Luke 22:19, commentary and pictures

On the night before his suffering at the last Passover meal he gave thanks and broke bread and gave it to the disciples as his body given for them, and in that act instituted the Lord's Supper to be done in remembrance of him. The bread is a symbol of his body broken on the cross and given for the disciples and for the salvation of the world. To eat it is to believe in that sacrifice, repent of sin, and receive him as personal Saviour in continual dependence on his blood for pardon and cleansing. The new ordinance replaced the Passover and ended the old sacrificial system, standing as a lasting memorial through all time of his betrayal and crucifixion and of redemption from the bondage of sin. Its simple bread and wine are not changed into his actual body and blood, and to turn the memorial into the sacrifice of the mass is a blasphemous perversion of its meaning.

Setting and Institution

The words were spoken in the upper chamber on the night before suffering, at what was virtually the last Passover ever to be celebrated. Only a few quiet hours lay between him and Gethsemane, and those hours were spent for the benefit of his disciples. He was troubled in spirit and weighed down with grief, foreseeing his near suffering and grieved by the ingratitude and cruelty of those he came to save and by the terrible fate awaiting them. The disciples sympathized with him without knowing the cause of his touching sadness.

At that Passover meal shortly before his suffering he gave thanks, broke bread, and gave it to the disciples as his body given for them, commanding it to be eaten and done in remembrance of him. In this act he instituted the Lord's Supper at this last Passover, just before receiving his full baptism of suffering. The bread is given as a memorial of himself and the words in remembrance of me make it a memorial of Christ.

The Supper was instituted to take the place of the Passover, which was to cease and meet its fulfillment when the Lamb of God was slain for the sins of the world. Standing between the old system of types and ceremonies and the new service, he replaced the national Jewish festival and marked the end of one religious economy. As he shared the Passover with his disciples he presented himself as the sin-offering and brought the sacrificial system to its end. It was established as a lasting memorial service for his death and great sacrifice, to be observed by his followers in every land and age and in every country, and to continue through all time.

The meal took place amid the disciples' dispute over who should be greatest, which stood in sharp contrast to the self-giving service the bread commemorates. Judas the betrayer was present at the sacramental service and shared the bread with the other disciples, receiving the emblem of the broken body from Jesus himself and hearing the bidding to eat in remembrance of him. Even sitting in the very presence of the Lamb of God he brooded upon dark purposes and cherished sullen, revengeful thoughts while secretly cherishing betrayal. He then left to carry out his betrayal.

Meaning and Doctrine

The broken bread is a symbol or emblem of his body, broken on the cross and given for the disciples and for the salvation of the world.
To eat it is to believe in that sacrifice, to repent of sin, and to accept Christ as personal Saviour, and it teaches continual dependence on his blood for salvation and for pardon and cleansing for all who come to him.
It is a memorial to be observed often, to keep fresh in the memory of his followers his betrayal and crucifixion for sin.
It keeps before them the suffering and death of the crucified Saviour, who gave his life for the remission of the sins of those who believe and receive him.

The Passover commemorated deliverance from slavery in Egypt and pointed forward to Christ, the spotless Lamb of God.
When he was slain for the sins of the world and died on the cross, type met antitype, the Passover reached its fulfillment and its significance ceased.
The new ordinance commemorates that redemption and that deliverance from the bondage of sin through his death.

By connecting the Supper with the Passover in obedience to the Jewish law and its divinely appointed ordinances, he identified himself as the great antitype of the paschal lamb.
The deliverance of Israel typified the great salvation he brought, and the innocent lamb slain in Egypt, whose blood on the doorposts caused the destroying angel to pass over the homes of Israel, prefigured him as the sinless Lamb whose merits alone avert the judgment and condemnation of fallen man.
The Passover continued by those who rejected him was defiled, of no value, and a bitter mockery.

The Supper is a scriptural ordinance of remembrance using simple bread and wine, which are not transformed into his actual body and blood.
To change that memorial into the sacrifice of the mass, in which priests claim by ceremony to create the Creator by converting the bread and wine into the actual body and blood, is senseless mummery, blasphemous presumption, and Heaven-insulting heresy opposed to the meaning of the ordinance, replacing it with an idolatrous sacrifice.
Belief in that claim was required on pain of death, and those who refused were given to the flames.
The bread is also a memorial of his humiliation and self-giving, and the communion service is fellowship with his body and blood.

Observance and Application

The ordinance is a duty given in the word to be practiced more frequently, and following the example given in it keeps his people humble, separate from the world, and from backsliding. The Supper together with foot-washing is to be observed more often. Foot-washing was appointed to come first as preparation for communion, and the supper together with the washing repeats his example. That united service teaches humility and unselfish ministry and service, while pride, conflict, and rivalry prevent the heart from entering into fellowship with him.

Following his example of taking the disciples away alone, washing their feet, and then sharing the bread and cup, communion is to be observed with disciples alone and apart from unbelievers and the wicked, after foot-washing. Shepherds must conduct these ordinances carefully and understandingly, for to hold washing of feet and communion among unbelievers brings reproach on the cause. Those who appear with believers yet partake unworthily, like Judas, eat and drink to their own damnation, and God will make them manifest and purge them out. The communion bread must be unleavened and the cup must be pure, unfermented grape juice, using only those elements. Leavened or fermented bread is not a correct representation and spoils the symbol of his body broken for his people and given for the sins of the world.

Participation is not to be restricted, but each person is to take part publicly as a witness of accepting Christ as a personal Saviour who gave his life to rescue that person from death. The Supper is a sacred ordinance established to call him to mind, not a mere form, and his appointed ordinances are to continue to the end of time. When they are observed he meets his people and strengthens them by his personal presence and works on human hearts, even if the people administering are unsanctified. His giving the sacrament to Judas though knowing from the beginning that Judas would betray him, and though Judas hardened his heart and braced himself in opposition to conviction, shows a long-suffering Saviour holding out every inducement to the sinner to receive him, repent, and be cleansed from defilement by granting the privilege of uniting with him in partaking. It gives an example that when one is supposed to be in error and sin, believers are not to divorce from him or by careless separation leave him a prey to temptation or drive him onto Satan's battleground.