Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Corinthians 11:25

"In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me." — 1 Corinthians 11:25 (ASV)

That the Lord’s Supper was connected with the Passover meal is clear in the phrase “after the supper,” meaning, as the Synoptic Gospels show, “after the Passover Supper.” This cup was the third of the Passover cups (see comment on Lk 22:14–18). The word “cup” (GK 4539), used metonymously for its contents, symbolizes the covenant in Jesus’ blood . The covenant idea is that of God’s sealing his agreement of salvation with his people through Christ’s blood. It is a new covenant in being the fulfillment of the covenant promises of God in the OT exemplified in the sacrificial system (cf. Ephesians 2:12; Hebrews 8–10). In the ceremony Jesus does not say how often the communion was to be held but indicates that it is to be periodic—“whenever you eat... and drink”—and it is to be continued to his second coming. The statement “you proclaim” involves the personal application of the meaning of the Lord’s death in the believer’s testimony.