While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. Mark 14:22-24

            At the Passover meal, there were a number of food components that all had meaning—roasted lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs and wine. The meal always was symbolic to remember when God saved the Israelites and brought them out of oppression.

That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.  Exodus 12:8

            Jesus focused on the bread which he called “his body.”  His body would become like the lamb, sacrificed, pierced, bleeding on the cross.  The wine would represent his “blood,” spilled out to fulfill the covenant or promise to save mankind by dying for their sins (“poured out for many”).

            The point of communion was the same as Passover—to remember God saving his people from slavery, whether from Egyptians or sin.