What is the context?
During the meal Jesus takes bread, blesses and breaks it, and gives it to the disciples in relation to His body. He then takes a cup, gives thanks, and tells them all to drink. He explains the cup in relation to His covenant blood, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
The meal looks toward His approaching death, but also beyond it. Jesus promises a future sharing of the fruit of the vine with them in His Father's kingdom. After singing a hymn, they leave for the Mount of Olives. Matthew does not name the hymn or number the cups.
Luke 22:19–20 and 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 also record the bread and cup, with the command to remember Him. Paul explains that repeating the meal proclaims the Lord's death until He comes. That is why this final meal remains central to Christian gatherings.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians agree that Jesus connects the bread and cup with His body, His death, and forgiveness. They differ over how He is present as the meal is celebrated.
The Catholic Church teaches that the bread and wine become Christ's body and blood while their outward appearances remain. Its name for this change is transubstantiation. The Catechism, 1362–1367 and 1374–1377, also describes the Eucharist as making His one sacrifice present, rather than Christ being killed again.
Luther's Small Catechism, The Sacrament of the Altar, teaches that Christ's true body and blood are received under the bread and wine. It connects His words and the believer's trust in His promise with the forgiveness given in the meal. This is more than treating the bread and wine as reminders alone.
The Westminster Confession, 29, and the 1689 Baptist Confession, 30, teach that the bread and wine remain bread and wine while believers truly receive Christ and the benefits of His death spiritually through faith. These confessions describe more than a bare act of recollection. The Methodist Articles of Religion, XVIII, likewise describes receiving Christ in a heavenly and spiritual manner through faith.
A reading focused on the bread and cup as symbols and remembrance is set out by Walvoord on 26:26–30; Wesley on 26:26–28 also explains Jesus' language about the bread and cup as signs of His body and blood. Churches and teachers differ in how they explain this remembrance and participation, so a single Protestant label does not settle the question.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The covenant language reaches back to Exodus 24:3–8, where Moses presents the covenant's words and uses sacrificial blood in its confirmation. Jeremiah 31:31–34 then promises a new covenant, God's law within His people, and forgiveness of sins. In Luke 22:20 and 1 Corinthians 11:25, Jesus' cup is expressly connected with the new covenant in His blood. His death belongs to God's work of bringing His people into a forgiven relationship with Him.
Paul also brings that meaning into the way Christians treat one another. In 1 Corinthians 11:17–34, he rebukes gatherings where some go hungry while others eat and drink without regard for them. Remembering the Lord who gave Himself calls for a shared life that honors His people. The meal looks back to His death, shapes the gathering now, and looks forward to His coming and the kingdom He promises.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.