Last Passover, First Communion

Introduction

Good morning! We will be continuing in Matthew chapter 26 today.

We’re in the last few chapters of this book, and it has shifted now, from the last of Jesus’s teachings that are recorded in Matthew, to the plot of his betrayal and crucifixion.

Last week, Mike took is through the first part of chapter 26, in which the plot against Jesus is revealed, and Jesus is anointed with expensive oil, and Judas accepts the bounty of 30 pieces of silver in exchange for Jesus.

That’s going to bring us to verse seventeen, which we’ll pick up in today.

Billy the Goat

While you find your places there though, I have to correct something I said two weeks ago!

Two weeks ago, we looked at the sheep and the goats, right? The sheep are used as examples of the righteous, while the goats represent the unrighteous. And I kind of joked about goats being rather difficult animals, if not really inherently evil. [SLIDE]

I mentioned how my grandma, my mom’s mom, grew up on a farm during the depression. I said something about how she didn’t like goats because of a goat that they had that would always chase her and her siblings around.

Well, I guess the goat might be more of a victim than a villain in this story.

I forgot about one little detail of the story, which is that my grandma and her siblings would actually tease the poor Billy goat (his name was actually Billy) in order to provoke it to chase them for fun!!! But I guess maybe it was too dangerous, because their dad ended up slaughtering the goat for their safety, and it was the kids’ fault all along! I do remember her telling the story of eating dinner one night and thinking it was fine until she found out she was eating her friend/nemesis Billy, after which she couldn’t eat any more.

Alright, let’s read Matthew!

Matthew 26:17-30

Matthew 26:17–30 LSB

17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am keeping the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. 20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. 21 And as they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” 22 And being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 And He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. 24 “The Son of Man is going, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” 25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You yourself said it.” 26 Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it. And giving it to the disciples, He 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.” 30 And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Summary

Alright, so what is happening in this story?

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread (which we’ll come back to), the disciples approach Jesus and ask where they should make preparations to eat the Passover.

In the evening, Jesus is at the table with his twelve disciples. During the meal, he reveals his knowledge of his impending betrayal by Judas, who we looked at last week, and the rest of his disciples are, understandably, disturbed by this. They have become made at least somewhat aware of it now.

But then the focus shifts, in verse 26, to something else that happens while they’re eating. Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to his disciples, which is perfectly normal. And he does the same thing with the cup and the wine, which again is perfectly normal.

What’s NOT normal is what he says about it as he does it!

With the bread: “Take and eat; this is my body;”

With the wine: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from the fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

If I was there, I might be thinking “Yeah, Jesus, I think maybe you better not have any more fruit of the vine for a while, you’re not making a whole lot of sense right now and you’re starting to ramble! And you’re kind of bumming me out and you’re scaring me, and I don’t want to eat you!”

“I know! Let’s sing a song, and go for a walk!”

And that’s what they did.

Not to make light of a serious moment, but we have to acknowledge how strange this sounds, and would have sounded, to anyone not accustomed to it. It’s kind of a wildly profound statement that Jesus makes! The disciples were already distraught because of Judas, and I’m sure they are not fully grasping the significance of this passover meal or how to respond to what Jesus has said.

But they finish their meal, and they sing a hymn. They worship. And they continue following Jesus, on to the next scene, the next adventure, where they will continue to be tested. I guess you could say that no matter the situation, no matter where or when, you can never go wrong by responding in worshipping God, and following Jesus!

By Verse

Here’s a breakdown by the verses:

17-19: Jesus tells his disciples that he wants to celebrate the Passover with them. They go to a man's house in Jerusalem and prepare the meal.

20-25: During the meal, Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray him. The disciples are shocked and saddened by this news. Jesus says that the one who betrays him will dip his hand into the bowl with him.

26-29: Jesus takes bread and breaks it, saying that it is his body, which is given for them. He takes a cup of wine and says that it is his blood, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

30: Jesus and his disciples sing a hymn and then go out to the Mount of Olives.

The events of this passage are some of the most important in the Christian faith.

They mark the beginning of Jesus' Passion, which leads to his death and resurrection, and the establishment of a NEW covenant with Yahweh, for the first time in thousands of years! In this humble dinner setting with his disciples, Jesus is about to usher in a new era, a new chapter of human history.

Exodus 12

To truly understand the significance of this particular supper, we need to understand the context of the setting.

I want to read verse 17 in the CJB, just because it uses a couple of transliterated words from Jewish tradition.

Matthew 26:17 CJB

17 On the first day for matzah, the talmidim came to Yeshua and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare your Seder?”

Now, those words in Italic are transliterated Hebrew words, but I’ll bet some of you have heard of one of these.

Ever heard of “Matzah bread?” That’s something that is still common in Jewish communities today.

“Talmidim” just means “students” or “disciples,” Yeshua is Jesus’s Hebrew name, and Seder is the traditional passover meal.

This passage finds Jesus and his disciples at the beginning of this period of time when they would observe Passover, and in turn, the feast of “Unleavened Bread” (or matzah), leading up to the passover.

This yearly event was established in Exodus, and was core to Israel’s identity, representing their liberation from Egypt and establishment as a covenant people of God.

Everything revolves around covenant symbols, each of which point back to the story of Israel’s salvation from Egypt. Their birth, or rebirth, and redemption, their establishment as a people with Yahweh as their god.

The Lamb

Let’s turn to Exodus 12, and actually read what God said to Israel when he established this ritual of passover.

There is a lot to this, so I narrowed it down to kind of highlight three major elements that stand out as being core to the Passover experience as well as connecting to our passage in Matthew.

[SLIDE]

The lamb, the bread, and the statute/command itself: how they were supposed to do everything.

Exodus 12:1–13 LSB

1 Now Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. 3 “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. 4 ‘Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to apportion the lamb. 5 ‘Your lamb shall be a male, without blemish, a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 ‘And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 ‘Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 ‘And they shall eat the flesh that night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 ‘Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. 10 ‘And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. 11 ‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Passover of Yahweh. 12 ‘And I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am Yahweh. 13 ‘And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there shall be no plague among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

These images and rituals, and the use of the lamb for the sacrifice and the blood, they were all poignant reminders, from that day forward, of how God delivered them from Egypt, even at great cost. And at the same time, they point forward to the ultimate sacrificial lamb, Christ, who’s blood is sufficient for God’s judgment to pass over all who would place their faith in him.

The Bread

Let’s keep reading, because now we get to the unleavened bread:

Exodus 12:14–24 LSB

14 ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a perpetual statute. 15 ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 ‘Now on the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be done by you. 17 ‘You shall also keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall keep this day throughout your generations as a perpetual statute. 18 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your places of habitation you shall eat unleavened bread.’” 21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Bring out and take for yourselves lambs according to your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 “And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and touch some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the doorway of his house until morning. 23 “And Yahweh will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. 24 “And you shall keep this event as a statute for you and your children forever.

Alright, so that’s where the unleavened bread comes from; It represents the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt.

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 26

The feast of Unleavened Bread was a seven or eight-day feast associated with the one-day Passover. During this feast, the Jews refused to eat anything containing yeast in order to commemorate the speed with which God delivered them from Egypt (Ex 13:7–8; Dt 16:3–4). The feast began on the day before Passover, Thursday of Passion Week.

When God told Moses to tell the Israelites to prepare for their departure from Egypt, he told them to make their dough without any yeast, because they could not afford to wait to let it rise. Eating matzah during Passover is a tangible reminder of the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt.

In Deuteronomy 16:3, matzah is also referred to as "bread of affliction," connecting it to the hardships endured by the Israelites during their time of bondage in Egypt. This highlights the theme of suffering that underlies the story of Exodus and reminds celebrants of the struggles of their ancestors.

Yeast in scripture is also used to represent sin and how it grows, so the eating of unleavened bread, along with the unblemished lamb, and the other details of this ritual, are a reminder of the holiness of God and how we are called to be blameless before him.

Jesus putting himself in the place of the bread positions him as the true, pure sustenance by which we survive, and even thrive, and he offers it willingly to all who would, figuratively, eat of it.

Realize, by the way, that Jesus was kind of hijacking the most core symbols in Jewish culture at the time!

It’s kind of like if you said “OK all Christmas trees now represent me!”

Or “The American flag is now a symbol of my new cult, and whenever you see a bald eagle, I want you to think of me!”

In all seriousness though, that’s the type of core, cultural symbols that Jesus is tapping into here, and re-purposing, or redirecting, re-framing to show how they point to HIM.

For thousands of years, the Jews have been doing this ritual, remembering their ancestors and pointing forward to the Messiah.

The Statute

The event of their salvation from Egypt in Exodus was so foundational to Israel, they were told to commemorate it every year by essentially reenacting it, in their homes, but without actually having to leave. (In fact, the problem in Jesus’s day was that foreigners were now occupying their home!) It was one of the most important times of the year.

It marked a shift, from slavery under a tyrant, to a new type of slavery, a new type of ownership, under Yahweh, who rescued them both powerfully and precisely.

Let’s read on in Exodus:

Exodus 12:24–27 LSB

24 “And you shall keep this event as a statute for you and your children forever. 25 “And it will be, when you enter the land which Yahweh will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep this new slavery. 26 “And it will be when your children say to you, ‘What is the meaning of this new slavery to you?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to Yahweh who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but delivered our homes.’” And the people bowed low and worshiped.

I’ll skip down a bit for now, Verses 29-42 go on to describe the horrifying night of death that Egypt suffered, in order for Pharoah to finally let go of Israel and their friends (note verse 38!) In fact, The Egyptian people actually beg the Jewish people to leave! So, 430 years after Joseph brought his father Jacob and the rest of his family to Egypt, they finally left to go back towards the land from which their ancestors came:

Exodus 12:41–42 LSB

41 And it happened at the end of 430 years, to the very day, that all the hosts of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It is a night to be kept for Yahweh for having brought them out from the land of Egypt; this night is for Yahweh, to be kept by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.

And then we get some specific guidelines for this statute:

Exodus 12:43–51 LSB

43 And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it; 44 but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. 45 “A foreign resident or a hired person shall not eat of it. 46 “It shall be eaten in a single house; you shall not bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, and you shall not break any bone of it. 47 “All the congregation of Israel shall celebrate this. 48 “But if a sojourner sojourns with you and celebrates the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 49 “The same law shall apply to the native as to the sojourner who sojourns among you.” 50 So all the sons of Israel did; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, thus they did. 51 And on that same day Yahweh brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

Notice that this was not just for anybody who had the right pedigree, the right lineage, and whether or not it went back to Jacob or Abraham. Primarily, that’s who made up the people of Israel, descendants of Jacob/Israel. But they also had a multitude of foreigners among them!

What did Yahweh say about foreigners? Were they allowed to celebrate passover with the Jews?

No! But yes! Only IF they were circumcised with the Jews. In other words,

Anyone could become a part of God’s covenant people, and celebrate the covenant symbols, but only if they had demonstrated full commitment to their participation in said covenant with Yahweh. In this case, demonstrated in a way that would not and could not be taken lightly!

To put it in perhaps a more “Roman” perspective, it was the “cost of citizenship” and would be seen as a pledge of loyalty for one’s own life and household, to the nation of Israel and her god, Yahweh.

Passover, then, was a privilege only for the Jews and those who went to great lengths to convert to Judaism. Jesus, however, offers anyone a seat at the table

The Hospitable Home

Alright, enough in Exodus, let’s go back to the New Testament, and look at just a few more details in our passage in Matthew.

Actually, I want to compare it to the parallel passage in Mark. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell the story very similarly, but as usual there are a couple little nuances that help flesh out the picture:

Mark 14:12–16 (LSB)

12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

13 And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him;

14 and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’

15 “And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.”

16 And the disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

So, in Matthew, we just know it was some random guy, in some room of his house. In Mark we’re told how they knew who to even ask, and that the room was actually intended for use by guests, and that it was large and well furnished. In other words, their passover needs were well accommodated. Much like a donkey just happened to be ready and waiting for Jesus when he got to Jerusalem, so this facility is ready and waiting for him and his disciples.

Theology & Application

So, even from the beginning, before even arriving at the house, Jesus is continuing to demonstrate his awareness of God’s sovereignty and is taking action in the role he’s about to play, while also assuming the responsibility and weight of that sovereignty!

Like with everything else in the law, he is not abolishing Passover, rather fulfilling it and what it represents. He fulfills the sacrificial system, while instituting a new covenant, using the symbols but with a much more simplified and inclusive ritual.

It points us, as always to the infinite love of God and his willingness to do anything for us. His love is unconditional and everlasting, and available to all who believe in Jesus.

We have forgiveness of sins through Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross as the ultimate act of atonement for sin. Through his death, Jesus paid our debts and made us righteous before God.

This is the new covenant, as inaugurated, or at least prefaced, by the last supper. Into which all believers are called as a holy priesthood, offering our lives as living sacrifices…living to know God and bring others to him.

I think it’s worth mentioning too that this covenant is established, not between God and one man on a mountain (the people refused to go up with Moses), but whether you look at this event, or what happens a few days later at Pentecost, this is a covenant that was established, and lives and breathes within the context of a community. The very word “communion” implies participation within a fellowship, a community of believers.

From Jesus, the light was spread to his disciples, to the apostles first, and to the Jews first, who then spread it to the rest of the world, and praise God here we are on the other side of the planet a few thousand years later, able to worship God and follow Christ because of the selfless, sacrificial lives of countless other missionaries, martyrs, evangelists, pastors, teachers, parents, grandparents, sisters, friends, coworkers, and strangers, willing to shine their lights before others that they may see God and find life.

Conclusion

We are about to spend some time reenacting the last supper in our own way.

It’s a symbolic act, there is nothing special or mystical about the materials that we eat and drink, but that doesn’t mean it should be a thoughtless or mundane act.

It’s an intentional, active invitation to meditate on the new covenant in His blood, a covenant that offers us forgiveness and relationship with God. The broken bread and the shared cup point us towards the depth of Christ's sacrifice, His body given and His blood shed for our redemption.

Jesus’s prophetic revelation of his betrayal, even as He breaks bread with the one who would betray Him, reveals a profound depth of love and grace. It shows us that Jesus, knowing the painful road ahead, still chose to walk it for our sake. This serves as a reminder that even in our worst moments, God's love for us remains unchanging.

To think of Jesus’s suffering makes The Last Supper a somber event, but knowing the story, and knowing he will actually eat again makes this story also a hopeful one!

In fact, even in this passage, Jesus promises that He will drink the fruit of the vine anew in His Father’s kingdom. This speaks of a future banquet in the heavenly realm, a reunion with the divine, and a celebration of the ultimate victory of life over death, love over hate, and grace over sin. Surely, that’s what Jesus had his mind set on, and where we ought to focus no matter what else is happening in our lives.

Prayer

As we prepare to share in communion, let us meditate on these things: the love and sacrifice of Christ, the promise of the new covenant, and the hope of a future feast in the Kingdom of God. Let these truths shape our lives, our decisions, our relationships, and our faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, who invites us to partake in His body and blood, and look forward to a joyous communion in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Communion

[Mike?]