Matthew 26:17-30 (ESV)

2. Matthew 26:17-30 (ESV) Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?”

3. He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’”

4. And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.

5. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.

6. And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

7. And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”

8. He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me.

9. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

10. Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

11. Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

12. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,

13. for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

14. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”

15. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

16. Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. Matthew 26:17-19, ESV

17. Preparation for the Last Supper Jesus and the disciples need accommodations They are in need to be in the city limits, which Bethany was just outside of Jesus tells them to go to “a certain man” The first is Jesus supernaturally knows where they are to go The second is that Jesus has prepared the accommodations before hand When it says, “A Certain Man” it means that the person was unnamed for some reason It would be like saying, “He went to so and so” or “He went to that guy”

18. Preparation for the Last Supper (2) We notice that Jesus tells them to say, “the teacher” not “our teacher” It implies that this person is a follower of Jesus in some capacity They go the man and begin to prepare for the upcoming feast This means getting what they needed, such as wine, herbs, and various spices etc.

19. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Matthew 26:20-21

20. The Betrayal Made Known The meal would be eaten during the evening/late evening hours Jesus then turns the discussion over to what is going to occur in the next several hours, specifically the betrayal While this is not so shocking to us, for the Gospel itself has informed us that it is Judas, to the disciples it is an absolute shock

21. And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” (Matthew 26:22-24 ESV)

22. The Disciples React The disciples are sorrowful They even each ask, “Is it I, Lord?” In Matthew (not so much in the other Gospels) it tends to be believers who speak to Jesus with the word κύριος (Cure-ee-os) which is Lord (8:2, 21, 25, 9:28, 14:28, etc) Generally the term can be used for a lord or lady, but as the disciples grow closer to Jesus’ teaching it more than likely has deeper significance We notice their response indicates they did not think any were capable That or they think that they accidentally betrayed Him

23. Predestined Jesus responds that the “Son of Man” goes to what has been “Written in the Scriptures” The title “son of man” here is Jesus’ way of saying “I” We notice that the betrayal is not the main reason for Jesus’ passion Instead it is divine sovereignty which is taking place This is destiny We also notice that Divine Sovereignty does not take away human responsibility The one who will betray Jesus is given a serious “woe” The emphasis is clear, for the one will wish he had never been born Therefore, though this is predestined, the actions of the betrayer are not to go unpunished

24. Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.” (Matthew 26:25, ESV)

25. Judas Responds Judas also asks if “it is I?” We are also given the commentary note that Judas is the betrayer Judas does not ask this in ignorance, but instead asks because if he doesn’t the other disciples may suspect him Judas also asks, however, in a different way than the other disciples Notice he says, “Is it I, Rabbi?” Generally, in Matthew not necessarily the other Gospels, those who are outside of the disciple community will speak to Jesus as teacher, not as lord (see 8:19, 9:11, 12:38, 17:24, 19:6, 22:16 etc.) So Judas proves through his own words that he is no longer a disciple of Christ

26. Jesus Responds Some will wonder how the other disciples missed this obvious response Yet in the Greek it is a bit more vague than in English To those who know the story it is not as vague Though it may also be evident that the way Judas calls Jesus, “Teacher” is enough for Jesus to respond in this way

27. Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” (Matthew 26:26, ESV)

28. The Bread Jesus takes the bread, blesses, and breaks it During the Passover there would be no leaven bread According to Exodus 12 it was necessary for the Jews to eat unleavened bread at this time The blessing would be one like the one said during the Passover meal “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe who created the bread of the earth” The cup would be blessed with, “who created the fruit of the vine” The breaking of the bread has great significance As Jesus says, “this is my body” which means that Jesus’ body will be broken, and ultimately by giving it to them, it indicates it will be broken for them

29. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” (Matthew 26:27-29, ESV)

30. The Wine Jesus gives thanks for the wine There are four cups of wine during the Passover feast (though it is watered down) Each cup would go along with something during the Passover ceremony The first with the opening The second would come after the Haggadah, which is a question and answers segment The third would be the cup of blessing during the meal proper after they sang the beginning of the Hallel(Psalms 113/113-114) The fourth would be taken after the meal sometime during the ending of the Hallel (Psalms 114-118/115-118)

31. The Wine (2) This is most likely the third cup, the cup of blessing The term for “give thanks” comes from εὐχαριστέω (Yoo-Ka-Reest-Ay-Oh) It is from this we get the term Eucharist Generally, protestants prefer to use the “Lord’s Supper” or “Communion” to differentiate between Roman Catholicism But using the term Eucharist makes one no less Protestant or no more Catholic And the term used by us may remind us how much thanks we should give when we partake

32. The Wine (3) The cup is like the bread, it has great significance While the bread represents Jesus’ body, the cup or wine represents His blood This is the blood of the new covenant (Luke 22:20/I Corinthians 11:25) The significance of this is found in the shedding of the lambs blood during the Passover The blood would be poured out on the altar Likewise when we consider the blood over the door of the Jews during the first Passover (Exodus 12)

33. The Wine (4) The symbolism continues when we consider the “blood and covenant” In Exodus 24:8 we find that the covenant between God and His people is solidified and these terms are specifically used Half of the blood here is poured on the altar, and the other half on the people This also alludes to Jeremiah 31:31-40 Here God gives His people a new covenant He will be their God and they His people We also find the “for many” in Isaiah 53 The Servant is pierced for their transgressions Their sins are placed on the Servant As we see there is a multitude in view here

34. The Wine (5) “For the Forgiveness of Sins” This reminds us of Jeremiah 31, again, for in the covenant God will not remember the peoples sins The same in Isaiah 53:12 which says, “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

35. The Wine (6) Finally, it reflects also back to Matthew 1:21, where we first learn that Jesus comes to save His people from their sins In all of this we find the Gospel The good news for sinners We find this to be the most comprehensive discussion of the Gospel in Matthew But we also find it does not end with Jesus’ death For we find that He will not partake of the cup again until they are with Him in His Father’s kingdom He takes the sins, and thereby the judgment which goes along with it, but it still ends with hope, hope of a future kingdom, hope of a future

36. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Matthew 26:30, ESV)

37. Finishing the Dinner They would finish singing the Hallel to close the dinner Then they go out to the Mount of Olives There the betrayal will take place It will be away from the crowds, and in the middle of the night

38. Final Points What Day is it? There is much debate as to when this meal occurs, mainly because the synoptic Gospels and John appear to disagree As per Exodus 12 we find that the feast of Unleavened bread begins on the 14th of Nisan, and does not end until the 21st of Nisan The preparation would occur on the 14th of Nisan, which included the slaughtering of the lambs On the 15th of Nisan would then be the day of the feast of the Passover

39. Final Points What Day is it? (2) The problem comes, then, when John tells us that Jesus is crucified when the lambs are being slain If this is the case, how can the disciples and Jesus have a Passover meal when the lambs had not yet been slain? There are many different works which attempt to solve this puzzling issue One of the ideas is that John may be using a different calendar than the Synoptic Gospels This is possible since there were a variety of different calendars in use at the time (especially Lunar versus Solar)

40. Final Points What Day is it? (3) It would take a great amount of time to look at each of the arguments Therefore we will focus on one argument which is that the Synoptic Gospels and John actually agree Many times in the West we do not often consider that the Jewish day begins at sunset, not at midnight Therefore the 14th of Nisan would not begin until Thursday at sunset and would not end until Friday at Sunset Because of this, it seems likely that Jesus and the disciples prepared their meal and ate it on the 14th of Nisan (so early to late Thursday night)

41. Final Points What Day is it? (4) Jesus would then be arrested on Friday very early morning (still the 14th of Nisan) Face His trials during the morning/day of Friday (still the 14th of Nisan) He would then be crucified around 3pm on Friday (still the 14th of Nisan) At this time the lambs would be sacrificed (on the 14th of Nisan) The Passover would then begin at Friday Sunset which would then be the 15th of Nisan

42. Final Points What Day is it? (5) Some may then wonder if Jesus and the disciples actually had a Passover dinner if it was technically Passover One commentator used the analogy of a birthday party One can have a birthday party without it actually being on someone's birthday Likewise we know that Jesus’ time has come Because of this it may be Jesus wanted to have the final supper early as necessity This works when we consider all that the final meal brings to the table…pun intended Jesus is the Passover lamb, a theology already established by the time of Paul’s writings

43. Final Points What Day is it? (6) When we say that Jesus was crucified the “day before” the Passover we need to be technical Jesus was crucified on Nisan 14th which was Friday However the Passover meal, again, would occur on Nisan 15th which was also on Friday This all said…this is not the only explanation There are more to be seen and I admit that one could be persuaded after reading more of the other arguments This, however, seemed to make the most sense from the little which I could read

44. Final Points This is my Body, this is my Blood This portion of Scripture is one of the most debated in all of Church history This is a tradition which goes back directly to Jesus It was a tradition which was already well established by the time of Matthew’s Gospel and the writings of Paul (see I Corinthians 11) Also, for the early Church Communion was sacred It was not until after a Church member was Baptized Before they could be baptized they would need to be Catechized Catechism would take over a year and a half, and could even take longer Before that time they could come to congregational meetings, but they were not allowed to partake of Communion

45. Final Points This is my Body, this is my Blood (2) Therefore the institution of the Lord’s Supper should not be overlooked What does it mean for it to be continued? What does it mean when He says, “This is my body” “this is my blood?” Thankfully we are not alone when we look at these questions, as Church history is rich with answers and explanations, and we will look at some of those answers here

46. Final Points This is my Body, this is my Blood (3) The first comes from Roman Catholicism and is called Transubstantiation This view holds that the elements, the bread and wine, literally turn into the flesh and blood of Jesus The etymology of the word transubstantiation means this: Trans (cross over/change) substantia (substance) When the protestant reformation occurred, however, other views began to appear The two most well-known views come from two famous theologians The first: Martin Luther from Germany The second: Ulrich Zwingli from Switzerland

47. Final Points This is my Body, this is my Blood (4) Most people know of Martin Luther, but not many know of Ulrich Zwingli who began the reformation in Switzerland shortly after Luther did in Germany Part of this may be because of his untimely death on October 9th, 1531 It has been said that Zwingli was first a man of God, a man of his nation, and then a man of Zurich, his city On October 9th an army attacked Zurich and Zwingli, along with approximately 3000 others fought back Zwingli died on the battlefield

48. Final Points This is my Body, this is my Blood (5) There is more we could say concerning Zwingli, but for now let’s focus on something which occurred before his death When the Reformation began there was no unified front for the Reformers Luther was in Germany, and Zwingli in Switzerland So eventually they were both invited to debate their differing views in hopes to form a kind of unification This occurred October 1-4, 1529 in Marburg Germany, and is henceforth known as the Colloquy of Marburg Unfortunately, unification would not occur as a few main issues arose The most significant issue, however, was what we are discussing here concerning the Eucharist, as both Luther and Zwingli took opposing sides

49. Final Points This is my Body, this is my Blood (6) Luther’s view of the Eucharist is called consubstantiation The bread and wine remain bread and wine, however Jesus’ real presence is with and in the elements Hence the term consubstantiation…Con meaning with, and substantia mean substance Luther most famously describes this as fire and iron When iron is immersed in the fire it is impossible to tell where the fire ends and where the iron begins So it is with the Eucharist