When the time had come to eat, Jesus told His disciples that He had a fervent desire to eat this Passover with them before His suffering to come. He said He would no longer eat of it until it was fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Jesus took bread, gave thanks and blessed it. He broke it and gave it to His disciples and told them to eat. He said that this bread is His body which would be broken for them. In a similar way, Jesus took the cup with the fruit of the vine in it and said, “This cup is the New Testament in My blood.” They were to eat the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Him.
Why were they to do this periodically? It was to help them remember the Lord’s death until He returned. As believers, we should remember all the suffering the Lord went through to make the sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. In the last twenty four hours of His life, He was betrayed by one of His disciples, denied by one of his closest disciples, and was accused by the Jewish high priest of blasphemy when He spoke the truth about who He was. He was mocked, beaten, spit upon, forced to wear a crown of thorns, flogged, and then crucified. Yes, we must remember what the God of heaven went through because of His love for us.
We must have great respect for the Lord’s Supper when eating it. We are to examine our lives to see if it is proper for us to worship the Lord this way. If we have sinned against God or someone else, we need to make things right before participating in the Lord Supper. We don’t have to be perfect but we should confess our sins and make reconciliation with others. It is a serious thing to eat of the Lord’s Supper and do it in an unworthy manner.
The Lord’s Supper in the New Testament corresponds with the Passover Meal of the Old Testament. The Passover Meal really pointed toward Jesus and the saving power of His shed blood. The Lord’s Supper fulfills the Passover Meal. Jesus Christ is our Passover.
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Cor. 11:23-26)