The Gospel of Matthew Study Help (Matthew 26:20-30)

The Passion of Christ

Questions to be answered in this study

1. What are the two ordinances of the church?
2. What was the date of the first Lord’s Supper?
3. Another name for the Last Supper is “seder;” what does it mean?
4. What was the seating arrangement for the first Lord’s Supper?
5. Where was Judas seated?
6. What is the purpose of the Lord’s Supper?
7. What does the first and second cup of wine represent?
8. Why dis Jesus dismiss Jesus when He did?
9. To whom does the first part of the Lord’s Supper apply?
10. To whom does that later part of the Lord’s Supper apply?
11. Jesus pronounced woe on Judas; what does woe mean?
12. Why was the roasted lamb was missing from the Lord’s Supper?
13.  What three things established the meaning of the Lord’s Supper?

Introduction

Today, and beginning in the New Testament church, there were and are two ordinances practiced by the church: First, there is believer’s baptism that Jesus commanded for new believers; second, the church is to observe communion on regular bases, although, the Bible does not say how often. The church where I attend commemorates the Lord’s Supper once a month.

We entertained the question the disciples asked Jesus in our previous study concerning the location of the Last Supper, and Jesus said for them to follow a man carrying a pitcher of water, and he would lead them to the house where the owner had prepared the Meal not knowing precisely for whom.

As we take up there today, it is the 14th of Nisan as we continue Jesus’ week of passion. Jesus said in verse 18 of the previous study that it was in the upstairs room that He and His disciples celebrated the Passover meal, which comes next in our study. This celebration differed from past celebrations of the Passover in that it is known today as the Last Supper. Today we celebrate a continuation of that Meal in a mini form. There is a crucial reason why we repeat the Last Supper, which will be the topic today.

First, today, we will look at the Last Supper from a historical perspective and the events, which once again focus on Judas Iscariot.         

Matthew 26:20-25, “Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. 21And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? 23And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. 24The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. 25Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.”

As the Meal begins, Passover has started, and people all over Jerusalem are also observing the Passover reclining at their table, eating the Meal prepared for this occasion. It is at this time that Jesus reveals that one of the disciples will betray Him. The disciples are amazed that any of the disciples could do such a thing. Judas had hidden his true nature very well; he was a thief who had not been caught so far. Jesus then says that He will uniquely tell the betrayer’s identity. He said that the one who dips from the same bowl as Himsel is the betrayer. I don’t think it is strange that Judas and Jesus dip from the same bowl. When my wife and I go to a Mexican Restaurant, we dip from the same bowl of salsa. 

Another name for the Last Supper is “seder,” which means order. So, this Meal was well organized down to the point of the sitting arrangement. According to tradition, the most honored sat at the head of the table, which in this instance would be Jesus. That is different from the paintings we see showing Jesus seated at the center of the table with the disciples on either side. The rest were placed according to rank from the highest to the lowest. According to the gospel of John, we know that John was seated on the right side of Jesus. Another rule of the Passover meal was that the younger set to the host’s right. Since John was the youngest, he sat to the right of Jesus and since he was the youngest, it could be one of the reasons why John outlived the rest of the disciples, although he was the only one who was not killed because of his relationship with Christ. Sitting next to John was Peter. Judas chose to sit in the place of the highest honor to the left of Jesus, as indicated by verse 23.

Judas was undoubtedly an arrogant person to take the seat of the highest honor next to that of the Lord when he was about to betray the Jesus. Judas was a true enemy of God. He was very close to Jesus physically but so far away spiritually. According to statistics, many in the church today are far from God spiritually, and many are lost. That is a good reason why so many church members are illiterate about the Bible. Even though they sit each week and hear the teaching, they don’t understand, and the truth never enters their hearts. They don’t realize their lostness sometimes because they believe that church membership is enough. Some do hear the gospel and repent, while others continue in their lost condition, as did Judas, until the very end when he took his own life.

Some church members who are lost rebel at the teaching of God’s word and leave the church, which is best for the church to avoid the trouble and harm they bring to the body of Christ. The gospel drives a person to their knees, except for some who just go away. 

Jesus revealed the betrayer, Judas, and then Satan entered his heart to drive him to his evil deed of betraying Jesus. Judas didn’t complete the Meal, therefore, missed its full significance. The Passover meal looked back to Israel’s flight from Egyptian bondage, and the exodus under Moses’s leadership. However, today, communion recognizes the death of Jesus on the cross, which provided the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. 

Consider the purpose of Communion: First, it is to commemorate the death of Christ: Jesus said, “This do in remembrance of me.” Second, it provides believers with all the benefits of the new covenant, which signifies their part to consecrate themselves to Jesus and serve Him. Third, we are to observe communion with a pure heart, repenting of all sin. Fourth, it is a time of celebrating communion with Christ and each other. 

It is interesting to note that Jesus told Judas to go about his business at a certain point during the Meal. Up to this point, the Meal only symbolized humanities slavery to sin and Israel’s slavery in Egypt. The bitter herbs represent the bitter, harsh treatment Israel experienced at the hands of the Egyptians during their bondage for some 400 years. The second cup of wine fulfilled God’s promise for deliverance from slavery and is called the cup of deliverance. This part of the Meal relates to both believers and unbelievers because both share a history of bondage to sin. Judas, a Jew, shared the same history through ancestry as the other disciples, but the remaining part of the Meal represents only believers in which Judas had no interest.

After the departure of Judas, the Meal symbolized God’s solution for His creation, which did not apply to unbelieving Judas, the traitor, and it was for this reason that Jesus sent Judas on his way. At this point in the Meal, the bread is eaten with the two final cups of wine called redemption and praise. These represent the exodus of Israel from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. Even more important than that, they represent the believer’s exodus from sin through faith in Jesus. The bread, which was stripped, broken, and pierced, represents the body of Christ, who was scourged, crucified, and broken for the sins of humanity. The change in the celebration Jesus initiated on this occasion is now called the communion and is for believers only.

Jesus declared in verse 24, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.” The verse reflects on the Old Testament prophecies that foretold that Jesus would go in this fashion. Judas did not upset God’s plan; it was how it was to take place. The Old Testament foretold that Jesus would be hanged on a tree, pierced for man’s sins, and be betrayed by a friend; this was written long before Judas decided to betray Jesus to the high priest and Roman soldiers.

It was Jesus Himself who controlled the timing of the betrayal. God did not direct Judas to do what he did, but he used it to bring the blessing of salvation to all who accept Jesus as savior. Jesus pronounced woe on Judas in verse 24, which means eternal judgment; this is the price for all who reject Jesus. All who sin are accountable to God just as Judas, who by his own volition sinned and betrayed Jesus. Although, what Judas did was something that benefited us all but did not relieve Judas’ guilt. Because God can sometimes use sinful men to bring about His plan does not mean we have a license to sin to bring about God’s grace. Paul made this clear in Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

What always amazes me is how Judas had the privilege of being with Jesus day and night for three years, hearing His teaching and witnessing His miracles, and still was an unbeliever. We don’t understand many things, including Satan, God’s greatest adversary. Satan was God’s most incredible creation. Ezekiel 28 tells us Satan served in the Heavenly tabernacle before rebelling and beginning his war against God. Judas was just another of Satan’s instruments to try and spoil God’s plan. Jesus said about anyone who would betray Him that it would be better that they were never born, but isn’t that true for anyone who denies Christ and has an eternal punishment ahead of them? However, the punishment for Judas will be worse. The Bible clearly states that there are degrees of punishment in hell, just as there are degrees of rewards in heaven. It is not surprising that Judas defends himself in verse 25, saying, “surely it is not me,” after Jesus identifies him as the betrayer.

After Judas, the unbeliever, was exposed and has been dismissed, the Meal continues: 

Matthew 26-26-30, “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. 27And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29But 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. 30And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”

Judas is gone now, and Jesus turns to the rest of the Meal, which no longer is guided by the Strick order of the seder. The Meal does not follow the tradition of the Passover since this will be the fulfillment of it as Jesus Himself takes the place of the traditional sacrificial lamb and becomes the sacrifice for which the Passover had symbolized for hundreds of years. Each year that the Jews gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, little did they realize that it represented the coming death of the Messiah. When we consider the Meal itself, the Last Supper, there is no mention of eating a lamb, although all the other parts of the Meal were mentioned, and nowhere in the gospels is there any mention of a lamb being consumed during the Meal. We know this is a fact because the disciples were confused because of it, as we see in the gospel of John 13:27-30, “And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.28Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 29For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.” From what John tells us, the disciples had noticed that something was missing from the Meal, apparently, the roasted lamb, and thought that Jesus had sent Judas to purchase it.

So, why would the disciples be thinking something was missing halfway through the Meal? The roasted lamb was a traditional part of the Passover meal, and there was a reason for its absence; Jesus was the sacrificial lamb for that year. Without the conventional lamb, the disciples were only eating the herbs and vegetables, the bread, and drinking the wine. Today, when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, there is no feasting on roasted lamb because the Lamb of God has already been offered once and for all time.

So, in verse 26, Jesus takes up the bread, breaks it, and hands it out to the others. As he does, He states that the bread is broken as His body will also be. We are not eating the literal body of Jesus when we observe the Lord’s Supper as some have falsely interpreted that it to mean; it is in symbol only.

Then in verse 28, Jesus takes the cup, which represents redemption, and He says, this cup represents my poured-out blood to forgive sins. Traditionally there was a fourth cup to end the Meal, but Jesus omits it and says in verse 29 that it will be the last time He drinks the fruit of the vine until He drinks it in the Kingdom. The fruit of the vine indicates that this was pure wine without any additives and possibly unfermented; the wine served at Passover was special because Jesus said, “this wine.”

In summary, Jesus established the meaning of the Lord’s Supper in three ways: He became The Lamb of God, offering Himself as the sacrifice for sin; He said the broken bread represented His broken body, and the wine represented His shed blood. Additionally, Jesus delayed the fourth cup of wine associated with the Passover meal, called the cup of praise, until He comes into His Kingdom. 

The Last supper remains unfinished until the day we believers celebrate with Jesus in the Kingdom at His second coming. Today, as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we are joining Jesus symbolically in His unfinished Last Supper and looking forward to that day when we join Him in person at His second coming and celebrate with a great feast to inaugurate the start of the Kingdom. At that time, the Lord will drink the fourth cup that He promised He would so long ago at the unfinished Passover meal, the cup of praise, and we all shall praise Him together, praising Him in His glory and for our redemption. Now we can leave off our study today with the instructions the Apostle Paul gave in 1 Corinthians 11:26. “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”