Looking back and looking forward.
Matthew 26:29 says: “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
These words come at the very heart of the Last Supper. Jesus has just broken the bread, identifying it with His body, and shared the cup, identifying it with His blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Then, almost as a closing remark, He says He will not drink again until that day when He drinks it new with His disciples in the Father’s kingdom.
This is a remarkable statement, because it looks both backwards and forwards at the same time. Backwards, it draws on the Jewish memory of Passover, when God rescued His people from slavery in Egypt.
But forwards, it points to a greater deliverance, one not yet complete - the coming feast in God’s kingdom.
Jesus here is making a vow. He is saying: “I will not share again in the fruit of the vine until the mission is done. Until sin is defeated, death is conquered, and God’s kingdom comes in full.”
In other words, He is lifting His disciples’ eyes. Yes, the cross is coming. Yes, suffering and sorrow lie ahead. But this meal is not the end, it is a signpost to something far greater.
The cup of wine He sets down that evening is not a cup of despair. It is a cup of promise. There will be a new cup, shared in a new way, at a new table. And notice the intimacy, Jesus says: “with you.” The kingdom is not a vague hope, but a table fellowship where Christ Himself welcomes His people.
Commentator R.T. France puts it this way: “The broken fellowship symbolised in Jesus’ imminent death will not be the end. The next meal together will be in the joy of God’s kingdom.”
That means every time we come to communion, we are caught up in a double remembrance. We remember Christ’s death - His body broken, His blood shed. But we also anticipate the day when we will feast with Him face to face. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11, “we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Matthew 26:29 lifts us above our worldly divisions. On that final day, the table will be one. The broken will sit beside the righteous, the last will be first, and all of God’s people will drink together the new wine of the kingdom. The bread and wine we share now are the beginning before that day.
With your life, business, workplace remember: The cost was Christ’s own life, poured out for you. But the promise is fellowship with Him forever, in a kingdom where sin, sorrow, and separation are no more.
Wherever you are in this moment take a moment of quiet and reflect.
Jack Taylor