XLIII. THE LORD'S SUPPER
`The cup of blessing which we bless, is
it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not
a communion of the body of Christ?' -- 1 Cor. 10:16
`He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My
blood abideth in Me, and I in him. He that eateth Me, he also shall live
because of Me.' -- John 6:56,57
All life has need of food: it is
sustained by nourishment which it takes in from without. The heavenly life
must have heavenly food; nothing less than Jesus Himself is the bread of life:
`He that eateth Me shall live by Me.' (Ps. 42:3; Matt. 4:4; John 6:51)
This heavenly food, Jesus, is brought near to us
in two of the means of grace, the word and the Lord's Supper. The word comes
to present Jesus to us from the side of the intellectual life, by our thoughts.
The Lord's Supper comes in like manner to present Jesus to us from the side of
the emotional life, by the physical senses. Man has a double nature: he has
spirit and body. Redemption begins with the spirit, but it would also
penetrate to the body, (Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 6:13, 15,19,20; Phil. 3:21)
Redemption is not complete until this mortal body also shall share in glory.
The Supper is the pledge that the Lord will also change our body of humiliation
and make it like His own glorified body by the working whereby He subdues all
things to Himself. It is not simply because all that is corporeal is more
clear and intelligible for us, that the Lord gives Himself in the bread of the
Supper. No: by the body, Scripture often understands the whole man. In the
Supper, Christ would take possession of the whole man, body and soul, to renew
and sanctify it by the power of His holy body and blood. Even His body shares
in His glory: even His body is communicated by the Holy Spirit. Even our body
is fed with His holy body, and renewed by the working of the Holy Spirit.
(Matt. 26:26; John 6:54,55; Rom. 8:11,13)
This feeding with the body of Christ takes
place, on the side of the Lord by the Spirit, on our side by faith. On the
side of the Lord by the Spirit: for the Spirit communicates to us the power of
the glorified body, whereby even our bodies, according to Scripture, become
members of His body. (1 Cor. 6:15,17; 12:13; Eph. 5:23,30) The Spirit gives
us to drink of the life-power of His blood, so that that blood becomes the life
and the joy of our soul. The bread is a participation in the body: the cup is
a participation in the blood.
And this takes place on our side by faith: a
faith that, above what can be seen or understood, reckons on the wonder-working
power of the Holy Spirit to unite us really, alike in soul and body, with our
Lord, by communicating Him inwardly to us. (Luke 1:37; 1 Cor. 2:9,12)
This is what the Heidelberg Catechism intends in
Question and Answer 76.
`What is it to eat the glorified body of Christ
and to drink His shed blood?'
`It is not only to receive with a believing
heart the whole suffering and dying of Christ, and thereby to obtain
forgiveness of sins and eternal life, but also therewith, by the Holy Spirit,
who dwells alike in Christ and in us, to be so united more and more with His
blessed body, that we, although He is in heaven and we are upon earth, are
nevertheless flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, and so live and are
governed eternally by one Spirit, as the members of our body by a soul.' *
This deeply inward union with Jesus, even with
His body and blood, is the great aim of the Lord's Supper. All that it teaches
and gives us of the forgiveness of sins, of the remembrance of Jesus, of the
confirmation of the divine covenant, of union with one another, of the
announcement of the Lord's death till He comes, must lead to this: complete
oneness with Jesus through the Spirit. (Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:19; John 6:56;
25:4; 1 Cor. 10:17; 11:25; Rev. 3:20) `He that eateth My flesh and drinketh
My blood abideth in Me, and I in him. He that eateth Me, he shall live by Me.'
It is readily understood that the blessing of
the Supper depends very much on preparation within the inner chamber, on the
hunger and thirst with which one longs for the living God. (Job. 11:13; Isa.
45:1,3; Matt. 5:6; Luke 1:53; 1 Cor. 11:8) Do not imagine, however, that
the Supper is nothing but an emblematic token of what we already have by faith
in the word. No: it is a spiritual actual communication from the exalted Lord
in heaven of the powers of His life: yet this, only according to the measure of
desire and faith. Prepare for the Lord's Supper, therefore, with very earnest
separation and prayer. And then expect that the Lord will, with His heavenly
power, in a way to you incomprehensible, yet sure, renew your life.
Blessed Lord, who didst institute the Supper in order to
communicate Thyself to Thy redeemed as their food and their power of life, O
teach us to use the Supper. Teach us at every opportunity to eat and to drink
with great hunger and thirst for Thyself and for full union with Thee,
believing that the Holy Spirit feeds us with Thy body and gives us to drink of
Thy blood. Amen.
1. In connection with the
Supper let us be especially on our guard against the idea of a mere divine
service of the congregation or transitory emotion. Preaching and addresses may
make an edifying impression, while there is little power or blessing.
2. For a meal, the first requisite is hunger.
A strong hunger and thirst for God is indispensable.
3. In the Supper, Jesus desires to give Himself
to us, and would have us give ourselves to Him. These are great and holy
things.
4. The lessons of the Supper are many. It is a
feast of remembrance; a feast of reconciliation; a covenant feast; a love
feast; a feast of hope. But all these separate thoughts are only subordinate
parts of the principal element: the living Jesus would give Himself to us in
the most inward union. The Son of God would descend into our inmost parts; He
would come in to celebrate the Supper with us. `He that eateth My flesh and
drinketh My blood, let him abide in Me, and I in him.'
5. And then union with Jesus is union with His
people in love and sympathy.
6. The preparatory address is not itself the
preparation: it is only a help to the private preparation which one must have
in intercourse with Jesus.
7. To hold festival with God at His table is
something of unspeakable importance. Pray, do not suppose that, because you
are a Christian, it is easy for you to go and sit down. No: betake yourself to
solitude with Jesus, that He may speak to you and say how you are to prepare
you heart to eat with Him, yea, with Himself.
It is very useful to take the whole week before
the Supper for preparation and the whole week after for reflection.
* `Der Heidelbergische Catechismus,' 28,
5:76.