CHAPTER II. THE OUTWARD PART OR SIGN OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. I. Connection. Having considered the object for which the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was ordained, the Catechism proceeds to treat of "the outward part or sign of the Lord's Supper." This it defines to be Bread and Wine, which the Lord hath commanded to be received. 2. The Command that these elements should be received is recorded in three of the Gospels1, and in St Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians, where the Apostle reminds those to whom he wrote of that account of the Institution of this Sacrament, which he had already delivered to them, and which he had received by express revelation from the Lord. 2 3. The Paschal Feast. The Lord's Supper, as we have already seen, was instituted at a Paschal Feast 3. With the Passover by Divine ordinance there had always been eaten flat cakes of unleavened bread (Ex. xii. 8); and the rites of the feast by immemorial usage had been regulated according to the succession of four cups of wine. These were placed before the 1 Mtt. xxvi. 26-29; Mk. xiv. 22-25; Lk. xxii. 19, 20. 2 I Cor. xi. 23-25: Ἐγὼ γὰρ παρέλαβον ἀπὸ τοῦ Κυ ρίου ὃ καὶ παρέδωκα ὑμῖν. Compare Gal. i. 12. The similarity between St Paul's account of the Institution and that given in St Luke's Gospel has often been noticed. 3 Comp. (a) Mtt. xxvi, 1, 2; (b) Mtt. xxvi. 17, 18; Mk. xiv. 13, 14; (c) Lk. xxii. 10, 11; (d) Lk. xxii. 15. 4 Buxtorf de Coena Domini, pp. 299, 300. "Omnes in cœna Paschali oportet quatuor pocula bibere." "Four cups of wine were to be drunk by every one." Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. on Mtt. xxvi. 27; and compare Ps. cxvi. 12. master of the house where the Paschal company1 was assembled, or the most eminent guest, who was called the Celebrant, the President, or Proclaimer of the Feast. 4. Rites of the Feast. After those assembled had reclined, He took one of the four cups, known as the "Cup of Consecration," and pronounced the benediction over the wine and the feast, saying, Blessed be Thou, O Lord our God, the King of the Universe, who hast created the fruit of the vine2. Then followed ablutions, the setting out of the table with the unleavened bread, the Paschal Lamb, and the feastofferings, the drinking of a second cup, and the Haggadah, or Shewing forth3 of the circumstances of the Exodus. After this the President took two of the unleavened cakes, broke one of them with the words Blessed be thou, O Lord, King of the Universe, who bringest forth fruit out of the earth, and distributed a portion to each person around him. Then after the eating of the flesh of the Paschal Lamb, he lifted up his hands, and blessed the third cup of wine, specially known as the Cup of Blessing, and handed it round to each guest at the table. Thereupon followed a renewal of thanksgiving, and the drinking of a fourth cup, known as the "Cup of Song," after which a Hymn, called the Hallel*, was sung, and the rite was concluded. 1 Which might include not less than ten persons, but usually from ten to twenty, according to the family, or the number of strangers that might be present. 2 For similar use of these words in the synagogue service for Friday evening, see Pedahzur's Jewish Ceremonies, p. 137. 3 "Hence the Apostle borroweth his phrase, As often as ye eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, ye do declare or shew forth (Karayyeere) the Lord's death till he come, 1 Cor. xi. 26)." Godwyn's Moses and Aaron, Book III. 4 Psalms cxiii cxviii. This explains Mtt. xxvi. 30; Mk. xiv. 26, respecting the Hymn, or rather Psalm, sung before our Lord and His disciples left the Upper-Room. 5. Institution of the Lord's Supper. Such, or nearly such, were the ceremonies observed at the celebration of the Passover in the time of our Lord. On the night, then, that He was betrayed, when all things had been duly prepared in the upper-room at Jerusalem, He sat down with His Apostles, and assumed the place amongst them of Master, or President of the company, Then as the feast proceeded1, taking one of the unleavened cakes that had been placed before Him, when He had given thanks, He brake it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, Take, eat; This is My Body' which is given for you: Do this in remembrance of Me. Afterwards He took a cup of wine, probably the third cup, and known as the "Cup of Blessing"," 3" and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this; for this is My Blood of the New Testament3, which is shed for you 1 Even if delTvov yevoμévov be the right reading in Jn. xiii. 2, the meaning is when supper had begun. Tischendorf and Tregelles read γινομένου. 2 Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ Σῶμά μου. So Mtt.,Mk., Lk., and 1 Cor. xi. 24. St Luke, however, adds тò vπèp vμŵv didóμevoV= which is being (or on the point of being) given for you. St Paul adds τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν κλώμενον, which is being (or on the point of being) broken for you. Both St Luke and St Paul add, Do this in remembrance of me, eis τǹv čμnv åváμvnoiv, on the force of which see Waterland's Works, Vol. IV. pp. 499— 512. 3 See above, p. 170. 4 Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ αἷμά μου, τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης (Mtt. xxvi. 28, but some chief MSS. omit καινῆς), τὸ περὶ πολλῶν ἐκχυνό μενον εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν= For This My Blood of the New Testament (or rather the New Covenant, or the New Dispensation), which is being (or on the point of being) poured out for many unto remission of sins. 6 St Luke and St Paul read Τοῦτο τὸ ποτήριον ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ αἵματι= This Cup is the New Covenant (or Dispensation) in my Blood. and for many, for the remission of sins: Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of Me1. 6. The Elements of Bread and Wine. Thus did our Lord ordain Bread and Wine to be the outward part or sign of the Sacrament of our Redemption by His Death. In the Feast of the Passover these elements had been subordinate. He now gives to them the first importance. In the Feast of the Passover, the Paschal Lamb had occupied the chief place, it had been selected with scrupulous care (Exod. xii. 5), it had been slain with solemn ceremony, its blood had been sprinkled on the Brazen Altar in the Temple, and it was then not burnt, or eaten by the priests only, but by all the people, in memory of the delivery of the Israelites from Egypt. But now the type was succeeded by the Antitype, now the "very 1 This is added in St Paul's record, 1 Cor. xi. 24. 2 Foreshadowings of the use of Bread and Wine in this Sacrament have been traced in: (a) The history of Melchizedek, King of Salem, and (c) The Miracles of the Feeding of the Five (Jn. XXXV. 10, II. 4 See Cudworth's True Notion of the Lord's Supper, Works, II. 831. In the Passover, (a) the principle of mediation found its highest expression; (b) the victim slain was in the strictest sense a sacrifice, and combined some of the chief features of (1) the sin-offering, and (2) the peace-offering; (c) the idea of a sacrificial feast was most deeply realised. See Class-Book of O.T. History, p. 139, and 151, n. Paschal Lamb1" was come, and was about to offer Himself upon the altar of His Cross for the sins of the whole world. Of the Jewish Paschal lamb, therefore, no word is said, but in place of it our Blessed Lord puts the Bread and Wine. The lamb had been eaten as a type of Him, Bread and Wine were to be taken and received in remembrance of Him. CHAPTER III. THE INWARD PART OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 1. Connection. From treating of "the outward part or sign in the Lord's Supper," the Catechism passes on to speak of "the inward part or thing signified," and this it defines to be The Body and Blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper. 2. The words of our Lord. The truth of this statement is sufficiently confirmed by the words of our Lord Himself. For, as we have already seen, on the occasion of the second Passover of His public ministry, He declared to the Jews in the synagogue of Capernaum, that He was the Bread of Life, the Living Bread, which came down from heaven; that His Flesh was meat indeed3, and His Blood drink indeed 1 Compare Tyndall's Version of 1 Cor. v. 7, 8: "Christ oure Easter-lambe is offered up for us; therefore let us kepe holy daye." 2 If the Miracle of the "Feeding of the Five Thousand" was, as some hold (see Tischendorf's Synop. Evang. XXXIV.), wrought on a Passover-Eve, the significance of its connection with the Discourse on the following day in the synagogue of Capernaum, and with the following Passover, when the Eucharist was instituted, is very striking. 3 The better reading is ἡ γὰρ σάρξ μου ἀληθής ἐστι βρῶσις, καὶ τὸ αἷμά μου αληθής ἐστι πόσις=For My Flesh is true meat, and My Blood is true drink. "Fateor," says Calvin, |