"Christ Takes the Cup of Blessing"

 

Matthew 26:27-29: Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 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.

There were four cups during the Passover meal, and this was the third cup commonly called "The Cup of Blessing." Christ took this moment to announce that this cup was indeed the mark of the establishment of a new covenant. The word covenant (literally "to cut a covenant" implied the shedding of blood. Moses shed blood to establish the covenant in Exodus 24:8. While Moses shed the blood of an animal, the New Covenat is established in the very blood of the One who established the covenant. Notice that Jesus speaks of this as a completed action, yet the atonement on the cross had not yet taken place. In His mind it was indeed accomplished.

Note that this is called a cup. We are not told what is in that cup, and it could have been a non-fermented drink. I would prefer that as would find it abhorent to think that wine, described in the Bible as a mocker (Proverbs 20) would have been used. If the bread was not to have leaven, why would the cup have fermentation? I have been to the church in Newport, Rhode Island, where a Mr. Welch was sitting over 150 years ago during a Communion Service and was convicted about the use of alcoholic beverage in the Lord's Supper. He invented grape juice , which is now used in many Protestant churches. The Lord blessed him with great wealth, and a company that still thrives today.

Jesus did not participate in that which was to be a memorial of His own death, but He looked forward to the time when, as a result of that sacrifice, He would have all His own gathered about Him in the Father's kingdom, to celebrate together the full glorious fruit of redemption. It was at that time that He will see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied (Isaiah 53:11).