BEFORE quitting the world for the Father’s house, the Lord Jesus gave to His own this touching proof of His changeless love. On that evening, when all was darkening around Him, and the shadow of the cross was before His holy mind, He gathered around Him His beloved disciples, that He might eat the Passover with them before He suffered, and that He might institute the simple feast that henceforward should take the place of the Passover in their minds.
Who can enter adequately into the feelings of His tender heart as He thought of His approaching betrayal by one of the favored band, of His desertion by all the rest, of the rage and malice of men and Satan, and, beyond all, of His impending abandonment by God Himself because of sin? These were the thoughts that were passing through His mind, overwhelming it with deepest sorrow, as He sat at the paschal table on that memorable night. “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body” (Matt. 26:26). It is needless, perhaps, to add that He did not bless the loaf, but God, as when He fed the hungry multitudes (John 6:11). The loaf speaks of His body given—offered up. This was especially solemn and strange in the ears of Jewish disciples, who counted on Messiah’s bodily presence here. The multitude fully expressed Jewish sentiments when they said, “We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?” (John 12:34).
There was a deeper work in hand just then than the mere expulsion of the Romans and the establishment of an earthly kingdom; man’s sinful and alienated condition called for a sacrifice, and who was able to offer this but the Lord Jesus? Hence the loaf is the token of His body offered, as the cup speaks to us of His blood shed. On this all blessing is founded, whether in the kingdom by-and-by, or in Christianity now. “And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament [covenant] which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:27, 28). After all the failure of man under the old covenant, how blessed it is to hear the Lord speak of the new! Compare Jeremiah 31:31-34. God made a covenant with Israel when He took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; but they violated that covenant, though Jehovah was a husband unto them. But in the latter days, a new covenant shall be made with them on the principle of sovereign grace, and under it they shall be fully blessed. The basis of this is before us in the words of the Lord Jesus.
It is important to observe that scripture never speaks of Christians as standing in covenant-relationship with God. The covenants, both old and new, pertain to Israel, not to the church of God (Rom. 9:4). The Epistle to the Hebrews shows that the blessings of the new covenant are ours, but not the covenant itself. That will be made by God with Israel at a later day.
But the precious blood of Christ goes far beyond Israel in its efficacy and power. It was “shed for many for the remission of sins.” “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Heb. 9:28).
This includes the “other sheep,” who, though not belonging to the Jewish fold, were to hear the Shepherd’s voice in blessing (John 10:16). Here we Gentiles come in. We look back adoringly at the cross of Jesus, and there see the righteous ground on which all our sins are divinely remitted. The blood has answered every question, and settled every claim. The foe is silenced forever, and our souls are happy and free.
In 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 we see the place given to the Lord’s supper in the service and worship of the church of God. There we read twice, “This do in remembrance of me.” It is thus an abiding memorial of the One Who was slain in this world—Whose precious blood was shed. Dull and cold must be the heart that cannot respond to the Lord’s request, and carry out this simple feast in His own appointed way. The Lord prizes it highly. It is a proof of the affection of His own, a mark of appreciation of His wondrous grace.
We thus testify to His death. This presents the world to us in a very solemn light. It is responsible for the murder of the One Who is everything to us; how can we love it or walk with it? The cross is an impassable barrier between us and the world. The world is crucified to us and we to it; our boast is in the cross alone (Gal. 6:14).
“Till he come” is the word of the Holy Spirit. We are thus reminded of what is in store for us in a brighter sphere. We belong to heaven, and are at present away from home, passing through a wilderness. We are reminded of this every time we “break bread” in remembrance of our Lord Jesus.
Oh, that these things had greater power in our souls! Let us meditate much upon them, that we may learn the deep secrets of the heart of Jesus, with the result that our devotedness to 4-iis name may be increased, and our separation from the world may be more complete.
W.W.F.