Verse 6
And he promised - That is, to do it - εξωμολογησε: or, He accepted the proposal. See Wakefield.
Verse 7
The passover - Πασχα, [Luk 22:1], is the name of the festival; το πασχα here is supposed to be the name of that on which they feasted, viz. the sacrificed paschal lamb. But see the notes on Matthew 26 (note), and especially the observations at the end of that chapter, ([Mat 26:75] (note)).
Verse 8
He sent Peter and John, etc. - See the subject of these verses largely explained on [Mat 26:17-19] (note), and [Mar 14:13], [Mar 14:15] (note).
Verse 14
And when the hour was come - That is, the evening. See [Mat 26:20], and [Mar 14:17].
Verse 15
With desire I have desired - A Hebraism for, I have desired most earnestly. Our Lord's meaning seems to be, that, having purposed to redeem a lost world by his blood, he ardently longed for the time in which he was to offer himself up. Such love did the holy Jesus bear to the human race. This eucharistic passover was celebrated once, by way of anticipation, before the bloody sacrifice of the victim of salvation, and before the deliverance it was appointed to commemorate; as the figurative passover had been likewise once celebrated before the going out of Egypt, and the deliverance of God's chosen people. Quesnel.
Verse 16
Until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God - That is, until that of which the passover is a type is fulfilled in my death, through which the kingdom of God, or of heaven, (See [Mat 3:2]), shall be established among men.
Verse 17
He took the cup - This was not the sacramental cup, for that was taken after supper, [Luk 22:20], but was the cup which was ordinarily taken before supper.
Divide it among yourselves - Pass the cup from one to another; thus the cup which Christ gave to the first person on his right hand continued to be handed from one to another, till it came to the last person on his left.
Verse 18
I will not drink of the fruit of the vine - That is, before the time of another passover, the Holy Ghost shall descend, the Gospel of the kingdom be established, and the sacramental supper shall take place of the paschal lamb; for in a few hours his crucifixion was to take place. See on [Mat 26:29] (note).
Verse 19
Took bread - See the nature and design of the Lord's Supper explained in the notes on [Mat 26:26-29] (note).
This do in remembrance of me - That the Jews, in eating the passover, did it to represent the sufferings of the Messiah, as evident from the tract Pesachim, fol. 119, quoted by Schoettgen.
Why do we call this the great hallel? (i.e. the hymn composed of several psalms, which they sung after the paschal supper). Ans. Because in it these five things are contained:
1. The exodus from Egypt.
2. The dividing of the Red Sea.
3. The promulgation of the law.
4. The resurrection of the dead. And,
5. The sufferings of the Messiah.
The first is referred to, [Psa 114:1], When Israel went out of Egypt, etc.
The second in [Psa 114:3], The sea saw it and fled.
The third in [Psa 114:4], The mountains skipped like rams, etc.
The fourth in [Psa 116:9], I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
The fifth in [Psa 115:1], Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory; for thy mercy and thy truth's sake. See the note on [Mat 26:30].
Verse 20
This cup is the new testament in my blood - Perhaps it might be better to paraphrase the passage thus: This cup which is poured out for you, signifies the blood of the new covenant, which is shortly to be ratified in (or by) the shedding of my blood. Or, This cup is the new covenant, poured out for you with my blood: - that is, the paschal sacrifice and my sacrifice happen together. But see Kypke.
It does not appear that our Lord handed either the bread or the cup to each person; he gave it to him who was next to him, and, by handing it from one to another, they shared it among themselves, [Luk 22:17]. In this respect the present mode of administering the Lord's Supper is not strictly according to the original institution.
Verse 21
The hand of him that betrayeth me, etc. - What can be desired more, says Dr. Lightfoot, as a demonstration that Judas was present at the eucharist? And, whereas the contrary is endeavored to be proved out of John 13, nothing is made out of nothing; for there is not one syllable throughout that whole chapter of the paschal supper, but of a supper before the feast of the passover.
Verse 22
The Son of man goeth - That is, he is about to die, Απερχεσθαι, οιχεσθαι, abire, going, going away, and departing, are used, by the best Greek and Latin writers, for death and dying. See Rosenmuller.
Verse 23
They began to inquire among themselves - See the notes on [Mat 26:23], [Mat 26:24].
Verse 24
There was also a strife among them - There are two different instances of this sort of contention or strife mentioned by the evangelists, each of which was accompanied with very different circumstances; one by Matthew, in [Mat 18:1], etc., by Mark, [Mar 9:33], etc.; and by Luke, in [Luk 9:46], etc. That contention cannot have been the same with this which is mentioned here. The other, related in [Mat 20:20], etc., and [Mar 10:35], etc., must be what Luke intended here to record; and this strife or contention was occasioned by the request which Zebedee's wife made to our Lord in favor of her sons, James and John; but, then, Luke has mentioned this very much out of the order of time, it having happened while our Lord and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem: [Mat 20:17]; [Mar 10:32]. See Bp. Pearce.
Verse 25
Are called benefactors - The very Greek word used by the evangelist, ευεργεται, was the surname of some of the Ptolemies of Egypt; Ptolemy Euergetes, i.e. the Benefactor. It was a custom among the ancient Romans to distribute part of the lands which they had conquered on the frontiers of the empire to their soldiers; those who enjoyed such lands were called beneficiarii, beneficed persons; and the lands themselves were termed beneficia, benefices, as being held on the beneficence of the sovereign; and it is no wonder that such sovereigns, however tyrannical or oppressive they might have been in other respects, were termed benefactors by those who were thus dependent on their bounty.