LORD’S, derives its name from having been instituted by Jesus,
after he had supped with his Apostles, immediately before he went out to
be delivered into the hands of his enemies. In Egypt, for every house of
the children of Israel, a lamb was slain upon that night, when the
Almighty punished the cruelty and obstinacy of the Egyptians by killing
their first-born, but charged the destroying angel to pass over the
houses upon which the blood of the lamb was sprinkled. This was the
original sacrifice of the passover. In commemoration of it, the Jews
observed the annual festival of the passover, when all the males of
Judea assembled before the Lord in Jerusalem. A lamb was slain for every
house, the representative of that whose blood had been sprinkled in the
night of the escape from Egypt. After the blood was poured under the
altar by the priests, the lambs were carried home to be eaten by the
people in their tents or houses at a domestic feast, where every master
of a family took the cup of thanksgiving, and gave thanks with his
family to the God of Israel. Jesus having fulfilled the law of Moses, to
which in all things he submitted, by eating the paschal supper with his
disciples, proceeded after supper to institute a rite, which, to any
person that reads the words of the institution without having formed a
previous opinion upon the subject, will probably appear to have been
intended by him as a memorial of that event which was to happen not many
hours after. “He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave it
unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in
remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup
is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you,” Luke xxii, 19,
20. He took the bread which was then on the table, and the wine, of
which some had been used in sending round the cup of thanksgiving; and
by saying, “This is my body, this is my blood, do this in remembrance of
me,” he declared to his Apostles that this was the representation of his
death by which he wished them to commemorate that event. The Apostle
Paul, not having been present at the institution, received it by
immediate revelation from the Lord Jesus; and the manner in which he
delivers it to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. xi, 23–26, implies that it was
not a rite confined to the Apostles who were present when it was
instituted, but that it was meant to be observed by all Christians till
the end of the world. “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this
cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.” Whether we consider
these words as part of the revelation made to St. Paul, or as his own
commentary upon the nature of the ordinance which was revealed to him,
they mark, with equal significancy and propriety, the extent and the
perpetuity of the obligation to observe that rite which was first
instituted in presence of the Apostles.
There is a striking correspondence between this view of the Lord’s
Supper, as a rite by which it was intended that all Christians should
commemorate the death of Christ, and the circumstances attending the
institution of the feast of the passover. Like the Jews, we have the
original sacrifice: “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us,” and by
his substitution our souls are delivered from death. Like the Jews, we
have a feast in which that sacrifice, and the deliverance purchased by
it, are remembered. Hence the Lord’s Supper was early called the
eucharist, from its being said by St. Luke, “Jesus, when he took the
bread, gave thanks;” and his disciples in all ages, when they receive
the bread, keep a feast of thanksgiving. To Christians, as to Jews,
there is “a night to be much observed unto the Lord,” in all
generations. To Christians, as to Jews, the manner of observing the
night is appointed. To both it is accompanied with thanksgiving.
The Lord’s Supper exhibits, by a significant action, the
characteristical doctrine of the Christian faith, that the death of its
author, which seemed to be the completion of the rage of his enemies,
was a voluntary sacrifice, so efficacious as to supersede the necessity
of every other; and that his blood was shed for the remission of sins.
By partaking of this rite, his disciples publish an event most
interesting to all the kindreds of the earth; they declare that, far
from being ashamed of the suffering of their Master, they glory in his
cross; and, while they thus perform the office implied in that
expression of the Apostle, “Ye do show forth the Lord’s death,” they at
the same time cherish the sentiments by which their religion ministers
to their own consolation and improvement. They cannot remember the death
of Christ, the circumstances which rendered that event necessary, the
disinterested love and the exalted virtues of their deliverer, without
feeling their obligations to him. Unless the vilest hypocrisy accompany
an action, which, by its very nature, professes to flow from warm
affection, the love of Christ will constrain them to fulfil the purposes
of his death, by “living unto him who died for them;” and we have reason
to hope, that, in the places where he causes his name to be remembered,
he will come and bless his people. As the object of faith is thus
explicitly set before them in every commemoration, so the renewed
exercise of that faith, which the ordinance is designed to excite, must
bring renewed life, and a deeper experience of the “great salvation.”
See SACRAMENT.
after he had supped with his Apostles, immediately before he went out to
be delivered into the hands of his enemies. In Egypt, for every house of
the children of Israel, a lamb was slain upon that night, when the
Almighty punished the cruelty and obstinacy of the Egyptians by killing
their first-born, but charged the destroying angel to pass over the
houses upon which the blood of the lamb was sprinkled. This was the
original sacrifice of the passover. In commemoration of it, the Jews
observed the annual festival of the passover, when all the males of
Judea assembled before the Lord in Jerusalem. A lamb was slain for every
house, the representative of that whose blood had been sprinkled in the
night of the escape from Egypt. After the blood was poured under the
altar by the priests, the lambs were carried home to be eaten by the
people in their tents or houses at a domestic feast, where every master
of a family took the cup of thanksgiving, and gave thanks with his
family to the God of Israel. Jesus having fulfilled the law of Moses, to
which in all things he submitted, by eating the paschal supper with his
disciples, proceeded after supper to institute a rite, which, to any
person that reads the words of the institution without having formed a
previous opinion upon the subject, will probably appear to have been
intended by him as a memorial of that event which was to happen not many
hours after. “He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave it
unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in
remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup
is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you,” Luke xxii, 19,
20. He took the bread which was then on the table, and the wine, of
which some had been used in sending round the cup of thanksgiving; and
by saying, “This is my body, this is my blood, do this in remembrance of
me,” he declared to his Apostles that this was the representation of his
death by which he wished them to commemorate that event. The Apostle
Paul, not having been present at the institution, received it by
immediate revelation from the Lord Jesus; and the manner in which he
delivers it to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. xi, 23–26, implies that it was
not a rite confined to the Apostles who were present when it was
instituted, but that it was meant to be observed by all Christians till
the end of the world. “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this
cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.” Whether we consider
these words as part of the revelation made to St. Paul, or as his own
commentary upon the nature of the ordinance which was revealed to him,
they mark, with equal significancy and propriety, the extent and the
perpetuity of the obligation to observe that rite which was first
instituted in presence of the Apostles.
There is a striking correspondence between this view of the Lord’s
Supper, as a rite by which it was intended that all Christians should
commemorate the death of Christ, and the circumstances attending the
institution of the feast of the passover. Like the Jews, we have the
original sacrifice: “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us,” and by
his substitution our souls are delivered from death. Like the Jews, we
have a feast in which that sacrifice, and the deliverance purchased by
it, are remembered. Hence the Lord’s Supper was early called the
eucharist, from its being said by St. Luke, “Jesus, when he took the
bread, gave thanks;” and his disciples in all ages, when they receive
the bread, keep a feast of thanksgiving. To Christians, as to Jews,
there is “a night to be much observed unto the Lord,” in all
generations. To Christians, as to Jews, the manner of observing the
night is appointed. To both it is accompanied with thanksgiving.
The Lord’s Supper exhibits, by a significant action, the
characteristical doctrine of the Christian faith, that the death of its
author, which seemed to be the completion of the rage of his enemies,
was a voluntary sacrifice, so efficacious as to supersede the necessity
of every other; and that his blood was shed for the remission of sins.
By partaking of this rite, his disciples publish an event most
interesting to all the kindreds of the earth; they declare that, far
from being ashamed of the suffering of their Master, they glory in his
cross; and, while they thus perform the office implied in that
expression of the Apostle, “Ye do show forth the Lord’s death,” they at
the same time cherish the sentiments by which their religion ministers
to their own consolation and improvement. They cannot remember the death
of Christ, the circumstances which rendered that event necessary, the
disinterested love and the exalted virtues of their deliverer, without
feeling their obligations to him. Unless the vilest hypocrisy accompany
an action, which, by its very nature, professes to flow from warm
affection, the love of Christ will constrain them to fulfil the purposes
of his death, by “living unto him who died for them;” and we have reason
to hope, that, in the places where he causes his name to be remembered,
he will come and bless his people. As the object of faith is thus
explicitly set before them in every commemoration, so the renewed
exercise of that faith, which the ordinance is designed to excite, must
bring renewed life, and a deeper experience of the “great salvation.”
See SACRAMENT.