What does Matthew 26:27 mean?
Jesus is once more saying surprising and difficult things to the disciples. He has just broken a loaf of bread and given each of them the pieces, telling them to eat while referring to the bread as His body.Now Jesus takes a cup of wine. He gives thanks to God the Father for the blessing of the wine, perhaps using the customary prayer of thanks to the "Creator of the fruit of the vine." He distributes the wine to each of the disciples.
Jesus was using this moment in the Passover meal to introduce something new to the disciples and, through them, to the church that would soon be born. The requirements for the Passover meal included drinking four cups of wine. This was likely the time for the "cup of blessing." Jesus associates that cup, representing God's gift to Israel, with His own blood. He commands the disciples to drink it, with that specific command in mind.
In the following verse, Jesus describes what that cup of wine will now represent (Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:19).