Matthew 26:26

And blessed and brake it (euloghsa eklasen). Special "Grace" in the middle of the passover meal, "as they were eating," for the institution of the Supper. Jesus broke one of the passover wafers or cakes that each might have a piece, not as a symbol of the breaking of his body as the Textus Receptus has it in 1 Corinthians 11:24 . The correct text there has only to uper umwn without klwmenon. As a matter of fact the body of Jesus was not "broken" ( John 19:33 ) as John expressly states. This is my body (touto estin to swma mou). The bread as a symbol represents the body of Jesus offered for us, "a beautifully simple, pathetic, and poetic symbol of his death" (Bruce). But some have made it "run into fetish worship" (Bruce). Jesus, of course, does not mean that the bread actually becomes his body and is to be worshipped. The purpose of the memorial is to remind us of his death for our sins.