And he took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after supper, he took the cup saying, “This cup is the new covenant in the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Luke 22:19-20 NIV
A symbolic dinner to tell the ancient story of freedom from slavery and redemption from death itself.
A lamb for each family that crowded the streets of Jerusalem that week. A lamb sacrificed by a Temple priest. A lamb that was consumed later as they moved through each symbolic element: the meat, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, the egg, the cups of wine, the applesauce.
The disciples were celebrating a holiday, Jesus was fulfilling prophecy.
Then Jesus put himself on the plate, put Himself in the story. He picked up the bread and broke it and said, “This is my body given for you”. He took the cup and said, “This is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you.” Only God can make a new covenant. And He did.
It was their last supper together.
After they celebrated the angel of death passing over those whose homes were marked with the blood of the lamb, they saw the blood of the Chosen One spilled under the lash of the whip and poured out on the wood of a Roman cross as He died before their eyes.
It was the last Passover Jesus had with His disciples before Jesus became the Passover Lamb for His disciples and the world.
For you.
For me.
Forever.
And a new way to remember it, we call it communion.
