Materials On the first day of the

Materials:

On the first day of the Passover celebration, Jesus, his friends and followers discussed the preparations they would make for the Passover meal.

Jesus sent some of them to a house that he knew in the city of Jerusalem. There they would prepare a big room and food for a meal.

They were very busy. They set out the room. They had to get some herbs and a oneyear-old lamb.

When evening came, everyone sat down to eat the Passover meal.

They said special prayers.

They shared their stories about Moses leading the people out of Egypt, and they shared their special memory of things that had happened in times past.

This Passover was the same as every other Passover until, as they were sharing the special food and wine, Jesus did something that was very different to every other Passover.

He took the unleavened bread and blessed it and broke it and shared it out among his friends and followers. He said: This is my body, take it and eat it.

Then he took the cup o f wine. He blessed it and said: This is the cup of my blood, take it and drink it.

Jesus’ friends and followers had never seen this done, or heard these words spoken, at a Passover meal before. This was new. At first they weren’t sure what Jesus meant, but he said to them: Do this in memory of me.