With the shadow of betrayal hanging over all of them, Jesus departed from the usual Passover words as He broke the bread.  As well as looking back 1500 years to the first Passover, Jesus pointed to the following day - when He would become the Passover Lamb, His body broken, and blood poured out to appease God’s anger against the sins of the people (John 1:29).  The familiarity of our communion service might remove us from the original impact of these stunning words from Jesus: this broken bread ... His body: this poured out wine ... His blood.  This was going to be the pivot point of history, and for the Jews, and for the Gentiles (Romans 1:16).  The annual ritual of Passover was now over for Jesus, but He pointed to a greater future ahead.

The Passover meal was God’s idea and He intended it to be celebrated for ever: “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord – a lasting ordinance.” (Exodus 12:14).  It was a remembrance of how God saved the Israelites in the past, but also a prophetic foreshadowing, a demonstration of the method and effect of Christ’s sacrifice.  So that the Apostle Paul could say, “… Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).  The first Passover was under the Old Covenant, a legal requirement; the blood of Christ inaugurated the New Covenant (Luke 22:20).     

In the same way that Old Testament covenants were marked with a meal, a new covenant was set up at this supper.  It was to be sealed by His blood. The covenant was, however, not just for the comfort or enjoyment of the twelve, but for 'many' ... and that includes us in our day, along with millions who will come to Christ through the witness of believers in our generation.  The disciples were privileged to see its inauguration, and the Apostle Paul was given personal tuition by the Lord (1 Corinthians 11:23-25); but we are privileged (along with them and many others) to believe it is for us and to wait for its fulfilment.  In the same way that the first Passover was fulfilled in the death of Christ, this last Supper will be fulfilled when He comes again (1 Corinthians 11:26).

The communion service we are used to is not intended to be a spiritual comfort blanket, but a potent and shocking reminder of what Jesus did for us on the cross.  Although the work of the cross is complete, its consequences, the huge Kingdom of grateful believers, is yet to be seen.  And He intends that we should look forward to that day as much as He does.  And meanwhile to announce Jesus as God's Messiah and Passover Lamb to our Jewish friends and colleagues as well as the many Gentiles around us (Romans 1:1-6).