The New Memorial
THE NEW MEMORIAL
MATTHEW 26:26-35
The meal Jesus celebrated looks forward to the time when God’s purpose on earth is worked out, and the church is complete.
The new memorial is instituted within the context of the memorial of the ancient redemption from Egypt. Unleavened bread was broken and eaten after a blessing in the course of the Passover meal: Jesus, at the head of the table, takes the initiative in doing this, but adds words which give the act a new significance (26:26). No longer is this “the bread of affliction which our fathers ate when they left Egypt,” as the Passover liturgy declares (cf. Deuteronomy 16:3), so that the participants year by year might share the experience of the exodus generation. “Take, eat,” says Jesus; “this is my body.” If the lamb was in fact missing from the table, his words might mean “I myself am your Passover sacrifice” (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7b); indeed, some such meaning is suggested whether the lamb was there or not. As the Passover sacrifice preserved Israel from the angel of death and effected their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, so Jesus devotes himself to death for the preservation and deliverance of his people. The cup (26:27) appears to have been the “cup of blessing” (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:16), drunk when grace after meat had been said at the end of the Passover meal. The drinking of wine was of the essence of this meal, and the wine was usually red, thus providing a visible point of comparison between the contents of the cup and the new significance which Jesus gave it in the words of institution (26:28). The “blood of the covenant” is probably deliberately reminiscent of Exodus 24:8, where the old covenant at Sinai was ratified by sacrificial blood; the covenant now ratified is the new covenant foretold in Jeremiah 31:31-34, even if the adjective “new” (as in the best authorities) does not explicitly appear here, and it is ratified by no animal sacrifices but by the life-blood of Jesus, “poured out for many” (cf. 20:28, an echo, probably, of Isaiah 53:12). Matthew’s added phrase, “for the forgiveness of sins” (cf. Jeremiah 31:34), makes explicit what the parallel records imply. 26:29 suggests that Jesus himself did not take the cup: he looks forward to a renewal of table-fellowship with them on the other side of death, in the new age.
The “hymn” (26:30) was perhaps the second part of the “Great Hallel” (Psalms 114/115–118) with which the Passover concluded; the Mount of Olives was included by religious law within the city limits. Jesus, speaking as the Shepherd of Israel, foretells the imminent fulfillment of Zechariah 13:7, but promises to return from death, gather his scattered sheep again and lead them forth to Galilee (cf. 28:7). The disciples, led by Peter, stoutly assure him that they will not “fall away” or feel disillusioned on his account; they will die with him if need be. He knows them better than they know themselves; nevertheless, his promise remains.