Matthew 26:28

Matthew 26:28. For this is my blood of the covenant. The wine, poured-out, is a symbol of the blood of Christ shed for us. Both here and in Mark the word ‘new' is omitted by the best authorities, though it occurs in the accounts of Luke and Paul. It was still the same covenant, though ‘new.' Hence as the old covenant forbade the drinking of blood, it could not be commanded here in a literal sense. As Moses (Exodus 24:8) sprinkled blood upon the people and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant,' our Lord points directly to the shedding of His blood on the cross as ‘the blood of the covenant.' He thus comforted His disciples by explaining His death to them, and we can find no blessing in it apart from this explanation.

Which is shed (or ‘being shed') for many unto remission of sins. Our Lord here declares, with reference to His own death, that it was an actual dying for others, to the end that their sins might be pardoned. That death for many is the ground of the forgiveness of each; the partaking of the cup signifies our belief that He thus died for us; the seal of the covenant assuring our believing souls of forgiveness. Both ‘bread ‘and ‘wine ‘set forth Christ in us, as well as Christ for us. The blood is a symbol of life; the wine, the emblem of Christ's blood, is drunk, to signify also our new life through the blood of Christ, just as the eating of the bread sets forth nourishment derived from Christ, whose body has been broken for us. The central fact is the atoning death of Christ, which we commemorate; the present blessing is the assurance conveyed by visible signs, that we receive, truly though spiritually, Christ, with all His benefits, and are nourished by His life into life eternal. The word ‘many' seems to hint at the communion of believers with one another.