Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare for the Passover meal they would share together (Luke 22:8). Jesus gave them elaborate directions for how they would find the house they would have the meal in. He told them as they came into the city, they would find a man carrying a pitcher of water. They were to follow the man to his home and ask the master of the house to use a room for the Passover meal. What is interesting to note in this study of Peter is there is no argument recorded here. A depth of spiritual growth is seen here by Peter’s silent and immediate obedience. This is not the Peter Jesus first met, who argued about casting his nets again into the water. He had walked with Jesus long enough; his faith in Jesus’s command and his humility to follow commands had grown abundantly.
Peter and John went to the city and found everything as Jesus had said. They found a man carrying a pitcher of water, and then they followed through with their directions and began to prepare the Passover meal. Were they surprised when everything worked out exactly as Jesus said? Scripture does not tell us they were surprised. Maybe they had seen enough by this time to not be surprised at all by it. However, it was a notable miracle. If nothing else, this would have bolstered their faith even more (Luke 22:7–13).
Later the same evening, when they gathered together to celebrate the Passover meal, Jesus expressed the depth of His desire and anticipation to enjoy this particular meal together with His twelve disciples (Luke 22:15). He was looking to the Cross. They had no understanding of what was to come in a few short hours. Yet Jesus expressed a great anticipation for this time with them. He was the Passover Lamb. In less than twenty-four hours, He would give His blood as a covering for them and for all who would call on His name. He was the only one Who would go through the meal with this depth of understanding. This was the hour He instituted a new covenant with His disciples.
Jesus began with the bread. He took the unleavened bread, broke it, and handed it to each disciple personally. He commanded them to take and eat it, and said it was His body broken for them. The bread was instituted to remind disciples of the work Jesus did on the Cross (Luke 22:19; Mark 14:22). The picture of Jesus personally handing the bread to each disciple and looking them in the eyes as He said it was His body broken for them is an intensely intimate image. Displayed is the Savior’s heart and the Father’s plan. This is the picture of salvation being between humans and God through Jesus. There is no longer a need for the temple or the priest, because Jesus is now our High Priest Who has made the final Passover sacrifice, once for all (Romans 6:10; Hebrews 7:24–28).
Jesus followed the bread with the wine. He had personally distributed the bread to each disciple, but the wine He commanded them to divide amongst themselves (Luke 22:17). They all drank from the same cup. Jesus said the wine represented the blood of the new covenant. He shed His blood upon the Cross for many for the remission of the sins (Matthew 26:27–28). His blood covers us and protects us from the wrath of God. Today, we each come personally to the Cross and partake of the Bread of Life. This is a personal one-on-one relationship with Jesus. Yet we are also to share the gospel (the good news) with those who need to know the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. This is dividing the wine between us. This is a continual act of evangelism, to share the shed blood of Jesus with those who need to experience the remission of sins. Salvation belongs to the individual on a very personal basis, but it is to be shared equally. We all drink from the same cup of salvation. Truly, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).