, animal sacrifices were repeatedly necessary.

However, the New Covenant was established through the blood of Christ. Jesus shed His blood on the cross once and for all for the forgiveness of human sins, so that we no longer need any further sacrifice.

That is why God’s Word states in Hebrews 9:13–14, “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sanctify the unclean by sprinkling, making them outwardly clean, how much more will the blood of Christ—who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself to God as a spotless sacrifice—cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God.”

Jesus’ blood cleanses us from all sins when we believe in the shedding of Christ’s blood for our sins. Thus, we are freed from the condemnation of sin and become children of God.

Therefore, the Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Our old life has been crucified and buried with Christ. We now have a completely new life as children of God. We are always victorious, even though our situation often makes it appear as if we were losers. We have a glorious future, for we shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven and reign with Christ.

Jesus says, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” Through the shedding of Christ’s blood, we have a new identity as children of God and God’s people, as Peter says:

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

As God’s people, we are called to bear witness to God’s gracious deeds. We are to bear witness to Christ together. Through our lives and words, we are to work toward making “all nations disciples of Christ” (Matthew 28:19).

Eating Jesus’ Body and Drinking His Blood

I would like to briefly summarize the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. Jesus breaks the bread, gives it to his disciples, and says: “Take; this is my body.” He also gives them the cup of red wine and says: “This is my blood of the covenant.”

All people who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died, shedding His blood for their sins, receive forgiveness, eternal life, and the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the Good News for you and me. Through faith in this message, we enter into an eternal covenant with God as children of God and God’s people.

We believe in Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection. It is good that, through the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, we personally embrace the significance of Christ’s death and renew our covenant with God. May God fill each of us with His Holy Spirit and help us to personally embrace the meaning of Christ’s blood and death and to enter into the covenant with God. May God fill our hearts with great gratitude for the shedding of His blood. Amen!

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[1]http://www.vision2000.at/?nr=2012/1&id=719, veröffentlicht in der Zeitschrift "Triumph des Herzens“ 2000

[2] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bund_(Bibel) In der griechischen Übersetzung „Septuaginta“ des Alten Testamentes wird der hebräische Ausdruck berīt (Bund) mit dem griechischen Wort diathēkē wiedergegeben, das auch Testament bedeutet.