Matthew 26:26

 Matthew 26:26 says, And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.  Jesus took the bread that they were eating, blessed it and told the disciples to eat it, that this was His body.  He did not state that it literally became His body somehow as some people believe, but I believe meant that it represented His body instead.  There is nothing supernatural or miraculous that happens to the bread when we observe the Lord's Supper, but it simply symbolic.  Verse twenty-seven states, And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;  Verse twenty-eight adds, For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.  Jesus took the wine and blessed it and told the disciples to take it and drink it all.  As with the bread, the wine did not become the actual blood of Christ but was symbolic the blood of Christ.  Jesus told the disciples that His blood, represented by the wine, was His blood for the new testament between mankind and God.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we have to accept all that this means, and that is that He gave His body and His blood to bring forgiveness of sin to all who would believe in Him.  Verse twenty-nine declares, But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.  Jesus said He would not drink any more of the fruit of the vine until He did so in His Father's kingdom.  Jesus time on earth was coming to an end.  Verse thirty adds, And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.  Once they had completed this first communion meal, they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.  Once we have completed the observance of the Lord's Supper, then we are to go out and continue to work for God and His glory.  Verse thirty-one declares, Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.  Jesus warned His disciples that they would be offended by what was about to happen to Him and scatter.  The disciples were still looking for an earthly kingdom to be ushered in by Jesus, and they were looking to be a part of the leadership of that kingdom.  We should never attempt to follow Jesus for earthly benefits, but must follow Him by faith no matter what happens in this world.  Verse thirty-two adds, But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.  Jesus said that after He had risen again and the disciples had scattered that He would gather them again into Galilee.  The only difference then was that the disciples would then know Who Jesus really was.  We today must acknowledge Who Jesus really is in order to be saved.  Until then, we are just like sheep scattered without a shepherd.  Verse thirty-three says, Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.  Peter boldly proclaimed that even if everyone else denied Jesus that he would not.  Peter was speaking from self pride and not from actual faith.  Verse thirty-four declares, Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.  Jesus told Peter that not only would He leave but that He would deny Him three times before morning.  When we act out of self pride we set ourselves up for failure in our relationship with Christ.  We must always listen to what God tells us and follow His direction to be successful in His kingdom, and even then we must do it through believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse thirty-five states, Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. Peter said that Jesus was wrong, and then all the disciples agreed with Peter.  We must never think that we know more than God does, but must simply come to Him through a saving knowledge of Christ.