Peter and John were sent on an errand together soon after this. Jesus told them to go into the city, and a man should meet them carrying a pitcher of water. They were to follow him into the house he went into, and to say to the master of the house, “The Teacher says to thee, Where is the guestchamber where I shall eat the passover with My disciples?” “And,” said Jesus, “he will show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.”
The two disciples did as they were told, they went into the city and met the man carrying the pitcher of water, they followed him into the house, and said what Jesus had told them to say, and then they made ready the feast in the large upper room which the master of the house showed them.
They knew just what to provide, for, no doubt, they had come up to Jerusalem to keep the Passover year by year since their boyhood. There must be the lamb roast with fire, and the bitter herbs, to remind them of the time when God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you,” and the destroyer over the houses of the Israelites and spared the firstborn because of the blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintels. There must be unleavened bread too, for the first Passover had been eaten in haste, staff in hand, all ready to leave Egypt.
God had never forgotten that night, and He did not want His people to forget it; they looked backward over the years as they kept the feast, but for God it spoke of the time which was coming, when Jesus Himself should be the Passover Lamb.
Peter and John made everything ready, and then, when the hour was come, Jesus came and sat down with His twelve disciples.
That feast meant very much to Jesus. He told them that He had longed to eat it with them before He suffered.
“And he took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me.”
Did Jesus really mean that His body was about to be broken for them as that bread was broken? Yes, He did. He was about to give His body to be nailed to the cross and pierced with a spear, and it was for them, for all who believe on Him, and He asks us to break the bread and eat it for a remembrance of Him.
And He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you,” and He told them all to drink out of it.
It is nearly two thousand years since the Lord Jesus suffered on the cross, but He knows that there are still those who meet together every first day of the week to “break bread” in remembrance of Him. And those who do it, find that this remembrance is sweeter and more precious than anything the world can give, because at such times they prove His promise true, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.”