Q. Sophia: Does John 13:2-4, and Matthew 26:20-26 refer to the same supper? Was Judas present? And if so, (since unbelievers should not be admitted to the Lord’s table) why did the Lord, who knows the secrets of all hearts, admit him?
A. There is no reason to suppose that the two passages do not refer to the same supper, or paschal feast. Judas was present surely; and during its continuance Jesus instituted, that which Scripture afterward calls the Lord’s Supper. The institution of the feast did not reveal other features, which were subsequently introduced into it when it became the symbol of fellowship in the Church, afterward formed by the descent of the Holy Spirit from heaven at Pentecost (Acts 2). It was then the church of God began to exist. When redemption was accomplished, and Jesus ascended to heaven as man; the Holy Spirit descended from heaven to dwell in believers, and in the church of God (Acts 2:22,23); baptizing all Christ’s members into one body (1 Cor. 12:13), and uniting them to Christ in glory. The Lord’s Supper was the recognized symbol of the fellowship of the body of Christ. The first institution of the supper did not embrace what was afterward revealed unto Paul the apostle as to this. He writes, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” “For we, being, many, are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread (or loaf)” (1 Cor. 10:6-17). This was a feature added to the first institution of the supper. One loaf was that which represented the communion of all who were united to Christ, and baptized into one body by the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Paul distinctly informs us that he had a special revelation as to the supper; and of course we should expect it to be so, as he alone had received the truth about the Church of God. Now the church — the body of Christ —is only composed of believers, members of Christ. When they gather together, as such, in His name, to eat the Lord’s Supper, it precludes all thought of unbelievers partaking of the supper amongst them. Even those who are Christ’s, and whose walk does not comport with the holiness and truth that becomes the house of God, are precluded from the Lord’s table. This makes it simple that no unbelievers should partake of it. If Judas did so, it was before the church had any existence, and before the supper had certain features attached to it, as subsequently added through the apostle Paul.