Matthew 26:26 is the beginning of a passage on the institution of the Lord's Supper. Jesus and his disciples were celebrating Passover together, and Jesus had predicted in verse 21 that one of the disciples was going to betray him. Verse 26 says that while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, offered a blessing, and then gave the bread to his disciples. He told them, "Take, eat; this is my body."

The Expositor's Bible commentary points out that this would have been a surprise for a number of reasons. The first reason is that this was simply not part of the Passover ritual. There are set prayers and an established formula for celebrating Passover, and Jesus' words had no place in that formula. Secondly, the breaking and distributing were important because it symbolized that Jesus was about to be a sacrificial lamb and that we must partake in order to benefit from his sacrifice. We have to come to him for salvation and allow his sacrificial death to be the payment for our sin.

*In what sense is the bread the body of Jesus? This is the third thing that would have been a surprise to the disciples. There has been debate for centuries among theologians whether the bread becomes Jesus’ actual body, or becomes a mix of both bread and Jesus’ actual body, or simply remains bread, in which case the words are symbolic. Theologians call the first argument "transubstantiation" and the second "consubstantiation." The writer is unsure of the theological term for the third argument or if one even exists. *It must be remembered that all this is taking place at Passover, which celebrated God's deliverance for the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. This Passover celebration is now being closely connected with the fact that Jesus is about to deliver his people from slavery to sin. His death on the cross has delivered us from the power and penalty of sin, and his Second Coming will deliver us from the presence of sin.

Jesus also gave them a cup of wine and, after giving thanks, told the disciples to drink from it. He said the cup is his blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. The disciples drank it, but Jesus said that he would not until he drinks it with them in the Father's kingdom, which would be after his Second Coming. The disciples had to be wondering what Jesus meant by the bread and wine being his body and blood. They had not yet fully come to accept the fact that Jesus' crucifixion was about to take place.

After all this, they sang a hymn together. In the same way, Jesus certainly deserves our praise for paying the price for our sin and is certainly worthy of our worship. Contemplation of the meaning of the cross should inspire us to worship. It is interesting that some, primarily Catholics, refer to this ritual as the Eucharist. The term "Eucharist" comes from the Greek word for "thank you." It is only right that we should give thanks for Jesus substitutionary death for us.

After singing the hymn, they went to the Mount of Olives, which is on the eastern side of Jerusalem. The Garden of Gethsemane is located on the Mount of Olives. The writer has visited the Garden of Gethsemane. The location of Jesus' last Passover with his disciples is unknown.

Jesus told the disciples that they would all fall away that night because of him, but after he had been raised, he would go ahead of them to Galilee. Peter vowed that he would never fall away and all of the others said the same thing. Jesus told Peter that before the night was over, before the rooster crowed to signal the next morning, Peter would deny Jesus three times. Peter said that he would not deny Jesus, even if it meant going to death with him. All of the other disciples said the same thing.

When the came to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples to wait in a certain spot while Jesus went and prayed. Jesus took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him when he went to pray. Jesus told them that his soul was deeply grieved and that they should remain there and keep watch with him. *The Expositor's Bible Commentary makes the point that Jesus is so grieved over what he knows is about to happen that he prays three times. It states that Jesus went to his death knowing it was his Father's will that he face death completely alone as the sacrificial, wrath-averting Passover Lamb. As his death was unique, so was his anguish. Our best response to it is hushed worship.

In prayer, Jesus asked the Father, if it was possible, that this cup would pass from him. Jesus says, though, that he wants the Father's will to be done rather than his own. Doing what the Father desired was Jesus' overriding concern. What did Jesus mean when he asked, if possible, that the cup be taken from him? This is an image of God's wrath over sin being poured out. While the image of enduring God's wrath over sin is a fearsome thought, Jesus was willing to do it if that was in accordance with God's plan.

After Jesus had prayed, he found his disciples sleeping. He told them to keep watching and praying that they would not enter into temptation. He said the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Jesus went and prayed a second time, this time saying that if his cup couldn't pass unless he drinks it, then the Father's will be done. He was saying if there is no other way for humanity to be reconciled to God, then he would do it. Since Jesus did go to the cross, evidently there was no other way.

The second time Jesus came back from praying, he again found the disciples asleep. Jesus went and prayed a third time. The third time he prayed the same thing as before. How often do we give up in prayer after taking it to God only once, if we even get that far? Jesus told us to be persistent in prayer. We ought to take all of our concerns to God, no matter how large or small they are. We shouldn't stop at bringing them to God only once, but keep talking to God about it until he explicitly says yes or no.

God wants us to bring our prayers to him. We aren't bugging him with our concerns. Some have the thought that God has bigger things to deal with than our issues. Let us hope that our image of God is not so small that we don't think that God can handle the big issues of life and the world and deal with our personal concerns at the same time.

* from the Expositor's Bible Commentary