He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, “All of you drink it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins. But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
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Matthew 26:27-29 sits inside this longer paragraph.
As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, “All of you drink it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins. But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Parallel Translations
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He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, “All of you drink it,
for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.
But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
-
And he toke the cup and thanked and gave it them sayinge: drinke of it every one.
For this is my bloude of the new testament that shalbe shedde for many for the remission of synnes.
I saye vnto you: I will not drinke hence forth of this frute of the vyne tree vntyll that daye when I shall drinke it new with you in my fathers kyngdome.
Show all 3 translations
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Also he tooke the cuppe, and when he had giuen thankes, he gaue it them, saying, Drinke ye all of it.
For this is my blood of the Newe Testament, that is shedde for many, for the remission of sinnes.
I say vnto you, that I will not drinke henceforth of this fruit of the vine vntil that day, when I shall drinke it new with you in my Fathers kingdome.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (59)
- Hebrews 10:4-14 (v28) For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, “You didn’t…
- Hebrews 9:14-22 (v28) how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from…
- Leviticus 17:11 (v28) For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that…
- Hebrews 12:2 (v29) looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and…
- Revelation 7:17 (v29) for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away…
Show all 57 cross-references
- Matthew 20:28 (v28) even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
- Exodus 24:7-8 (v28) He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “We will do all that Yahweh has said, and be…
- Revelation 7:14 (v28) I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering.They washed their robes, and made them…
- Mark 14:25 (v29) Most certainly I tell you, I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it anew in God’s Kingdom.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:25 (v28) In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in…
- 1 John 2:2 (v28) And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
- Zechariah 9:11 (v28) As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
- Ephesians 1:7 (v28) in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
- Hebrews 9:28 (v28) so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting…
- Hebrews 13:20 (v28) Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord…
- Luke 22:19 (v28) He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in…
- Colossians 1:14 (v28) in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
- Psalms 40:3 (v29) He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh.
- Luke 22:15-18 (v29) He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will no longer by any means eat…
- Luke 22:29-30 (v29) I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. You will sit on…
- Colossians 1:20 (v28) and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through…
- Mark 14:24 (v28) He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.
- Romans 5:19 (v28) For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
- Isaiah 25:6 (vv27, 29) In this mountain, Yahweh of Armies will make all peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast of choice wines, of choice meat full of marrow, of…
- Jeremiah 31:31 (v28) “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
- 1 Corinthians 10:16 (v27) The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of…
- Psalms 116:13 (v27) I will take the cup of salvation, and call on Yahweh’s name.
- Matthew 13:43 (v29) Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
- John 17:13 (v29) But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
- Acts 10:41 (v29) not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
- Romans 5:15 (v28) But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by…
- Song of Solomon 5:1 (vv27, 29) I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have…
- Song of Solomon 7:9 (v27) Your mouth is like the best wine, that goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding through the lips of those who are asleep.
- Isaiah 53:11 (v29) After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of…
- Isaiah 55:1 (v27) “Hey! Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and…
- Mark 14:23-24 (v27) He took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them. They all drank of it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the new…
- Luke 12:32 (v29) Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.
- Luke 15:23-25 (v29) Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s eat, and celebrate; for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’…
- Luke 15:32 (v29) But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ ”
- Luke 22:20 (v27) Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
- 1 Corinthians 11:28 (v27) But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
- Revelation 7:9 (v28) After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and…
- Revelation 14:3 (v29) They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one…
- Psalms 4:7 (v29) You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and their new wine are increased.
- Psalms 104:15 (v29) wine that makes the heart of man glad, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man’s heart.
- Zephaniah 3:17 (v29) Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will…
- Zechariah 9:17 (v29) For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.
- Matthew 16:28 (v29) Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste of death, until they see the Son of Man coming in his…
- Matthew 18:20 (v29) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.”
- Matthew 28:20 (v29) teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
- Mark 1:4 (v28) John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins.
- Luke 15:5-6 (v29) When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors,…
- John 15:11 (v29) I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.
- Isaiah 24:9-11 (v29) They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it. The confused city is broken down. Every house is…
- Matthew 25:34 (v29) Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of…
- John 16:22 (v29) Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
- Revelation 5:8-10 (v29) Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and…
57 distinct cross-references across this passage (59 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv27–28 Therefore they which took away the cup from the…
Therefore they which took away the cup from the people, did against Christ his institution.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv27–29 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks,…
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Ver. 27. And he took the cup] Anciently of glass, afterwards of wood, and lastly of silver or gold. Whence that saying of a father, Once there were wooden cups, golden priests; now there are golden cups, but wooden priests.
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Drink ye all of it] This is express against that Antichristian sacrilege of robbing the people of the cup. Eckius {a} saith the people ought to content themselves with the bread only, because, Equi donati non sunt inspiciendi dentes, " A gift horse is not to be looked in the mouth." He thought, likewise, that laymen could not claim any right to the bread either. Bellarmine, a little wiser, grants they have a right to the bread, but adds, that in eating the bread transubstantiated by the priest into the body of Christ, they drink his blood also. But Lombard (his master) denies this: saying, that the bread is not turned but into Christ’s flesh; nor the wine, but into his blood. And thus these Babel-builders are confounded in their language, and hard it is to know what the Church of Rome holdeth. The Council of Constance speaketh out, and saith, That albeit Christ instituted, and accordingly administered, this sacrament in both kinds, tamen hoc non obstante, all this notwithstanding, the authority of the holy canons and the approved custom of the Church hath and doth deny the cup to the laity. And Nicolas Shetterden, martyr, in his answer compelled the commissary to grant that Christ’s testament was broken, and his institution changed from the way he left it. But he said, they had power so to do. Christ’s redemption is both precious and plenteous. He makes his people a full feast. Bread and wine comprehend entire food; for humidum et siccum, moist and dry, are all that is required unto food, Isa 25:6. Therefore as he gave them in the wilderness the bread of angels, so he set the rock abroach for them, and so fed them with sacraments. They did "all eat the same spiritual bread, and they did all drink the same spiritual drink," 1Co 10:3-4, that the ancient Church might give no warrant of a dry communion. The Russians a kind of mongrel Christians, communicate in both kinds; but mingling both together in a chalice, they distribute it both together in a spoon. (Breerwood’s Inquiries.)
{a} Apud Manlium in loc. com.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv27–29 For this is my blood of the New Testament,....…
For this is my blood of the New Testament,.... That is, the red wine in the cup, was an emblem and representation of his precious blood, whereby was exhibited a new dispensation, or administration of the covenant of grace; and by which it was ratified and confirmed; and whereby all the blessings of it, such as peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal life, come to the people of God: the allusion is to the first covenant, and the book of it being sprinkled with the blood of bulls, and therefore called the blood of the covenant, Exo 24:8. But the second covenant, or the new administration of the covenant of grace, for which reason it is called the New Testament, is exhibited and established in the blood of Christ the testator. It was usual, even among the Heathens, to make and confirm their covenants by drinking human blood, and that sometimes mixed with wine (e),
Which is shed for many, for the remission of sins; that is, was very shortly to be shed, and since has been, for all the elect of God; for the many that were ordained to eternal life, and the many that were given to Christ, the many that are justified by him, and the many sons he will bring to glory: whereby the full forgiveness of all their sins was procured, in a way consistent with, and honourable to the justice of God; full satisfaction being made to the law of God, for all their transgressions,
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(e) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 5. c. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv27–29 And he took the cup - Called by the…
And he took the cup - Called by the Jews the cup of thanksgiving; which the master of the family used likewise to give to each after supper.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv27–29 Verse 27. And he took the cup] μετα το…
Verse 27. And he took the cup] μετα το δειπνησαι, after having supped, Lu 22:20, and 1Co 11:25. Whether the supper was on the paschal lamb, or whether it was a common or ordinary meal, I shall not wait here to inquire: see at the end of this chapter. In the parallel place, in Luke 22, we find our Lord taking the cup, Lu 22:17, and again Lu 22:19; by the former of which was probably meant the cup of blessing, כוס הברכה kos haberakah, which the master of a family took, and, after blessing God, gave to each of his guests by way of welcome: but this second taking the cup is to be understood as belonging to the very important rite which he was now instituting, and on which he lays a very remarkable stress. With respect to the bread, he had before simply said, Take, eat, this is my body; but concerning the cup he says, Drink ye all of this: for as this pointed out the very essence of the institution, viz. the blood of atonement, it was necessary that each should have a particular application of it; therefore he says, Drink ye ALL of THIS. By this we are taught that the cup is essential to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; so that they who deny the cup to the people sin against God's institution; and they who receive not the cup are not partakers of the body and blood of Christ. If either could without mortal prejudice be omitted, it might be the bread; but the cup, as pointing out the blood poured out, i.e. the life, by which alone the great sacrificial act is performed, and remission of sins procured, is absolutely indispensable. On this ground it is demonstrable, that there is not a priest under heaven, who denies the cup to the people, that can be said to celebrate the Lord's Supper at all; nor is there one of their votaries that ever received the holy sacrament. All pretension to this is an absolute farce, so long as the cup, the emblem of the atoning blood, is denied. How strange is it, that the very men who plead so much for the bare literal meaning of this is my body, in the preceding verse, should deny all meaning to drink YE ALL of this cup, in this verse! And though Christ has in the most positive manner enjoined it, they will not permit one of the laity to taste it! O, what a thing is man - a constant contradiction to reason and to himself.
I have just said that our blessed Lord lays remarkable stress on the administration of the cup, and on that which himself assures us is represented by it. As it is peculiarly emphatic, I beg leave to set down the original text, which the critical reader will do well minutely to examine:
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Τουτο γαρ εϚι ΤΟ αιμα μου ΤΟ της καινης διαθηκης, ΤΟ περι πολλων εκχυνομενον εις αφεσιν αμαρτιων.
The following literal translation and paraphrase do not exceed its meaning: -
For THIS is THAT blood of mine which was pointed out by all the sacrifices under the Jewish law, and particularly by the shedding and sprinkling of the blood of the paschal lamb. THAT blood of the sacrifice slain for the ratification of the new covenant. THE blood ready to be poured out for the multitudes, the whole Gentile world as well as the Jews, for the taking away of sins; sin, whether original or actual, in all its power and guilt, in all its internal energy and pollution.
And gave thanks] See the form used on this occasion, on Mt 26:26; and see the MISHNA, TRACT ברכות Beracoth.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv27, 29 Mat 26:27-28. And he took the cup — Called…
Mat 26:27-28. And he took the cup — Called by the Jews the cup of thanksgiving; which the master of the family used likewise to give to each after supper. And gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this — That is, of the wine which it contains. For this is my blood — That is, the sign of my blood; of the new testament — Whereby the new testament, or covenant, is procured or confirmed; which is shed for many — Even as many as spring from Adam; for the remission of sins — Namely, That as many as truly repent, bringing forth fruit worthy of repentance, and believe in me with their hearts unto righteousness, may receive from the mercy of my Father, in a way consistent with his holiness and justice, the free and full remission of all their past sins. See note on Rom 3:24-26. “I apprehend,” says the last-mentioned divine, “this ordinance of the eucharist to have so plain a reference to the atonement or satisfaction of Christ, and to do so solemn an honour to that fundamental doctrine of the gospel, that I cannot but believe, that while this sacred institution continues in the church, (as it will undoubtedly do to the end of the world,) it will be utterly impossible to root that doctrine out of the minds of plain, humble Christians, by all the little artifices of such forced and unnatural criticisms as those are by which it has been attacked. Unprejudiced and honest simplicity will always see the analogy this ordinance has to eating the flesh of the Son of God, and drinking his blood; and will be taught by it, to feed on him as the Lamb that was slain by the gracious appointment of God, to take away the sin of the world. The enemies of this heart-reviving truth might as well hope to pierce through a coat of mail with a straw, as to reach such a truth, defended by such an ordinance as this, by any of their trifling sophistries.” For further information respecting the Lord’s supper, see notes on Luk 22:19-20; 1Co 11:23-34.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv27–29 Drink ye all of this. This was spoken to…
Drink ye all of this. This was spoken to the twelve apostles; who were the all then present; and they all drank of it, says Mark xiv. 23. But it no was follows from these words spoken to the apostles, that all the faithful are here commanded to drink of the chalice, any more than that all the faithful are commanded to consecrate, offer and administer this sacrament; because Christ upon this same occasion, and as I may say, with the same breath, bid the apostles do so, in these words, (St. Luke xxii. 19,) Do this for a commemoration of me. (Challoner) --- It is a point of disciple, which the Church for good reasons may allow, or disallow to the laity, without any injury done to the receiver, who according to the Catholic doctrine of the real presence, is made partaker of the same benefit under one kind only; he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. (John vi.) ... When our adversaries object to us, in opposition to the very clear and precise proofs we produce from the primitive writers of the doctrine of the real presence, that is called sometimes bread, a figure, a sign; we reply, that they can only mean that the outward forms of bread and wine, which remain after consecration, are a figure, a sign, a commemoration. They nowhere teach that the consecrated species are barely figures or signs, and nothing more. On the contrary, with St. Cyril above quoted, they say: "Let your soul rejoice in the Lord, being persuaded of it, as a thing most certain, that the bread, which appears to our eyes, in not bread, though our taste do judge it to be so, but the body of Christ: and that the wine which appears to our eyes, is not wine, but the blood of Christ." (Myst. catech. 4, p. 528: and with St. Gregory of Nyssa, born in 331, "the bread, which at the beginning was common bread, after it has been consecrated by the mysterious word, is called, and is become, the body of Christ." And with St. Paulinus, in the same age, "the flesh of Christ, with which I am nourished, is the same flesh as that fastened to the cross; and the blood, with which my heart is purified, is the same blood that was spilt upon the cross."
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv27–29 27. Took the cup and gave thanks — From…
27. Took the cup and gave thanks — From the Greek word ευχαριστεω, eucharisteo, to give thanks, the Lord’s Supper is called the eucharist. For since it is taken in thankful remembrance of our Lord’s great work of redemption, so it is truly a thank offering, that is a eucharist.
Drink ye all of it — That is, drink all ye of it. And Mark adds that they all drank of it. As our Lord here represents the future minister, so the disciples represent the future laity; and as our Lord here directs them to partake the cup, so the Church of Rome, which withholds the cup from the laity, is palpably disobedient to the Saviour’s command. Surely, as it is the blood which redeems, the Church of God should not be denied the participation of his blood.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv27–29 27. he took the cup] Accurately, according to the…
27. he took the cup] Accurately, according to the highest MS. authority, “a cup,” see note Mat_26:20 (e).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv27–29 (27) He took the cup, and gave thanks.—The better…
(27) He took the cup, and gave thanks.—The better MSS. omit the article; thus making it, “a cup.” In the later ritual of the Passover, the cup of wine (or rather, of wine mingled with water) was passed round three times in the course of the supper. One such cup had been passed round early in the evening (Luk_22:17); now another becomes, under a solemn consecration, the symbol of a diviner truth than had yet been revealed to the listening and wondering disciples.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv27–29 He took the cup. Many good manuscripts have "a…
He took the cup. Many good manuscripts have "a cup," and some modern editors omit the article; but this cup was the only one on the table at the time; so the reading matters not. This was probably the third cup at the close of the Paschal meal (see on ver. 21). The wine of the country is what we call a red wine; (compare "the blood of grapes," Gen_49:11) it was mixed with a little water when used at the table. This third cup was termed "the cup of blessing", (cf. 1Co_10:16) because over it was spoken a special benediction, and it was regarded as the principal cup, following, as it did, the eating of the lamb. Gave thanks (eucaristhsav ). The thanksgiving was a blessing (see on ver. 26). The celebration of Christ"s death and the remembrance of the incalculable blessings obtained thereby may well be termed the Holy Eucharist, the great sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Gave (edwken) it to them. The aorist here used would imply strictly that he gave the cup once for all, herein differentiating the action from that employed in distributing the bread. St. Luke"s expression, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves," refers to an earlier stage of the supper. In the present connection he nearly agrees with the other synoptists. It is possible that the cup was passed from hand to hand after it had been blessed by Christ. Drink ye all of it. St Mark adds, "And they all drank of it." Strange it is that, with these words written in the Scripture, any Church should have the hardihood to deny the cup to any qualified Christian. The Romanist"s assertion that the cup is for priests alone, as it was given to the apostles only, and was destined for them and their sacerdotal successors, would apply equally to the consecrated bread, and then what becomes of the general use of the ordinance? If we would have life in us, we must not only eat Christ"s flesh, but drink his blood. We need to be refreshed as well as strengthened in the battle of life, and it may well be that the mutilation of the sacrament carries with it spiritual effects that impede the soul"s health.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv27–29 27. He then took the cup, and gave thanks.…
27. He then took the cup, and gave thanks. The cup was provided for the celebration of the paschal feast, and was at hand as well as the bread. Drink ye all of it. Observe that he simply said of the bread, “Take, eat;” but of the wine, “Drink ye all,” as if he intended to uproot the Catholic innovation of denying the cup to the laity.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v29
Matthew
THE NEW PASSOVER
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‘UNTIL THAT DAY’
Mat 26:29.
This remarkable saying of our Lord’s is recorded in all of the accounts of the institution of the Lord’s Supper. The thought embodied in it ought to be present in the minds of all who partake of that rite. It converts what is primarily a memorial into a prophecy. It bids us hope as well as, and because we, remember. The light behind us is cast forward on to the dimness before. So the Apostle Paul, in his solitary reference to the Communion-which, indeed, is an entirely incidental one, and evoked simply by the corruptions in the Corinthian Church, emphasises this prophetic and onward-looking aspect of the backward-looking rite when he says, ‘Ye do show the Lord’s death till He come.’
Now, it seems to me that those of us who so strongly hold that the Communion is primarily a simple memorial service, with no mysterious or magical efficacy of any sort about it, do rather ignore in our ordinary thoughts the other aspect which is brought out in my text; and that comparative ignoring seems to me to be but a part of a very lamentable and general tendency of this day, whereby the prospect of a future life has become somewhat dimmed and does not fill the place either in ordinary Christian thinking, or as a motive for Christian service which the proportion of faith, and the relative importance of the present and the future suggest that it ought to fill. The Christianity of this day has so much to do with the present life, and the thought of the Gospel as a power in the present has been so emphasised, in legitimate reaction from the opposite exaggeration, that there is great need, as I believe, to preach to Christian people the wisdom of making more prominent in their faith their immortal hope. I wish, then, to turn now to this aspect of the rite which we regard as a memorial, and try to emphasise its forward-looking attitude, and the large blessed truths that emerge if we consider that.
I. First, let me say just a word about the twin aspect of the Communion as a memorial prophecy, or prophetic remembrance.
Now, I need not remind you, I suppose, that according to the view which, as I believe, the New Testament takes, and which certainly we Nonconformists take, of all the rites of external worship, every one of them is a prophecy, because every act in which our sense is brought in to reinforce the spirit-and by outward forms, be they vocal, or be they manual, or be they of any other sort, we try to express and to quicken spiritual emotions and intellectual convictions-declares its own imperfection, digs its own grave, and prophecies its own resurrection in a nobler and better fashion. Just because these outward symbols of bread and wine do, through the senses, quicken the faith and the love of the spirit, they declare themselves to be transitory, and they point onwards to the time when that which is perfect shall absorb, and so destroy, that which is in part, and when sense shall be no longer necessary as the ally and humble servant of spirit. ‘I saw no temple therein.’ Temples, and rites, and services, and holy days, and all the external apparatus of worship, are but scaffolding, and just as the scaffolding round a building is a prophecy of its own being pulled down when the building is reared and completed, so we cannot partake of these external symbols rightly, unless we recognise their transiency, and feel that they say to us, ‘A mightier than I cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose.’ The light that shines in the dark heralds the day and its own extinction.
So, looking back we must look forward, and partaking of the symbol, we must reach out to the time when the symbol shall be antiquated, the reality having come. The Passover of Israel did not more truly point onwards to the true Lamb of Sacrifice, and to the true Passover that was slain for us, and to its own elevation into the Lord’s Supper of the Christian Church, than the Lord’s Supper of the Christian Church points onwards to the ‘marriage supper of the Lamb,’ and its own cessation.
But then, again, let me remind you that this prophetic aspect is inherent in the memorial aspect of the Communion, because what we remember necessarily demands the coming of what we hope. That is to say, if Jesus Christ be what the Lord’s Supper says that He is, and if He has done what that broken bread and poured out wine proclaim, according to His own utterance, that He has done, then clearly that death which was for the life of the world, that death which was the seal of a covenant, that body broken for the remission of sins, that wine partaken of as a reception into ourselves of the very life-blood of Jesus Christ, do all demand something far nobler and more perfect than the broken, incomplete obedience and loyalties and communions which Christian men here exercise and possess.
If He died, as the rite says that He did, and if dying He left such a commentary upon His act as that ordinance affords, then He cannot have done with the world; then the powers that were set in motion by His death cannot pause nor cease their action until they have reached their appropriate culmination in effecting all that it was in them to effect. If, leaving His people, He said to them, ‘Never forget My death for you, My broken body, and My shed blood,’ He therein said that the time will come, must come, when all the powers of the Cross shall be incorporated in humanity, and when the parted shall be reunited. The Communion would stand as the expression of Christ’s mistaken estimate of His own importance, if there were not beyond the grave the perfecting of it, and the full appropriation and joyful possession of all which the death that it signifies brought to mankind.
Therefore, dear brethren, it seems to me that the best way by which Christians can deepen their confidence and brighten their hope in the perfect reunion and blessedness of the heavens, is to increase the firmness of their faith in, and the depth of their apprehension of, the sacrifice of the Cross. If the Cross demands the Crown, then our surest way to realise as certain our own possession of that Crown is to cling very close to that Cross. The more we look backwards to it the more will it fling its light into all the dark places that are in front of us, and flush the heavens up to the seventh and beyond, with the glories that stream from it. Hold fast by the Cross, and the more fully, believingly, joyously, unfalteringly, we recognise in it the foundation of our salvation, the more gladly, clearly, operatively, shall we cherish the hope that ‘the headstone shall be brought forth with shoutings,’ and that the imperfect symbolical communion of earth will grow and greaten into complete and real union in eternal bliss.
Let me urge, then, this, that, as a matter of fact, a faith in eternal glory goes with and fluctuates in the same degree and manner as does the faith in the past sacrifice that Christ has made. He, and He alone, as I believe, turns nebulae into solidity, and makes of the more or less tremulous anticipation of a more or less dim and distant future, a calm, still certainty. We know that He will come because, and in proportion as, we believe that He has come. Keep these two things, then, always together, the memory and the hope. They stand like two great piers, one on either side of a narrow, dark glen, and suspended from them is stretched the bridge, along which the happy pilgrims may travel and enter into rest.
II. And now, let us turn for a moment to the lovely vision of that future which is suggested by our text.
The truest way, I was going to say the only way, by which we can have any conceptions of a condition of being of which we have no experience, is to fall back upon the experiences which we have, and use them as symbols and metaphors. The curtain is the picture. So our Lord here, in accordance with the necessary limitations of our human knowledge, contents Himself with using what lay at His hand, and taking it as giving faint shadows and metaphorical suggestions as to spiritual blessedness yonder.
There is one other way, as it seems to me, by which we can in any measure body forth to ourselves that unknown condition of things, and that is to fall back upon our present experiences in another fashion, and negative all of them which involve pain and limitation and incompleteness. There shall be no night-no sorrow-no tears-no sighing, and the like. These negatives of the strong and stinging griefs and limitations of the present are perhaps our second-best way of coming to some prophetic vision of that great future.
Remembering, then, that we are dealing with pure metaphor, and that the exact translation of the metaphor into reality is not yet possible for us, let us take one or two very plain thoughts out of this great saying-’Until I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’
Then, we have to think of the completion of the Christian life beyond, which is also the completion of the results of Christ’s death on the Cross, as being, according to the very frequent metaphor both of the Old and the New Testament, a prolonged festival. I do not need to speak of the details of the thoughts that thence emerge. Let me sum them up as briefly as may be. They include the satisfaction of every desire and the nourishment of all strength, and food for every faculty. When we think of the hungry hearts that all men carry, and how true it is that even the wisest and the holiest of us are ‘spending our money for that which is not bread, and our labour for that which satisfieth not’; when we think of how the choicest foods that life can provide, even for the noblest hunger of noble hearts, are too often to us but as a feeding on ashes that will leave grit between the teeth and a foul taste upon the palate, surely it is blessed to think that we may, after all life’s disappointments, cherish the hope of a perfect fruition, and that yonder, if not here, it will be fully true that ‘God never sends mouths but He sends meat to feed them.’ That is not so in this world, for we all carry hungers which impel us forward to nobler living, and which it would not be good for us to have satisfied here. But, unless the whole universe is a godless chaos, there must be somewhere a state in which a man shall have all that he wants, and shall want only what he ought.
The emblem of a feast suggests also society. The solitary travellers who have been toiling and moiling through the desert all the day long, snatching up a hasty mouthful as they march, and lonely many a time, come together at last, and sit together there joyous and united. Deep down in our hearts some of us have gashes that always bleed. We know losses and loneliness, and we can feel, I hope, how blessed is the thought that all the wanderers shall sit there together, and rejoice in each other’s communion, ‘and so shall we ever be with the Lord.’
But besides satisfaction and society the figure suggests repose. That rest is not indolence, for we have to carry other metaphors with us in order to come to the full significance of this one, and the festal imagery is not all that we have to take into account; for we read, ‘I grant unto you a kingdom, and ye shall sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel,’ as well as ‘ye shall eat and drink with Me at My table in My kingdom.’ So repose, which is consistent and coexistent with the intensest activity, is the great hope that comes out of these metaphors. But for many of us-I suppose for all of us elderly people-who are about weary of work and worry, there is no deeper hope than the hope of rest. ‘I have had labour enough for one,’ says one of our poets. And I think there is something in most of our hearts that echoes that and rejoices to hear that, after the long march, ‘ye shall sit with Me at My table.’
But besides satisfaction, society, and rest, the figure suggests gladness. Wine is the emblem of the joyous side of a feast, just as bread is the emblem of the necessary nourishment. And it is new wine; joy raised to a higher power, transformed and glorified; and yet the old emotion in a new form. As for that gladness, ‘eye hath not seen, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him.’ Only all we weary, heavy-laden, saddened, anxious, disappointed, tormented people may hope for these festal joys, if we are Christ’s. The feast will last when all the troubles and the cares which helped us to it are dead and buried and forgotten.
These four things, brethren-satisfaction, society, rest, new gladness-are proclaimed and prophesied to each of us, if we will, by this memorial rite.
Again, there comes from this aspect of the Communion the thought that the blessed condition of the Christian soul hereafter is a feast on a sacrifice. We must distinguish between the sense in which our Lord drinks with us, and the sense in which we alone partake of that feast of which He provides the viands. But just as in the symbolic ordinance of the Communion the very essence of it is that what was offered as sacrifice is now incorporated into the participant’s spiritual being, and becomes part of himself, and the life of his life, so, in the future, all the blessedness of the clustered and constellated joys of that life, which is one eternal festival, shall arise from the reception into perfected spirits with ever-growing greatness and blessedness of the Christ that died and ever lives for them. That heavenly glory, to its highest pinnacle of aspiration, to its most rapt completeness of gladness, is all the consequence of Christ’s death on the Cross. That death, which we commemorate, is the procuring cause of man’s entrance into bliss, and that death is the subject of the continual, grateful remembrance of the saints in the seventh heaven of their glory. Life yonder, as all true life here, consists in taking into ourselves the life of Jesus Christ, and the law for heaven is the same as the law for earth, ‘He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me.’
Lastly, the conception of the future for Christian souls arising from this aspect of the Lord’s Supper is that it is not only a feast, and a feast on a sacrifice, but that it is a feast with the King.
‘With you I will drink it.’ Brethren, we pass beyond metaphor when we gather up and condense all the vague brightness and glories of that perfect future into this one rapturous, overwhelming, all-embracing thought: ‘So shall we ever be with the Lord.’ I could almost wish that Christian people had no other thought of that future than this, for surely in its grand simplicity, in its ineffable depth, there lie the germs of every blessedness. How poor all the material emblems are of which sensuous imaginations make so much, when compared with that hope! As the good old hymn has it, which to me says more, in its bold simplicity, than all the sentimental enlargements of Scriptural metaphors which some people admire so much-
‘It is enough that Christ knows all,
And I shall be with Him.’
Strange that He says, ‘I will drink it with you.’ Does He need sustenance? Does He need any external things in order to make His feast? No! and Yes! ‘I will sup with Him’ as well as ‘He with me.’ And, surely, His meat and drink are the love, the loyalty, the obedience, the receptiveness, the society of His redeemed children. ‘The joy of the Lord’ comes from ‘seeing of the travail of His soul,’ and His servants do enter into that joy in deep and wondrous fashion. We not only shall live on Christ, but He Himself puts to His own lips the chalice that He commends to ours, and in marvellous condescension to, and identity with, our glorified humanity drinks with us the ‘new wine’ in the Father’s kingdom.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv28–29 Forgiveness. Summary: The Greek word translated "remission" in Mat…
remission
Forgiveness. Summary: The Greek word translated "remission" in Mat 26:28; Act 10:43; Heb 9:22 is elsewhere rendered "forgiveness." It means, to send off, or away. And this, throughout Scripture, is the one fundamental meaning of forgiveness--to separate the sin from the sinner. Distinction must be made between divine and human forgiveness:
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(1) Human forgiveness means the remission of penalty. In the Old Testament and the New, in type and fulfilment, the divine forgiveness follows the execution of the penalty. "The priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he had committed, and it shall be forgiven him" Lev 4:35.
"This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission sending away, forgiveness of sins" (Mat 25:28). "Without shedding of blood there is no remission" Heb 9:22.
See "Sacrifice" (See Scofield "Gen 4:4"); Gen 4:4 See Scofield "Heb 10:18". The sin of the justified believer interrupts his fellowship, and is forgiven upon confession, but always on the ground of Christ’s propitiating sacrifice; 1Jn 1:6-9; 1Jn 2:2.
(2) Human forgiveness rests upon and results from the divine forgiveness. In many passages this is assumed rather than stated, but the principle is declared in Eph 4:32; Mat 18:32; Mat 18:33.
sins Sin.
(See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v27 He took
He took
Translate "took" as you did in Matthew 14:19.
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a cup
Here "cup" refers to the cup and the wine in it. (See: Metonymy)
gave it to them
"gave it to the disciples"
Drink it
"Drink the wine from this cup"
For this is my blood
"For this wine is my blood"
blood of the covenant
"blood that shows that the covenant is in effect" or "blood that makes the covenant possible"
is poured out
This can be stated in active form. AT: "will soon flow out of my body" or "will flow out of my wounds when I die" (See: Active or Passive)
I say to you
This adds emphasis to what Jesus says next.
fruit of the vine
This is an idiom. AT: "wine" (See: Idiom)
in my Father's kingdom
Here "kingdom" refers to God's rule as king. AT: "when my Father establishes his rule on earth" (See: Metonymy)
my Father's
This is an important title for God that describes the relationship between God and Jesus. (See: Translating Son and Father)
translationWords
blood
covenant
forgive
sin
God the Father
kingdom
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv27–29 26:27 He gave thanks. The traditional blessing for the…
26:27 He gave thanks. The traditional blessing for the Passover cup was “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.” An early Christian variant is, “We give thanks to you, our Father, for the Holy Vine of David, your child, whom you made known to us through Jesus your child; glory be to you forever” (Didache 9.2). • The four cups of the Passover meal correspond to the fourfold promise of Exod 6:6-7, with two for deliverance, one for redemption (see Matt 26:27-28), and one for fellowship (see 26:29).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.