This Is My Body...!

Imagine if you are a Jew and you have been observing the Passover meal years after years; and you happened to be in the midst of the twelve disciples partaking the Last Supper together with the Lord. What would be your feeling when the Lord stood up, took the bread, gave thanks and said, “This is My Body!”?

I have been reading many times on the verse where the Lord took the bread and said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” and this verse does not have much impact on me until I was led to take a closer look at how the Jewish people celebrate their Passover meal.

Well, Passover is a festival to be celebrated at home involving every members of the family using the meal as visual aids and taste experiences. The first Passover was celebrated by people who were enslaved. They were then instructed to eat in haste, ready to leave position. After the exodus, they recline and enjoy the Passover meal at leisure.

Three pieces of Matzo bread are wrapped for Passover. The leader of the family will take the middle Matzo and break it into half. One half is wrapped in white linen cloth (Jesus was wrapped in burial cloths). This half is called Afikomen (the coming One). The head of the family will then tell the children to hide their eyes and he in turn, hides the Afikomen. The Afikomen will then return to the table at the end of the Passover Seder and to be eaten as dessert.

After the meal, the head of the family will then speak blessing over the Matzo, "Blessed art thou o Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth." The Matzo is then shared among the family members. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 22 verse 19, Jesus broke this bread, gave thanks, and He added, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

Every little gestures of this celebration are pointing the coming of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus and His mighty work. Now, with the understanding of the Jewish culture, this verse suddenly becomes alive to me! How cool is it when Jesus held this bread (the Afikomen, the coming One) and claimed, “This is My Body! Wow...! For 1,500 years (the number of years under the dispensation of Law), the Jewish people had been observing and celebrating this festival year after year and suddenly, a Man, stood up, took this Afikomen, which signified the coming of the Messiah and claimed, “This is My Body!” Wow, cool...!

Jesus declared the Afikomen as His Body in front of His twelve disciples. The twelve disciples were significantly representing the twelve tribes of Israel as well as the twelve Elders of the Church; as twelve being the number of government. Hey, our Lord was declaring this powerful truth to His people, i.e. the Nation of Israel as well as His Church...! From then on, Passover meal became the Holy Communion and we, as His holy nation, the Christ generation, are blessed with instant access to this powerful providence that the remembrance of His mighty Finished Work at the Cross is possible at any time and in anywhere. Because of His Finished Work, we do not have to wait for the coming one by observing any festival ever again…


"Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheynu, Melech ha Olam, hamotzi lechem min ha aretz" which means “Blessed art thou o Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth!"