The Cup of the New Covenant

Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke22:14-20

The Biblical text from the NRSV is always found in the first column.

The reflection by Fr. Dennis Chriszt, CPPS is always found in the second column.


While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

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While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

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When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of 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.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

At the Last Supper, Jesus takes a cup of wine and proclaims that it is the cup of the new covenant. A new covenant begins when he shares his Precious Blood with those gathered for the Last Supper. The Precious Blood he shares with them is the same blood that will be shed the following day on Calvary. The cup of the new covenant is both a cup by which he shares his life with his followers and a cup of blood to be shed on the cross.

This cup of the new covenant is shared with us whenever we do this in memory of Jesus the Christ, whenever we gather at the table of the Lord to eat his Body and drink his Blood. By drinking this cup, we are united with Christ in the new covenant. When we share the cup of the new covenant, we drink the fruit of the vine with Christ in his father’s Kingdom.

The Kingdom where we drink the Blood of the Lamb is not somewhere out there. It is not simply a Kingdom where we will live once we die. It is here and now. Our sharing this cup makes the Kingdom present, and we become citizens of that Kingdom.

The challenge for us is to live as citizens of that Kingdom, to really believe that the Kingdom is at hand, to live as those in whose veins and arteries flows the Precious Blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

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