The Last Supper, New Covenant

AD 30

Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John

~ Before Jesus established the New Covenant in His body and blood, the forgiveness of sins was the temporary covering of the blood of sacrificial animals.

At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the New Covenant in His blood and body. Taking the bread, He broke it and invited His disciples to partake. Lifting the cup of wine, He proclaimed His blood, poured out as the forgiveness of sins. In this sacred moment, He revealed Himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

We serve a covenant-keeping God. The New Covenant instituted at the Last Supper is the sixth covenant of the Scriptures. This covenant was preceded by God’s covenant with Noah, Abraham, Moses, Phineas, and David.

~ After completing the Seder meal and singing hymns, Jesus led His disciples out to the Mount of Olives, where He surrendered His life to His Father. Some hours later, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus into the hands of the religious leaders.

Significance

• Let’s look back now to the night of the exodus and Passover. Jesus and His disciples were Jewish, of course. They celebrated the Passover (Seder) each spring as God had commanded Moses. When Jesus broke the bread, He was breaking the unleavened bread; when He lifted the cup, it was likely the “Cup of Redemption” from the Seder liturgy. The Passover meal and the Last Supper are interwoven. By instituting the New Covenant in the context of Passover, Jesus was proclaiming Himself to be the fulfillment of Passover, the spotless Passover lamb.
• The disciples’ behavior at the Last Supper reminds us how easily pride can rise, even in holy moments. They were in the very presence of Jesus, yet argued over greatness, resisted His humility, and dismissed His warnings.
• Jesus told His disciples to remember Him by taking Communion often. Let us always be eager to approach the Communion table, humbly and reverently. What a glorious privilege!
• Try to fathom salvation with me: When we eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of His blood, we have His life within us, and He will raise us up on the last day! (John 6:53–55)