The Wine and The Bread

Verses: Luke 22 : 14 - 20

My thoughts about the verses:

After the meal was finished Jesus took the bread and wine and blessed it and gave it to the disciples.  This part of the meal is a piece of the Seder meal that we as Christians continue today. We need to fist understand the importance of the wine and bread to the Seder meal and then what it signifies today.

In the Jewish Seder meal there are four cups of wine.  Each cup represents a form of deliverance promised by God to the community.  The first cup represents the bringing out of the Jewish community from their situation.  The second cup represents the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery.  The third cup represents the fact that God will be the redemption that the people need. The final cup represents the fact that God will return to take his people home.

In the Christian culture we concentrate a lot on the third cup.  The third cup is the cup that was served after the meal.  Jesus lifted the cup and asked God to bless it.  When he blessed it he told the disciples that this would be the last cup that he would drink before he died.  This cup in modern day Christianity signifies the blood that was poured out from the side of Jesus that cleanses us from sins.   In reality this third cup was the cup of redemption that all had wanted.  Yet, at the meal many didn't understand.  We know that in a few short hours that would all change

The bread is also significant to the Seder meal.  The bread was a loaf that had not risen.  The Jews did not have a lot of time to gather things after the Egyptians freed them.  So they gather unleavened bread and left Egypt.  This bread represented the beginning of freedom.  It was the food that they prepared in Egypt to take into the promise land.  This was the start of their new life.

Jesus took the bread that was given at the end of the meal.  He told them he would not eat anything else before he died.  That last piece of bread that was blessed and broken signifies Jesus's death. His sacrifice on the cross we signified with the breaking of the bread.  The fact is his death came quickly and was given up freely.  Those that accept Christ and partake of communion, lord's supper, realize that this is a symbolism of freedom we receive when we accept Christ in our life.

Prayer:

Dear God we thank you for the freedom that you give us.  Jesus we thank you for your blood that covers our sins.  We thank you Jesus for giving your life freely so that we can have freedom for the things that we do.  We thank you for your never ending love.  In the name of our Savior we pray. Amen

Questions:

Do you understand how the body and blood of Jesus is represented in the Last Supper?  Have you accepted the redeeming power of Jesus spilled blood?  Have you come to accept the death of Christ as the gift of freedom from our transgressions?