What did Jesus mean by “my blood of the covenant” in Matthew 26:26-29?
He declared that the bread spoke of His body which would be broken – there was not a broken bone, but His body was so badly broken that it was hardly recognizable (Psalm 22:12-17, Isaiah 53:4-7). The grape juice spoke of His blood, indicating the terrible death He would soon experience. He, the perfect Son of God, became the fulfillment of the countless Old Testament prophecies concerning a Redeemer (Genesis 3:15, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, etc.) When He said, “This do in remembrance of Me,” He indicated this was a ceremony that must be continued in the future. It indicated also that the Passover, which required the death of a lamb and looked forward to the coming of the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, was now obsolete. The New Covenant took its place when Christ, the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), was sacrificed (Hebrews 8:8-13). The sacrificial system was no longer needed (Hebrews 9:25-28).
