Holy Week · Maundy Thursday · Year A
Matthew 26:17-30
My Blood of the Covenant
April 2, 2026
Overview & Insights
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Matthew 26:28)
Matthew sets the supper firmly within Passover: the disciples ask where to prepare it, and the meal falls on the first day of Unleavened Bread, a chronology differing from John, where the crucifixion coincides with the slaughter of the lambs (John 18:28; 19:14). The betrayal is not a separate scene but is interleaved with the meal, so that Judas’s “Is it I, Rabbi?” (v. 25), spoken with a title no other disciple in this Gospel uses of Jesus, is said at the table. Matthew’s words over the cup add a clause Mark lacks, “for the forgiveness of sins”, which ties the supper to the purpose announced at 1:21, and he turns the cup into a command that all are to drink of it. The vow not to drink again until the kingdom (v. 29) makes the meal provisional, and the hymn sung before they go out (v. 30) would have been the Hallel, Psalms 113-118.
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Take it further: Matthew 26:17-30
Commentary
Commentary on Matthew 26:17-30Commentary on Mt 26:17-30 workingpreacher.org
Exegetical commentary written specifically on this pericope as the words of institution of the Lord's Supper.
Of the Holy Sacrament sermons.martinluther.us
Luther's own Church Postil sermon on the Lord's Supper, the most on-point historic Lutheran source for this text.
Preparing for Holy Week: Reflections on Preaching on Maundy Thursday This Year 1517.org
Lutheran preaching help aimed specifically at the Maundy Thursday institution narrative.
Catalog of Testimonies bookofconcord.org
Lutheran confessional citation of Matthew 26:26-28 as scriptural testimony for the Real Presence.
Back Against the Wall, Maundy Thursday episcopalchurch.org
Sermons That Work homily for Maundy Thursday Year A, the Anglican voice alongside the Lutheran sources here.
Background & Word Study
The Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-30)The Last Supper (Mt 26:17-30) theologyofwork.org
Background on the meal's Passover setting and its meaning as a shared meal among the disciples.
Matthew 26:26 InterlinearMt 26:26 Interlinear biblehub.com
Greek interlinear text of "This is my body" for word-level study of the institution.
Worship & Prayers
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