Matthew 26:26-28

Let us go a little bit further. This time we are going to turn to Matthew 26, as we continue to lay the foundation for this series on the Passover. Here, on this occasion, we see Matthew's recording of the events that occurred on the last night of Jesus Christ's life—when He had His last Passover meal with His disciples. It was here that He instituted the new symbols representing His body and blood. (Here I mean the "new symbols" for the proper keeping of the Passover.)

Jesus Christ, then, commanded His followers (all who have repented of their sins and, by faith, accepted His blood of the sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins) to partake of the New Covenant symbols as a solemn memorial of His death. Each of these occasions—that is, when His death is memorialized—is to be a renewal of the New Covenant believer's relationship with God, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 26:27-28

Atonement through Christ’s blood indeed covers our sins. Yet at one and the same time, God’s justice must be satisfied and repentance occur in the sinner because God is not going to roll over and acquiesce to our request because He Himself has made a tremendous sacrifice to make that forgiveness possible and His feelings for His Son and that pain are awfully strong. The forgiveness is there but it is not all that easy.