The Passover Sequence that Led to Our Communion (Matthew 26:26-30)
length: 60:53 - taught on Feb, 5 2026
Class Outline:
Thursday February 5, 2026
For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
Today we’re going to go through the Passover feast step by step and see exactly where Christ removed the Passover as an observance and gave us a new one. Something new has come.
While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."
30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Passover in Jesus’ day. [summarize layout]
The Paschal Supper itself commenced by the head of ‘the company’ taking the first cup of wine (about 8 oz diluted with water) in his hand, and ‘giving thanks’ over it in these words:
First cup filled followed by thanksgiving prayer:
‘Blessed art Thou, Jehovah our God, who hast created the fruit of the vine! Blessed art Thou, Jehovah our God, King of the Universe, who hast chosen us from among all people, and exalted us from among all languages, and sanctified us with Thy commandments! And Thou hast given us, O Jehovah our God, in love, the solemn days for joy, and the festivals and appointed seasons for gladness; and this the day of the feast of unleavened bread, the season of our freedom, a holy convocation, the memorial of our departure from Egypt. For us hast Thou chosen; and us hast Thou sanctified from among all nations, and Thy holy festivals with joy and with gladness hast Thou caused us to inherit. Blessed art Thou, O Jehovah, who sanctifiest Israel and the appointed seasons! Blessed art Thou, Jehovah, King of the Universe, who hast preserved us alive and sustained us and brought us to this season!’
The first cup of wine was then drunk.
Hands washed
[Jesus washes their feet]
The president of the feast first took some of the herbs, dipped them in salt water, ate of them, and gave to the others.
The second cup was filled.
The question was then asked by the youngest son: Why do we celebrate this night? The presider answered and with it described the meaning of each food item.
The presider prayed a second thanksgiving.
The first part of the Hallel was sung (Psa 113-114).
Thanksgiving #3
Second cup drunk.
Hands washed
Two unleavened cakes were broken and thanks given.
The broken bread was dipped in the Charoseth (sweet, dark mixture of finely chopped fruits and nuts which represented the mortar in Egypt), were next handed to each in the company.
[This is the bread / morsel that Jesus gave to Judas after dipping]
"Lord, who is it?" 26 Jesus then answered, "That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him." So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas.
Judas, after ‘having received the morsel, went immediately out,’ he could not even have partaken of the Paschal lamb, far less of the Lord’s Supper.
The main dinner:
Bread, herbs, festive offering, lamb.
Fill third cup of wine.
Thanksgiving prayer (#6)
Wash hands.
Third cup: The cup of blessing.
The meal was concluded with a piece of unleavened bread and the third cup.
The bread was broken and thanksgiving given (#7).
The third cup was drunk.
These were the bread and wine that Jesus used (after the lamb of the meal) to institute the Lord’s Supper.
Meaning fulfilled in the third cup:
In the Passover meal of Jesus' time, there were typically four cups of wine, each tied to God's promises in Exodus 6:6-7 (e.g., "I will bring you out," "I will deliver you," "I will redeem you," "I will take you").
"Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 'Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
The third cup came was associated with redemption—fitting perfectly with Jesus' words about his blood sealing the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; echoed in the institution narratives).
"Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the Lord, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
The fourth cup, if we assume the Lord did not drink it:
I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."
The fourth cup meaning “I will take you” is appropriate for the wedding feast and the return of Christ to establish His kingdom on earth in which He will commence a great feast.
The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.
It is entirely appropriate that the Lord should use the bread after the Paschal lamb to represent His body. He was a better Lamb. Now that He would in just hours sacrifice Himself, the old lamb would not be appropriate, for they were no longer waiting for Him to come.
“The symbolical chord … had reached its goal, the offering of the Lamb of God.” [Edersheim]
There was a new beginning.
Fourth cup:
The service concluded with the fourth cup, over which the second portion of the ‘Hallel’ was sung, consisting of Psalms 115-118.
It is appropriate for us to read (perhaps in our hearts sing) the last paragraph of the Hallel, the last words said at the Passover before the final blessing.
Ps 118:22-29
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
23 This is the Lord's doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O Lord, do save, we beseech You;
O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity!
26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord;
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God, and He has given us light;
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I give thanks to You;
You are my God, I extol You.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
The final blessing comprised these two brief prayers:
‘All Thy works shall praise Thee, Jehovah our God. And Thy saints, the righteous, who do Thy good pleasure, and all Thy people, the house of Israel, with joyous song let them praise, and bless, and magnify, and glorify, and exalt, and reverence, and sanctify, and ascribe the kingdom to Thy name, O our King! For it is good to praise Thee, and pleasure to sing praises unto Thy name, for from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God.’
[and]
‘The breath of all that lives shall praise Thy name, Jehovah our God. And the spirit of all flesh shall continually glorify and exalt Thy memorial, O our King! For from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God, and besides Thee we have no King, Redeemer, or Saviour,’ etc.
I count a total of 8 thanksgiving prayers to God for all things, from the redemption to the food.
The solemn discourses of the Lord recorded by John (Joh 13-16) were given sometime after the bread and wine, perhaps during the fourth cup, and then finished with the Hallel.
After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Final thought:
The Master crafts the Passover meal, that He gave to Israel over a millennia ago, into something new. The old lamb is removed and the Lamb takes His throne and gives us bread and wine, after the old lamb, so as to remember Him together.
Think of the simplicity. We don’t need to prepare all day for an elaborate meal. The elements of it are simple: bread and wine. It is a table that can be sat at by anyone, with anyone, and anywhere. You bring the bread, I’ll bring the wine. And if two or more are gathered in faith, guess who will be there?
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