And while they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take, eat. This is My body.”
This verse confirms the holy sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. At the Passover table Christ takes the bread and gives it a new meaning. The bread that is broken and shared points to His body, which was to be given on the cross for His people. The words “Take, eat” show that the grace of salvation must be received by faith, not merely observed from a distance. Christ gives Himself as spiritual food. As the body lives by bread, so the soul lives by Christ, receiving by faith the grace of His sacrifice.