26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
“‘I will strike the shepherd,and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’[b]
32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
34 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
There are two stories that occur, the Lord's Supper and the prediction of Peter's denial. Let's start off with the first one....the Lord's Supper.
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, the Lord's supper actually occurred when the the Passover feast was supposed to take place. This requires for us to review what the passover feast was.
In the book of Exodus, the people of Israel are in slavery in Egypt, and God raises up a guy name Moses to rescue them out of Egypt. Moses asks Pharaoh to "let my people go" and Pharaoh says no. So...what happens? God sets a plague on the nation of Egypt. Yet...Pharaoh still wouldn't let the Israelites go. After this, another plague occurred, and then another, and another and another, and finally nine plagues later, Pharaoh still wouldn't let the Israelites go.
This was the last straw. God told Moses that he was going to send one more plague on the Egyptians, and after this Pharaoh would definitely let the people go. The plague was the death angel. This angel was sent onto the nation of Egypt to kill all the firstborn sons of each household. The problem was that the Israelites were also living in the land, so God gave them a way to be protected from this death angel. What they were told to do was to kill a lamb, take the blood and spread it on the door frames of their houses. This sacrifice would serve as a replacement for their firstborn son, the lamb literally took their place. Because of this, the death angel "passed over" their house. That is where they get the word Passover.
After this plague came on Egypt, Pharaoh set them free from their slavery and they were off to the promise land. God commanded the Israelites to celebrate the Passover meal every year to remember how he rescued them from the land of Egypt.
This was the meal that the disciples sat down with Jesus to celebrate, yet Jesus stopped the meal right in the middle of it, and changed it permanently. This is what he said:
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus is saying, "I am now the lamb of God that is going to be sacrificed to rescue all people from the slavery of sin." He is showing the disciples that the cup represents his blood poured out for our sins and the bread represents his body which was offered for all mankind. Jesus is our lamb that takes our place so that when the death angel comes at the end of all time, he will pass over us because Jesus' blood has covered our sins.
When we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we are in a long line of people who have been rescued by God through a sacrifice.
The second part of this passage, Jesus warns the disciples what will happen when he is arrested. This is what he says:
31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
“‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
34 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
Because Jesus has to be rejected and arrested for the salvation of the world, he wants to help prepare his disciples for what will happen. He tells them that they will fall away, but after they do, Jesus will raise up and meet them in Galilee. The problem is, instead of listening to what he is trying to teach them, the disciples immediately begin to argue with Jesus.
Peter says that he won't fall away, and all the disciples follow suit.
But this wasn't Jesus' point. He was trying to help prepare them for when they mess up, how to come back to him, that there will be grace.
In both of these passages, we see Jesus offering himself as a sacrifice to cover the sins of the world, and we see him offering grace even when the disciples were going to fall away.
This is so reassuring.
Jesus not only covers our sins permanently with his sacrifice, but he also offers grace when we keep on messing up. But the key is, this is not freedom to sin or do whatever you want, but to live a gracious life in response to the grace has given us.
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