This is My Body Did you know that most of Jesus' disciples left him as they journeyed to Jerusalem? Twelve disciples were all he had left, although Jesus trained dozens more during his three years of ministry. At one point, he sent out 70 disciples in teams to minister in towns. But as the group headed up to Jerusalem for the Passover, Jesus began to say offensive things like "To be my disciple you must eat my flesh and drink my blood." For devout Jews this was as bad as blasphemy, so most of the disciples left and went back to their homes. They couldn't understand why Jesus would say such things.
However... during the Last Supper, Jesus made everything plain to the faithful disciples who stayed with him. Luke 22:19 Jesus took 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.”
This Cup is the New Covenant Luke 22:20 And likewise Jesus took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." In saying this, Jesus did away with blood sacrifice altogether. His own sacrifice on the Cross would do it all. No animal would ever have to give it's life for redemption of mankind, ever again. The Lord's Supper is how we remember what Jesus did for us, and we use bread and wine (or grape juice) as Jesus instructed his disciples to do.
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