Season 5 Podcast 51 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew 26 C, “The Last Supper.”

A New Voice of Freedom

Season 5 Podcast 51 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew 26 C, “The Last Supper.”

In last week’s episode we explored The Betrayal. In this week’s episode we shall explore The Last Supper.

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:26-29)

Every event in the life of Christ has been celebrated, memorialized in art, and analyzed to the nth degree. It is understandable that his birth and his death have always taken center stage. The seminal event that has become known as The Last Supper has certainly taken its place in Christian theology. It is the last peaceful moment in the Life of Christ. It perfectly and elegantly symbolizes the purpose of his life, death, and resurrection.

Let’s examine it phrase by phrase.

“And as they were eating…”

Presumably that refers to the Passover Feast. In Luke 22:15 we read.

“With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.”

The two foremost images are bread and wine, each highly symbolic. Among the miracles of Jesus, both bread and wine were mysteriously multiplied.

“Jesus took bread.”

“Bread has often been a symbol of Christ. In John 3: 35 we read, “I am the bread of life.” In Revelation 2:17 we read, “I give to eat of the hidden manna.” In the wilderness the Israelites were fed by manna from heaven and, of course, in feeding the five thousand, Christ multiplied the bread. Bethlehem, the birth place of Christ and the birthplace of David, means ‘house of bread.’ It was in Bethlehem where David was anointed King by the prophet Samuel. At his trial, Christ in the City of David was given a crown of thorns.

In John 6:51 we read.

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

The above was foreseen and explained hundreds of years earlier by the Old Testament prophets.

“And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

During the Exodus, Manna was given to the Children of Israel to represent the body of Christ, but many didn’t realize it. One of the great ironies is that the Jews hastened the death of Christ so they could honor the sabbath and celebrate the feast of the Passover. By the time of Christ, the symbolism had become entirely lost to the majority of the Jews.

15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. (Exodus 16:15)

The Children of Israel ate manna for forty years. Without manna they would have