Jesus promised His disciples, “I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). As the apostles were to drink of the cup “in remembrance” of Jesus “till he come” (1 Cor. 11:25, 26), He would not drink from it until He should “drink it new” with them in the eternal kingdom of glory.
The act of not drinking the fruit of the vine was a promise from Jesus on God’s part that the kingdom will finally become come and the believers will be gathered with God in the “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9). As the Last Supper was closely related to the great event that made possible the plan of salvation, so the marriage supper of the Lamb will celebrate the triumph of that plan. The ordinance of the Lord’s table significantly links the first advent with the second.
Jesus did drink from the cup at the Last Supper for it represented His blood that was shed for the remission of sins. And He ordained that His followers were to drink of the cup: “In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:25, 26). The communion service was designed to keep the memory of His vicarious death vivid in the minds of His followers.
Incidentally, the wine that the disciples drank was un-fermented grape Juice because during the Passover leaven or yeast was forbidden for it was symbol of sin. The Lord instructed that ”Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month…for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast” (Leviticus 23:5-6 also Exodus 12:8). Both the wine and bread were to be eaten without leaven. Unleavened bread represents Jesus’ body unchanged by the corruption of sin (Mark 14:22) and the cup represents His pure blood, untainted by any trace of sin.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
