The Last Supper – Bread, Cup, and the New Covenant

1. The Last Supper was a Passover meal

Jesus wasn’t just having dinner with His disciples — He was celebrating the traditional Jewish Passover (Exodus 12). At that table were all the elements of remembrance: unleavened bread, wine, and bitter herbs. But that night, the Lamb wasn’t just remembered. The Lamb was present.

2. The symbols pointed to Him

• The bread — broken, symbolizing His body (Luke 22:19)
• The wine — poured, representing His blood and the new covenant (Luke 22:20)
• The bitter herbs — recalling the suffering in Egypt, now pointing to the suffering He would endure (Exodus 12:8)

Jesus took the fullness of the Passover and fulfilled it in Himself.

3. The bitter was not removed — it was taken in

Jesus didn’t avoid the bitterness. He took it. He drank the full cup of suffering (Matthew 26:39), so we could drink from the cup of communion. He transformed the bitterness of slavery into the sweetness of redemption.

4. The covenant was sealed — and ongoing

Jesus said: “Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26)
He didn’t leave us with monuments or rituals. He left us with a table — a place to remember, to commune, and to proclaim.

5. The table was always His place of ministry

Throughout the Gospels, we constantly find Jesus at the table. With sinners. With friends. With outcasts. With the religious. The table was the place of revelation, inclusion, restoration, and relationship.

“I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.” — Revelation 3:20

6. The Last Supper wasn’t the end — it was the beginning

That table pointed to another: The Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) — Where we will dine again, not in remembrance of death, but in celebration of eternal life.

7. And today?

We’re still invited. To the same table. To remember not just what Jesus did — but why He did it. Because the cross was not a moment. It was the center of everything. And every time we come to the table, we return to that center.

Jesus didn’t give us a religion. He gave us a seat at the table.