Truth and Confusion

Truth and Confusion
Matt. 26:26-29

26 And [de] as they [autos] were eating [esthio] , Jesus [Iesous] took [lambano] bread [artos] , and [kai] blessed [eulogeo] it, and brake [klao] it, and [kai] gave [didomi] it to the disciples [mathetes] , and [kai] said [epo] , Take [lambano] , eat [phago] ; this [touto] is [esti] my [mou] body [soma] .
27 And [kai] he took [lambano] the cup [poterion] , and [kai] gave thanks [eucharisteo] , and gave [didomi] it to them [autos] , saying [lego] , Drink ye [pino] all [pas] of [ek] it [autos] ;
28 For [gar] this [touto] is [esti] my [mou] blood [haima] of the new [kainos] testament [diatheke] , which [ho] is shed [ekcheo] for [peri] many [polus] for [eis] the remission [aphesis] of sins [hamartia] .
29 But [de] I say [lego] unto you [humin] , I will [pino] not [hoti] [ou me] drink [pino] henceforth [apo] [arti] of [ek] this [toutou] fruit [gennema] of the vine [ampelos] , until [heos] that [ekeinos] day [hemera] when [hotan] I drink [pino] it [autos] new [kainos] with [meta] you [humon] in [en] my [mou] Father's [pater] kingdom [basileia] . KJV-Interlinear

26 And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness 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.' NASB

In these four verses, Jesus teaches us all, of His work which will be accomplished on the Cross, and then the termination of the Passover celebration which was long used to recall and to celebrate the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt looking forward to the future deliverance of mankind from bondage, and is now replaced with the remembrance of His sacrifice on the Cross, our historical reality, and our deliverance from sin and death for all of mankind.

Note too, that Judas has left the table. He is off to do his deed, per our study in John. Note that the apostles, the eleven who remain, have resumed their eating. They did not lose their appetites despite the remarks that Jesus has just made, and despite the significance of the time in history - the most significant event in history ever, which was about to occur, the Crucifixion of Christ.

They had been celebrating the exodus from Egypt and the bondage under which the Israelites endured, and now Jesus instructs them as well as all believers thereafter, to 'do this in remembrance of Me' (Christ), Lk. 22:19.

Jesus breaks the bread. The bread is symbolic of His body, unleavened and free from the leaven of sin and that corrupting influence which is not carried into the next life, from the worldly realm to the spiritual realm. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life.

Born free of the sin nature which is handed down to all of mankind from Adam, and through the seed of the male (for by one man all sinned), Jesus was born of the woman's seed, born of a virgin free from the seed of the male counter part, and therefore free from the genetically passed sin nature which infests the bodies of all of mankind. By the way, the sin nature is left behind in the body to corrupt in the grave, when we die. Our soul and spirit go on to heaven and there await our resurrection body which will be free of the sin nature forever.

Then the cup of wine, the representation of the blood of Christ, but not the literal blood which came from the sacrificial animals, but representative of the spiritual death which Christ endured while on the Cross. Jesus was very much alive when He was punished for our sins for those three hours while on the Cross. He did not bleed to death, as demonstrated by the gush of blood and fluids which came out when he was pierced with the spear after He had already died physically. His physical blood had nothing whatsoever to do with the punishment of sins.

So we are to remember His work, His effort, His sacrifice for which these items symbolize. He then abrogates the Passover celebration, for there is no longer a need to remember the exodus from slavery, nor a need to celebrate the shadow of the representation of that sacrifice, when He now has become the reality, not the shadow.

In the past and prior to the Cross, people remembered the Cross to come as a future event. The Feasts were shadows pointing to the reality of the Cross. Now the reality has come and we need to recall on a daily basis through thanks, the work of Christ, and work done by no other. One Lord, one sacrifice, one path to God and heaven.

Christ announces that He Himself will not partake of another Passover celebration until the Second Advent when the Kingdom of God will be installed here on earth and then there will be a huge celebration of thanksgiving and honor to Him and only to Him for that which He did for each one of us.

That thanksgiving which here is called the Eucharist by use of the Greek word 'eucharisteo' which is a common word used for the celebration of the Lord's Supper. This remembrance and thanksgiving is to be followed by all believers as a constant reminder of who and what Jesus Christ is, and of our relative place in this life courtesy of His grace.

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