“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” – Luke 22:19
When Jesus established what we call the Lord’s Supper, He made clear what He was about to give up for our benefit: everything. Through His miracles, wisdom, and sin-free life, Jesus made clear that He was the eternal Son of God. Then He prepared to surrender His body to abuse, torture, and excruciating death, for our sake. His body, given for us.
His body would be broken and His innocent blood spilled for our benefit. By this sacrifice Jesus would establish an entirely new covenant between sinful man and our holy God. This would not be a covenant of laws, rules, do-this, don’t-do-that, self-discipline, good works, or animal sacrifice. This new covenant, long prophesied and anticipated, was a covenant of grace – of God’s unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor, blessing, love, and forgiveness for His sinful people through faith in Jesus Christ His Son.
Forgiveness, cleanness, and eternal life were given to us through a holy body broken for our sake. Thus Jesus commanded us to remember His sacrifice. By doing so, we remember that we’re saved not by our own goodness but by His. We’re reminded that we’re saved not because of what do, but because of what He did once for all of us. We give humble thanks for the willing sacrifice of our glorious Savior!