What is the meaning of Luke 22:19?

He took the bread

• Jesus initiates the moment by lifting an ordinary element of the Passover meal (Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22).

• In doing so, He sets apart something familiar to reveal a deeper, redemptive purpose (John 6:35, 51).

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Gave thanks

• The Lord pauses to express gratitude to the Father, modeling thankful worship even on the eve of suffering (1 Thessalonians 5:18; John 11:41).

• His thanksgiving reminds believers that every provision—even the means of salvation—comes from God (Psalm 107:1).

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Broke it

• The physical breaking of bread pictures the physical wounding He will endure within hours (Isaiah 53:5).

• Paul echoes this action in 1 Corinthians 11:24, linking it directly to the Lord’s Supper observed by the church.

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Gave it to them

• Christ personally places the bread into the disciples’ hands, highlighting that salvation is received, not achieved (John 1:12).

• The gift nature of grace is underscored (2 Corinthians 9:15).

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This is My body

• The statement is straightforward: the bread represents His literal body, about to be sacrificed (Hebrews 10:5; John 1:14).

• While symbolic in form, it is tied to the real, historical body of Jesus, making the ordinance a tangible proclamation of the Incarnation.

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Given for you

• “For you” points to substitution—He suffers in the place of sinners (Isaiah 53:4–6; Galatians 2:20; Titus 2:14).

• The personal pronoun invites every believer to see the cross as God’s intimate provision for his or her own redemption.

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Do this in remembrance of Me

• A continuing command: the church is to reenact this meal until He returns (1 Corinthians 11:24–26).

• “Breaking of bread” becomes a defining practice of early Christian fellowship (Acts 2:42).

• Remembering is not passive nostalgia; it is an active proclamation of the gospel, strengthening faith and fostering unity (Ephesians 4:4–6).

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summary

Luke 22:19 institutes the Lord’s Supper: Jesus takes common bread, thanks the Father, breaks it to symbolize His soon-to-be-broken body, distributes it as a gracious gift, declares it represents His own flesh offered as a substitutionary sacrifice, and commands ongoing observance so believers will continually remember and proclaim His redemptive work until He comes again.