Matthew 26:17–30
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus said: ‘This is my blood.’
Jesus explained the meaning of his death. He would die soon. He explained this at his last supper.
The previous study showed the reactions of some people to Jesus. They were a contrast to Jesus. He showed that he had more power than all the people had. There is the same subject in this study, too. Jesus told his disciples what would happen. He said that one of them would give him to his enemies. Jesus knew which one of them it would be too (verse 25). Then Jesus told them more about how he would die.
Matthew repeated one word three times. It was the word ‘Passover’. (Exodus 12 describes its meaning.) The word was in verses 17, 18 and 19. Jesus was the person in charge at the meal. Matthew wanted us to understand this. (Read verses 26–30.)
Jesus had said when he was going to die. It would be at Passover. John’s Gospel tells us the exact time. Jesus died on the day before Passover. (Read John 19:14–18.) It was at the same time that people were killing the Passover lambs. (Note: lambs are young sheep.) So Jesus had his own Passover meal. It was a day earlier than the official event. But people seemed to use slightly different dates for the event. This was true during the time of Jesus.
The Passover had always shown Jesus’ death. And he wanted people to know it. His death gave the Passover its full meaning. We can learn three things from this:
► Jesus died for the benefit of other people. That was true about the original Passover lamb. (Read Exodus 12:11–12.) Isaiah 52:13–53:12 also shows this.
► Jesus died as a sacrifice for sin (verse 28). He died for other people, because they were sinners.
► Jesus died to take the punishment that we should have. God hates sin. He must punish it. We all deserve that punishment. But Jesus took our place.
Jesus’ death is still good for us
This does not seem to be possible. So, many people do not believe it. But God can forgive sin. And he still forgives sin. Jesus took all the punishment for our sin. There can be no greater punishment than death. (Read Romans 6:23.) And Jesus died. So, each person can know that God really does forgive his or her sin. But there is more. God does not remember our sin. (Read Jeremiah 31:33–34.)
There is another reason why Jesus died. It was to make us God’s family and friends (verse 29). Jesus, the Messiah, described his great big meal. He was referring to a custom that took place in ancient times. Then, such a big meal was only for a person’s family and for friends. Jesus was speaking about a family relationship in verse 28. His words refer to Exodus 24:8. That was the time when God made the Jews become his family.
Jesus’ sacrifice was particular too. He died for many people (verse 28). This means that he did not die in general for everyone. His death is good for all who come to him. But Jesus died for each person. So, a believer (Christian) can say: ‘Jesus died for me.’ Jesus died for more people than we could ever count. What a wonderful thing Jesus did when he died! He could not have done anything more. He is the answer to all our needs. God accepts us. He forgives us. He gives us his peace and his love. And all this is because of Jesus’ death.
But we must receive the benefits of Jesus’ death (verse 26). We must ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ (verses 26–27). These words are signs. This means that they describe what we can do. We can share with Jesus in his death. We do this by a total trust in Jesus. We believe that his death is the only way to God.
Finally, this passage shows us that sin is a terrible thing. Judas may not have stayed for the special part of the Passover meal. There is some doubt about that. But other things are clear. Jesus told him the truth about his death. Jesus appealed to him in a gentle way. He showed his love for Judas. (Surely, that was the main purpose of verses 20–25.) But Judas still chose to be against Jesus. He knew that enemies wanted to kill Jesus. But he still led them to Jesus.
Questions
1. Someone might say: ‘God is a God of love. So he will not keep anybody out of heaven for ever.’ What could you say to that person?
2. Today, we still have the ‘Passover meal’ like the meal that Jesus had. We call it by different names. It could be the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, the Last Supper, or the Eucharist. What truths should you remember at this time? The truths about the special meal should have effects in your life. Does its effect depend on your thoughts at the time? Look again at Jesus’ teaching in this passage. Then discuss your ideas.
3. Jesus died for all the people in the world. (Read John 3:16.) So, why are they not all believers (Christians)?