By:
William John Hocking, Editor
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. 26:2626And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. (Matthew 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 6:1111And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. (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 12:3434The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: 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, 2827And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 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 31:31-3431Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (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. 9:44Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; (Romans 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. 9:2828So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 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 10:1616And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (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 11:23-3223For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. 27Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. (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. 6:1414But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 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.