Scripture Story Sketch Notes · Matthew 26:17–30; Luke 22:14–20; John 13:1–35
The Last Supper
“This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19
An upper room, a basin and a towel, a hard question, the bread and the cup. Walk His last evening with the Twelve, and carry it with you to the sacrament table.
On the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, Jesus sent disciples to prepare the Passover in a large upper room in Jerusalem. That evening He sat down with the Twelve and told them, “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.” He rose from supper, laid aside His garments, took a towel and a basin of water, and washed His disciples’ feet. Then He said, “Ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
As they ate, He told them that one of them would betray Him. They were exceeding sorrowful, and every one of them began to ask, “Lord, is it I?” Then He took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them: “Take, eat; this is my body.” He took the cup and said, “This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” He gave them a new commandment to love one another as He had loved them. When they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.
Who’s who
Jesus: the Lord and Master who kneels to serve
The Twelve: His Apostles, including Peter, John and Judas Iscariot
The bread and the cup: emblems of His body and blood, given in remembrance
Where and when
A large upper room in Jerusalem at Passover, on the last evening before Gethsemane and the cross.
Watch for the Savior
Watch how He spends His last evening before He suffers: serving, teaching, and giving Himself to them.
Eight stops from the preparing of the room to the hymn under the stars. Scroll, or tap a number on the map.
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The story, plainly
Four scenes: the basin, the question, the bread and the cup, and the new commandment. Look for the Savior in each one.
Read it plainly
The words that trip people up
Tap any dotted word for its meaning. The scripture stays exactly as written.1
Matthew 26:17 “the feast of Meaning: bread made without yeast, eaten at Passover to remember Israel leaving Egypt in haste.”
Matthew 26:20 “Now when the Meaning: evening. was come, he sat down with the twelve”
John 13:4 “took a towel, and Meaning: tied it around his waist, like an apron. himself”
John 13:10 “but is clean Meaning: completely, in every part.”
Matthew 26:23 “He that Meaning: dips. his hand with me in the dish”
Matthew 26:28 “my blood of the new Meaning: covenant, a sacred promise between God and His people.”
Matthew 26:28 “for the Meaning: forgiveness, the taking away. of sins”
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Look closer
Small details tell the story. Some cards are details in the text; others share insights from prophets. Each card says which.
0 of 9 turned
All nine. The room, the basin, the towel, the question, the bread, the cup, the covenant, the new commandment and the hymn. Matthew 26:17–30
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Where are you today?
Some of us find it hard to let Him help, some wonder if the problem is us, some find the sacrament has become routine, and some find it hard to love someone. Which feels most like you right now?
A next step for you
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Try it
That evening, in order
Matthew tells the evening step by step. Tap what happened first, then what came next.
“And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.” Matthew 26:30
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Their world, their words
A little background helps us see what the Twelve saw that night. Outside sources are labeled.
Apostle · Holland
A Passover meal
Elder Holland: the Passover lambs “were a similitude, a token, a prefiguration of the great and last sacrifice of Christ which was to come”.4
That night, the Lamb Himself sat at the table.
Apostle · Talmage
The towel and the basin
Elder Talmage: He “girded Himself with a towel as an apron; then having provided Himself with a basin and a supply of water, He knelt before each of the Twelve in turn”.5
The Lord of all knelt at each one’s feet.
Apostle · Oaks
A covenant to remember
Elder Oaks: “When we partake of the sacrament, we make a sacred covenant that we will always remember the Savior.”7
Today we use bread and water, blessed by the priesthood.
Scripture
A higher kind of love
The command to love was not new. The measure was: “as I have loved you, that ye also love one another”.1
The cup was a covenant: “my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins”. Each week we renew it.1
What the text does not say
The text does not say Jesus skipped anyone when He washed feet. Elder Talmage saw “good reason for inferring that Judas was washed with the rest”. The Lord knelt even before the one who would betray Him. And when He said one of them would betray Him, no one pointed at someone else. Each one asked about himself.5
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Look to Him
He is the Lord who knelt with a towel, the Lamb who gave His body and blood, and the Friend who loved His own “unto the end.”
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: “With a crust of bread, always broken, blessed, and offered first, we remember His bruised body and broken heart”.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “This Do in Remembrance of Me,” October 19954
“It should be a powerful, reverent, reflective moment.”
When you hear a hard teaching this week, can you ask what it means for you before you think of anyone else?
Try it today
One small way to carry the upper room each day. It saves on this device, one day at a time.
0 of 7 today
This week:0 of 7 days
Seven days of remembering Him. Come again tomorrow.
A quiet moment
“This do in remembrance of me.”
Read Luke 22:14–20 slowly. Next Sunday, during the sacrament, think of one moment from His life and stay with it until the tray passes. Write what you remembered. Luke 22:14–20
A verse to hold
Talk about it
Why do you think Jesus chose to wash His disciples’ feet on His last night?
Why do you think each disciple asked, “Lord, is it I?” instead of pointing at someone else?
What could you think about during the sacrament to remember Him?
What would loving others “as I have loved you” look like in our home this week?
Open
For adults and deeper study
Go deeper
Longer readings, harder questions, and where to study next. Each one says what it is before you click.
Apostle
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “This Do in Remembrance of Me” (1995)
The Passover lamb, the bread and the water, the sacrament prayers, and what we might remember while the emblems are passed.4
Everything on this page as an 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
The Last Supper is part of the Scripture Story Sketch Notes for the New Testament, set alongside Come, Follow Me for May 24–30, 2027 (Matthew 26; Mark 14; John 13).
Independent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. This story is told in the words of Matthew, Luke and John; the insights in “Look closer” are labeled by source.
