Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-20.
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread or Passover, Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead with very specific instructions on where to prepare the Passover meal. That evening Jesus sat down at the table with the twelve apostles to eat his final meal before going to the cross. As they dined together, he told the twelve that one of them would soon betray him.
• The Passover commemorated Israel's escape from bondage in Egypt. In Exodus, the blood of the Passover lamb was painted on the door frames, causing the plague of the firstborn to pass over their houses sparing the firstborn sons from death. The Last Supper was very significant because Jesus showed his disciples he was about to become the Passover Lamb of God. His blood would open the door to freedom. His followers would exchange slavery to sin and death for eternal life in God's Kingdom.
• These verses surrounding the Last Supper form the biblical basis for the practice of Communion.
- -The bread and the wine become the actual body and blood of Christ. The Catholic term for this is Transubstantiation.
- The bread and the wine are unchanged elements, but Christ's presence by faith is made spiritually real in and through them.
- The bread and the wine are unchanged elements, used as symbols, representing Christ's body and blood, in remembrance of his enduring sacrifice.
At the Last Supper, each of the disciples questioned Jesus (paraphrased): "Could I be the one to betray you, Lord?" I would guess at that moment they were also questioning their own hearts. A little while later, Jesus predicts Peter's three-fold denial. Are there times in our walk of faith when we should stop and question, "How true is my commitment to the Lord?" Do I profess to love and follow Christ, yet deny him with my actions?
