The Fourth Cup

Deuteronomy 16:16 (AMP) reads,

“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover) and at the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and at the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles), and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.

The Lord instituted three major feasts; these were all commanded as part of the Mosaic Covenant. Today our focus will be on the Feast of Unleavened Bread or Passover.

Passover is a commemoration of the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt and the establishment of Israel as a nation by God’s redemptive act.

Now, contained in this feast are three feasts, so feasts within a feast: the Passover Night, The Feast of Unleavened Bread and The Sheaf of Firstfruits.

Our focus will be narrowed even further as we reflect on the Passover Night as it pertains specifically to the Last Supper.

The Feast of Passover in Hebrew is called Pesakh and the focus of the feast is the lamb.

As was and still is the custom, Jesus and His disciples would have eaten the Passover meal just after sunset. The scene must be seen from a Jewish perspective because that’s the only way it can be properly understood, so let’s start with the familiar image that has been seared into our consciousness where Jesus and the twelve are seated at a long dinner table.

This imagery is certainly not biblical as sharing a meal together was an act of intimacy, it denoted closeness; John 13:23 (NIV) attests to that, One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Instead of sitting upright and unconnected, Jesus and His disciples would have been on the floor, reclining around a triclinium, a low three-legged table, that accommodated the meal.

 Normally the centrepiece of the meal was the lamb, however, in the Gospel account there is no mention of a lamb at the Last supper, neither is there any mention of the bitter herbs (maror), the only similarity to the first Passover was the unleavened bread.

Also, Jesus introduced an element to the meal that was not a part of the original – wine.

Every omission and every addition to this Passover Feast which took place on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion was intentional. The absence of lamb is not insignificant as Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29), He is the real lamb that was about to be killed. The bitter herbs that were also missing was a sign that Jesus would take all the bitterness upon Himself.

So now there is only the bread and the wine.

The unleavened bread. Have you ever seen bread made without any rising agents? It is very flat and with this particular Passover-meal bread, called matzah or matzo, it is punctured and lined, reminiscent of Isaiah 53:5 (AMP).

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our   injustice, our wrongdoing]; The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.

These days at the Passover meal, wine is drunk four times from a cup with each drink representing the four promises made by the Lord in Exodus 6:6-7.

I will bring you out – the cup of Sanctification

I will rescue you – the cup of Deliverance  

I will redeem you – the cup of Redemption

I will take you as My people – the cup of Praise 

The Passover cup which Jesus gave to His disciples to drink was symbolic of His approaching suffering and death. In Luke’s account it appears that Jesus Himself did not drink from that cup and certainly never drank the fourth cup.

And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” – Luke 22:17-18 (AMP)

However, in Mark’s account Jesus says,

Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” – Mark 14:25 (ESV)

The fourth cup, symbolic of when the Lord takes us as His people had not and has not yet been fulfilled. He will not drink of the cup again until He returns.

The fourth cup, symbolic of when the Lord takes us as His people had not and has not yet been fulfilled. He will not drink the cup until He returns.

Jesus raised the cup before they ate and raised the cup after the meal saying,

“This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant [ratified] in My blood” – Luke 22:20 (AMP)

The Last Supper is filled with symbolism, symbolism that Jesus made clear as Luke 22:15-25 recounts. Jesus declared that the bread and wine were symbols of His body and blood.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life [which it represents].’  – Leviticus 17:11(AMP)

Beloved, Jesus is our Passover lamb, nowadays the entire feast represents what He did for all of humanity on the cross. Passover typifies the atoning sacrifice of our Lamb, Jesus. The price He paid in His body and His blood is symbolized by the bread and the wine. 

Jesus may not have drunk the fourth cup but the cup of judgment He drank became a cup of blessing to us all (Mark 14:36).

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “The Fourth Cup” ©2026 February 4, 2026