Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
This is the scene of Jesus with his disciples as they celebrate the passover meal together in a solemn and expecting manner, knowing that Jesus would soon be captured and killed because he had warned them before they came to Jerusalem that it would happen.
What most Christians don’t know is that every aspect of this meal was according to the Jewish customs and traditions that had already been performed and celebrated for 1400 years before Jesus, however this passover meal is different in that the jews had faithfully repeated these rituals of washing hands breaking bread and drinking wine without ever knowing the true meaning behind them,
To them they were all simply symbolic of the passover meal in Egypt before they were freed from slavery and nothing more, but on this passover night, Jesus who would have been the head of the house because he was the teacher with his students, it was his responsibility that each part of the passover meal be explained as it was performed so that they could reflect on the meaning behind each action and the reason they celebrate the passover when God delivered them from Egypt.
But Jesus performed and explained this meal a little bit differently and instead of washing their hands as was tradition he began to wash their feet, and this is why the action was met with shock by Peter because the master of the house would not be washing anyone’s feet
Jesus then took the traditional three pieces of Matzah bread that are seperated and folded up in one single cloth and broke the middle piece in half which was symbolic to the jews of when the LORD parted the red sea, accept Jesus did not tell this story as he broke it, instead he said these words
“Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
You have to take a moment to fully appreciate what is happening here in order to understand the significance of this moment and what he is requesting.
All of us grow old and grow up, we simply have to because life involves being responsible and taking on responsibility means we have to deal with other adults on their level in order to be accepted and taken seriously, but everyone still has those moments from their childhood that they remember fondly that when something happens or someone says something to invoke the memory of it we are instantly transported back in time to a child like state when the world wasnt complicated and filled with hard choices and adult responsibilities. This is exactly the same emotion from childhood Every single one of these men reclining at their tables would remember and understand in their tradition of the passover meal and the meaning behind each step of it because it was celebrated every year without fail in the spring of passover week. But Jesus is telling them from now on when you break this bread and eat of it remember that the reason for it is because of me and my body, which is about to be broken for you
But that is not all, only half of that middle piece of bread is broken up and distributed to the passover guests to eat with bitter herbs
The other half is hidden for the children to find at the very end of the passover meal, which immediately brings to mind the verse spoken by Jesus in three separate instances that was meant to recall the child like mind and heart that they all experienced searching for the hidden piece of bread at the passover meal
John 7:34 You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”
John 13:33
Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come
Matthew 18:3. “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
As well as in
Matthew 19:14
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
So the first part of the breaking of the bread was now given a new meaning to his disciples, it represented his body which was broken in half and given to them just as the Manna was given to the children of Israel in the desert
But what about hidding the other half of the bread till the end of the passover? What did it symbolize?
There are several different outcomes of the broken Matzah bread that could take place during a traditional passover meal so the events could or would be slightly different each year.
One of them is the children could steal the bread and then require the leader of the passover meal to redeem the piece of bread in order to get it back by exchanging a small gift for it
But for the most part the middle matzah bread is broken in half and then wrapped in a cloth and hidden until the end of passover where it is then found and removed from the cloth broken up and given to everyone as a desert.
Matzah is unleavened bread so it is very similar to a cracker except the way it is rolled and cooked gives it a stripped appearance as well as pierced with small holes like a cracker.
“But He was pierced because of our transgressions, He was crushed because of our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). TLV translation
They would have understood this piece of bread to represent the passover lamb because at the time of the babylonian invasion and captivity the jews were not able to afford or properly sacrifice the passover lamb so the middle piece of bread became a substitute for the lamb.
So by Jesus telling the disciples that he represents this piece of Matzah bread that is broken and distributed as a meal and then hidden in a piece of cloth and brought back out, they may not have understood it in this moment when he said it but afterward during every following passover they would have immediately understood that this hidden bread that later was found by the children represented his death and resurrection.
After eating the afikoman (the hidden matzah bread) no other food is allowed to be eaten during passover only two cups of wine at the very end of the meal one to symbolize the LORD redeeming them by the blood of the passover lamb and the last as the celebration of the passover itself and the hope and expectation of celebrating the next years passover with the Messiah who is christ Jesus.
The Tree To The Cross 