Luke 22:19-20

2. The institution of the Lord’s Supper 22:19-20 (cf. Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Luke’s account stresses Jesus’ linking of His self-giving with the bread and His giving Himself for the disciples specifically, instead of for the "many" generally (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34; Jeremiah 32:37-40). According to Matthew and Mark, Jesus announced that He would not drink the fruit of the vine until He did so in the kingdom after instituting the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25). Perhaps Jesus repeated this announcement then. If so, this would have been Jesus’ third reference to the coming kingdom (cf. Luke 22:16; Luke 22:18). On the other hand, Luke probably rearranged the order of events and recorded Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper after His promise not to drink again.

Luke’s account is more similar to Paul’s in 1 Corinthians 11 than it is to Matthew or Mark’s. This seems to be one indication that Paul influenced Luke as he wrote his Gospel as well as Acts. Alternatively Luke may have influenced Paul.

Jesus invested the common elements of unleavened bread and diluted wine with new significance. The bread represented His body given sacrificially for His disciples. The disciples were to eat it, as He did, symbolizing their appropriation of Him and their consequent union with Him. The cup, representing what was in it, symbolized the ratification of the New Covenant with Jesus’ blood (Jeremiah 31:31-34; cf. Exodus 24:8). [Note: See Rodney J. Decker, "The Church’s Relationship to the New Covenant," Bibliotheca Sacra 152:607 (July-September 1995):290-305; 608 (October-December 1995):431-56.]

". . . Jesus meant that the new covenant would take effect through that which the contents of the cup signified, namely, his sacrificial death." [Note: Robert L. Saucy, The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism, p. 126. Cf. Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 806.]

Much of the New Testament is an exposition of the significance of Jesus’ sacrificial death to which He referred so cogently here. Luke stressed that Jesus gave His body and poured out His blood "for you." However "in remembrance of me" encouraged the disciples to focus on the person of Jesus Christ and not just the benefits of His death for them. [Note: See Eugene H. Merrill, "Remembering: A Central Theme in Biblical Worship," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 43:1 (March 2000):27-36.] Jesus commanded His disciples to remember Him. This is not optional for us (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:24-26).