Passover Supper

Jesus and his disciples ate the traditional holiday meal: delicious lamb seasoned with bitter herbs. As they ate, the atmosphere soured when their Master told them that one of them would betray him. This was a very difficult matter, and they wondered who this unscrupulous traitor was, but they could find no clear answer.
For more than three years, they accompanied him after he chose them to be his disciples. They saw him teach, heal, and bless, and indeed, he did nothing but good. Who would dare break the covenant of love, betray their friendship, and forget his good Master?
Thus, handing him over to the enemy?
They knew that the massacre of the children of Bethlehem was aimed at killing the child Jesus, and that the people of Nazareth, the city of his youth, wanted to get rid of him when they tried to throw him off the mountain, in addition to three attempts to stone him in the Temple. But the situation here was different. It fulfills the ancient prophecy, "Even my familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me" (Psalm 41:9). It is truly the most severe form of betrayal, because it comes from the closest of relatives and the dearest of friends. Judas Iscariot took the morsel from his Master's hand and immediately left under cover of darkness. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "Take, eat; this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you,

"I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God" (Mark 14:22-25).

Thus, after eating the Passover meal, Christ instituted a new ritual that was not part of the Jewish Passover ritual, in which a lamb is sacrificed for each family to commemorate their exodus from Egypt. It's a new Passover that Christ was about to mark on the cross.

A reflection by Brother/  Makram Mashreqi