| The Passover Feast was proceeding quietly and reverently until Jesus suddenly spoke up, changing the whole meaning of two of the symbols on the table. These meanings had remained the same for over thousand years. The disciples must have been greatly surprised when Jesus picked up one of the loaves of bread and dramatically gave it a new meaning. It had always stood for "the bread of affliction our fathers ate in Egypt". Now Christ said, "This is a memorial of my body which is given (broken) for you." He did not mean they were actually eating His flesh, but that the simple act of taking the bread and eating it was an act of identification and remembrance. Often someone shows us a picture of their son or daughter. They say "This is my son" and we understand. The son is not present but the picture is. We understand what they mean. In the same way we understand what Christ meant when He said "take, eat, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me". A little later Christ took a cup of wine in His hand and gave that a new meaning also. It had stood for the sheltering blood shed back in Egypt. Now it was to stand for Christ's own blood shed for them on Calvary. It was and is also a seal of the new covenant made between God and man. Under the new covenant, the way to God is open through the blood of Christ. Christ spoke of the future as well as of the past. He said He would not drink of this cup until He came into His rightful place in the kingdom. Paul reminds us of the future when Christ will have His rightful place. He said, "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you are announcing the Lord's death until He comes again." It is our privilege to regularly celebrate what we call the "Lord's Supper". Actually it is ours, not His. It can be a very meaningful time of remembrance and heart searching as we remember our Lord's death, the cost of our salvation. Whenever we partake let us do it quietly, reverently and gratefully, thinking of His love behind it all. | 
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