4. Christ's Purpose in the Institution
But this is not all. The purpose of Christ is not
merely to give his disciples the right point of view
for the understanding of his death. It is to give
them himself, in order that they may overcome
the
temptation to doubt into which the
mere thought of his death has thrown
them. What he now does stands on
an entirely different footing from his
discourse at Capernaum (John vi.).
There he spoke, indeed, of the eating
and drinking of his flesh and blood; but he spoke
symbolically, with reference to the paradox of his
lowly appearance, under which men must find the
bread of heaven and of life. The image of eating
and drinking represents the faith which lives by
the humility of Jesus. Even verses 51 sqq. go no
further than this, but declare that his humiliation
must terminate in his death, and that men moat
accept him as he is, in flesh and blood, in order to
live by him. The thought of a sacrifice does not
appear. All this is merely symbolic. The institution of the Lord's Supper is entirely different. Here
he acts, not merely talks. To be sure, both speech
and action are primarily symbolical, but what he
symbolizes is the sacrifice then approaching completion, and the appropriation by man of the benefits
of that sacrifice. The symbol is but the means by
which he gives them what he means to give them.
He, who is about to offer himself in sacrifice, gives
himself not only for but to his disciples for their
own, in a way in which he has never before given
himself to them. The last barrier which has separated them is removed. He has reached his goal;
the old is past. He is, not only is about to be, the
sacrifice; the few hours that intervene before the
crucifixion do not count. The sacrifice is prepared-such a sacrifice as has never before been
offered, and one in which they are to take part as
none have ever taken part in any previous sacrifice. As their act of eating and drinking is both
the symbol and the putting into operation of the
faith by which they accept him, so his gifts are
both the symbol and the realization of his utter
self-devotion for them and to them. The distinction between these two latter aspects is that between the provision of salvation
and its appropriation; and the appropriation takes place now.
When they see the sacrifice offered, they can now
say to themselves that it is theirs, that they have
part in it. Thus the institution of the Lord's Supper is the extension of the line which passes through
the language of John vi. about the eating and
drinking of his flesh and blood. The gift of himself, as a sacrifice, for us and to us is the completion of his appearance in flesh and
blood. The eating and drinking of his gifts in the Supper is the
highest point of the eating and drinking mentioned in John vi.; and this may account for the
fact that John's Gospel does not describe the institution. On this fact, then, that Jesus (as the
new covenant requires) does not merely symbolize
but gives what he symbolizes, rests the understanding of the words which he used, and the conception of the sacrament as an institution destined for
all who accept the new covenant. Accordingly,
wherever the Lord's Supper is celebrated after his
institution, he gives himself in the manner in which
he symbolizes his gift; symbol and reality are
joined; he is present exactly as he said, as he symbolized, and as he accomplished-no otherwise and
no less. There can be no question of the imparting
of higher powers of life, as they are found in him,
nor of nourishment for the resurrection body; but
there is the sacrifice for the remission of sine, which
he is for us, and which is ours.
