Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 26:27-29

"And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins. But I say unto you, I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father`s kingdom." — Matthew 26:27-29 (ASV)

Remigius of Auxerre: The Lord, having given His disciples His Body under the element of breadⁱ, likewise gives the cup of His Blood to them, showing what joy He has in our salvation, since He even shed His Blood for us.

St. John Chrysostom: He gave thanks to instruct us how we ought to celebrate this mystery, and thereby also showed that He did not come to His Passion against His will. He also taught us to bear whatever we suffer with thanksgiving and infused us with good hope.

For if the type of this sacrifice—namely, the offering of the paschal lamb—brought about the deliverance of the people from Egyptian bondage, how much more will the reality of it bring about the deliverance of the world.

He gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. So that they would not be distressed at hearing this, He first drank His own blood to lead them without fear to the communion of these mysteries.

St. Jerome: Thus, then, the Lord Jesus was at once guest and feast, the one who eats and the thing that is eaten.^{i 1}

St. John Chrysostom: This is my blood of the new testament; that is, the new promise, covenant, and law. For this blood was promised from long ago, and it guarantees the new covenant. Just as the Old Testament had the blood of sheep and goats, so the New has the Lord's Blood.

Remigius of Auxerre: For it is written, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you (Exodus 24:8).

St. John Chrysostom: In calling it blood, He foreshadows His Passion, saying, My blood... which will be shed for many. He also shows the purpose for which He died by adding, For the remission of sins. It is as if to say, "The blood of the lamb was shed in Egypt for the salvation of the firstborn of the Israelites; this My Blood is shed for the remission of sins."

Remigius of Auxerre: It should be noted that He does not say, "For a few," or, "For all," but, For many. This is because He did not come to redeem a single nation, but many people from all nations.

St. John Chrysostom: By saying this, He shows that His Passion is a mystery of human salvation, by which He also comforts His disciples. And just as Moses said, This will be an ordinance to you forever (Exodus 12:24), so Christ speaks, as Luke relates, Do this in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19).

Remigius of Auxerre: He taught us to offer not only bread, but also wine, to show that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness were to be refreshed by these mysteries.

Glossa Ordinaria: Just as the body is refreshed by food and drink, so under the form of food and drink the Lord has provided spiritual refreshment for us. It was therefore fitting that this Sacrament should be instituted under both kinds to show forth the Lord's Passion. ²

For in His Passion He shed His Blood, and so His Blood was separated from His Body. It was therefore fitting that, for the representation of His Passion, bread and wine should be presented separately as the Sacrament of the Body and Blood. However, it should be understood that the whole of Christ is contained under both kinds. Under the form of bread is the Blood together with the Body, and under the form of wine is the Body together with the Blood.

Pseudo-Ambrose: For this reason also we celebrate under both kinds, because what we receive serves for the preservation of both body and soul. ³

St. Cyprian of Carthage: The cup of the Lord is not water only, or wine only, but the two are mixed; so the Lord's Body cannot be flour only, or water only, but the two are combined into one.^{i 4}

St. Ambrose of Milan: If Melchizedek offered bread and wine, what does this mixing of water mean? Hear the reason: Moses struck the rock, and the rock poured forth an abundance of water, but that rock was Christ. Furthermore, one of the soldiers pierced Christ's side with his spear, and from His side flowed water and blood—the water to cleanse, the blood to redeem.^{i 5}

Remigius of Auxerre: It should be understood that, as John says, The many waters are nations and people (Revelation 17:15). And because we ought always to abide in Christ and Christ in us, wine mixed with water is offered to show that the head and the members—that is, Christ and the Church—are one body. It also shows that Christ did not suffer without a love for our redemption, nor can we be saved without His Passion.

St. John Chrysostom: After speaking of His Passion and Cross, He proceeds to speak of His resurrection, saying, I say to you, I will not drink from now on... and so on. By "the kingdom," He means His resurrection. He says this about His resurrection because He would then drink with the Apostles, so that no one might suppose His resurrection was an illusion.

Thus, when they wanted to convince anyone of His resurrection, they said, We ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead (Acts 10:41). This tells the disciples that they will see Him after He has risen and that He will be with them again.

That He says new is to be understood plainly: He would drink in a new manner, no longer having a passible body or needing food. For after His resurrection, He did not eat because He needed food, but to demonstrate the reality of the resurrection. And since there are some heretics who use water instead of wine in the sacred mysteriesⁱ, He shows by these words that when He gave them these holy mysteries, He gave them wine, and He drank the same after He had risen. For He says, Of this fruit of the vine—and a vine produces wine, not water.

St. Jerome: Alternatively, the Lord passes from carnal things to spiritual. Holy Scripture speaks of the people of Israel as a vine brought up out of Egypt.ⁱ It is of this vine, then, that the Lord says He will drink no more except in His Father's kingdom. I suppose His Father's kingdom to mean the faith of believers.

When, therefore, the Jews receive His Father's kingdom, the Lord will drink from their vine. Observe that He says, of my Father, not, "of God," for to name the Father is to name the Son. This is as if to say: When they have believed in God the Father, and He has brought them to the Son.

Remigius of Auxerre: Alternatively: I will not drink of the fruit of this vine means, "I will no longer take pleasure in the physical offerings of the Synagogue," among which the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb held a prominent place. But the time of My resurrection is near, and on that day, exalted in the Father's kingdom—that is, raised in immortal glory—I will drink it new with you. This means, "I will rejoice with a new joy in the salvation of that people, then renewed by the water of baptism."

St. Augustine of Hippo: Alternatively, when He says, I will drink it new with you, He helps us understand that the current state is old. Since He took a body from the race of Adam, who is called the old man, and was to give up that Body to death in His Passion (which is why He also gave us His Blood in the sacrament of wine), what else can we understand "the new wine" to be but the immortality of renewed bodies? ⁶

In saying, I will drink it with you, He also promises them a resurrection of their bodies to be clothed with immortality. The phrase with you is not to be understood in terms of time, but of a similar renewal, as the Apostle says that we are risen with Christ—the hope of the future bringing a present joy. The fact that what He will drink new will also be of this fruit of the vine signifies that the very same bodies that will now die through earthly decay will rise again after the heavenly renewal.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: It seems from this that Judas did not drink with Him, because he was not to drink with them later in the kingdom. But He promises to all who partook of this fruit of the vine at this time that they would drink with Him hereafter.

Glossa Ordinaria: However, in support of the opinion of other saints that Judas did receive the sacraments from Christ, it should be said that the words with you may refer to the greater part of them, and not necessarily to all of them. ⁷

1. Hieron. Ep. 120, ad Hedib
2. non occ.
3. in 1 Cor 11:26
4. Ep. 63, ad Caecil.
5. de Sacr., v. 1
6. Quaest. Ev. i, 43
7. non occ.