July 14

Luke 22:19‑20
“He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it and gave 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 22:19, 2019And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:19‑20).
THE institution of the Lord’s Supper followed immediately after the Passover, which Jesus participated in with His disciples. It was the last Passover feast that God ever recognized, for He who sat that night at the head of the table was Himself to die as the true Paschal Lamb on the following day.
The Lord’s Supper was destined to be the characteristic feast of the new dispensation. It is primarily a memorial of Christ. In its observance we remember Him personally, and we show His death till He come (1 Cor. 11:2626For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. (1 Corinthians 11:26)). It is not, properly speaking, a sacrifice, but a reminder of the one Sacrifice offered on the cross, which has settled the sin question to the divine satisfaction. But the sacrifice of praise is intimately connected with it (Heb. 13:1515By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. (Hebrews 13:15)). The early Christians often referred to it as the Eucharist, from a Greek word meaning “thanksgiving” (Phil. 4:66Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Philippians 4:6)), because as they thus remembered the Lord in the breaking of bread their hearts went out to Him in thanksgiving and praise. To speak of “the real presence” in the elements of bread and wine (the fruit of the vine) is to deny this character of a remembrance. We would not need to remember Him if He were corporeally present. By the Spirit He is always present when two or three are gathered in His name for this purpose or any other (Matt. 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)), but actually, in His physical body, He is at God’s right hand in heaven.
“Be known to us in breaking bread,
But do not then depart;
Saviour, abide with us, and spread
Thy table in our heart.
There sup with us in love divine,
Thy body and Thy blood.
That living bread, that heavenly wine,
Be our immortal food.” Amen.
—James Montgomery.