Matthew 26:26-35
These verses describe the appointment of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Our Lord knew well the things that were before Him, and graciously chose the last quiet evening that He could have before His crucifixion as an occasion for bestowing a parting gift on His church. How precious must this ordinance have afterwards appeared to His disciples when they remembered the events of the night! How mournful is the thought that no ordinance has led to such fierce controversy, and been so grievously misunderstood, as the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper! It ought to have united the church, but our sins have made it a cause of division. The thing which should have been for our welfare has been too often made an occasion of falling.
The first thing that demands our notice in these verses, is the right meaning of our Lord’s words, “This is my body, this is my blood.”