NOTES for Mat 26:1-29
Symbolically anointed with fragrant oil even before His burial, the Lord, on the night before His death, at the Passover supper, gives Himself as food to the disciples in bread and wine. In this way He shows them and us that His death is not accidental and not in vain. Even during His public ministry He speaks terrible words to the disciples, words that troubled many who followed Him: "Whoever eats (literally - gnaws, chews, a very expressive verb) My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him." His embodiment, His bodily existence, became the inseparable bond between God and humanity, and on this last night the disciples become participants in this bond, receiving in bread and wine the divinity and new humanity of Christ.