THE LORD'S SUPPER--PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.
Our catechumen has now been confirmed. The pastor has given him,
in the name of the congregation, the right hand of fellowship, and
also publicly authorized him to join with the congregation in the
celebration of the Lord's Supper. For the first time, then, the young
Christian is to partake of this holy sacrament, in order that thereby
he may be still further strengthened and confirmed in the true faith.
This sacred institution, also, is a part of God's Way of
Salvation. It is one of the means of Grace appointed and ordained by
Christ. It "hath been instituted for the special comfort and
strengthening of those who humbly confess their sins and who hunger
and thirst after righteousness."
It is true that multitudes do not regard it as a means or channel
of Grace. To them it is only an ancient rite or ceremony, having no
special significance or blessing connected with it. It is at most a
symbol, a sign, or representation of something, entirely absent and in
no way connected with it. If there is any blessing at all attached to
it, it consists in the pious thoughts, the holy emotions and sacred
memories, which the communicant tries to bring to it and which are in
some way deepened by it. At best, it is a memorial of an absent
Saviour, and in some form a representation of His sufferings and
death.
Now if this were all that we could see in the Lord's Supper, we
would not regard it as a part of God's Way of Salvation. But our
Church sees much more in it. With her it is indeed an essential and
integral part of that Way. And since this is another of the few points
on which the Lutheran Church differs materially from many others, it
will be well for us to devote some space and time to its study.
Much has been written on this important subject. We may not have
anything new to add, but it is well often to recall and re-study the
old truths, so easily forgotten. Before we consider the nature of this
sacrament, we will make a few preliminary observations that will help
us to guard against false views, and to arrive at correct conclusions.
We observe first, the importance of bearing in mind the _source_
from which this institution has come. Who is its author? What is the
nature or character of its origin? Our views of any institution are
generally more or less influenced by thus considering its origin.
Whence then did the Church get this ordinance which she has ever so
conscientiously kept and devoutly celebrated? Did it emanate from the
wisdom of man? Did some zealous mystic or hermit invent it, because
forsooth he supposed it would be pleasant and profitable to have such
an ordinance in the Church? Or did some early Church Council institute
it, because those earnest fathers in their wisdom deemed it necessary
that the Church should have such a service? Can it, in short, be
traced to any _human_ origin? If so, then we can deal with it as with
any other human institution. We are then at liberty to reason and
speculate about it. We can apply to it the rules of human science and
learning. We can test it, measure it, sound it by philosophy, logic,
and the laws of the mind. Each one then has a right to his own opinion
about it. Each one can apply to it the favorite test of common sense,
and draw his own conclusions.
But now, we know that this is not a human institution. The Church
has received it from the hands of the Son of God. It was ordained by
Him who could say, "_All power is given unto Me in heaven and in
earth_," and, "_In whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily_;" who even before his birth in human form was called "_the
Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace_." When we
come to deal with an institution of His, we dare never expect to
fathom or test it by our poor, short-sighted and sin-blinded reason,
philosophy, science, or common sense. "_For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts._" Whenever, therefore, we
come to deal with anything that comes from His hands, it is no longer
of the earth, earthy, and is not subject to earthly laws and human
rules. His acts, His deeds, His words, belong to the realm of faith,
and not of reason. Reason must ever be taken captive and made to bow
before the heavenly things connected, with Him. Or shall we try to
reason out His human birth, His growth, His nature, His deeds? Shall
we reason out the feeding of the multitudes with those few barley
loaves and fishes? No; they came through His hands, and the power of
those hands we cannot comprehend. We cannot comprehend how that
afflicted woman could receive virtue, health and life, by touching the
hem of His garment--a mere fabric of cloth--or how the clay and
spittle from His hands could open the eyes of one born blind.
Whenever, therefore, we come to study this ordinance, let us ever
bear in mind its divine origin. It is _the Lord's_ Supper. This
precaution will be a safeguard against error, and a help to the truth.
We notice secondly the _time_ of institution. It was "_in
the night in which He was betrayed_." That awful night, when the
clouds of divine wrath were gathered over Him, and were ready to burst
upon Him; when the accumulated guilt of a sinful race was all to be
laid on Him, borne by Him as though it were His own, and its
punishment endured as though He had committed every sin. Then, when
the strokes of justice were about to fall, our blessed Saviour,
"_having loved His own, He loved them to the end_." He gathered
His little band of chosen ones about Him for the last time before His
crucifixion. He spoke to them His farewell words, uttered His
high-priestly prayer, instituted and administered to them this holy
sacrament. All the surroundings conspired to throw round it a halo of
heavenly mystery. Everything was calculated to impress that little
band that what He now ordained and made binding on the Church, till He
would come again, was something more than an empty sign or ceremony.
Thus the time, the circumstances, and all the surroundings of the
institution of this holy sacrament, prepare us in advance to believe
that there must be in it or connected with it some heavenly gift of
Grace that can be obtained nowhere else.
We notice thirdly the significant _term_ by which Jesus
designates this institution. When he administered the cup He said:
"This cup is the _New Testament_ in my blood." He calls it a
testament. A testament is a last _will_.
Jesus was about to go forth to die. Before he departed, He made
His will. He bequeathes to the Church an inheritance. The legacy that
He leaves is this sacrament. Before we undertake to study the words of
the institution, we wish to impress this thought. A will is the last
place where one would use ambiguous or figurative language. Every
maker or writer of a will strives to use the clearest and plainest
words possible. Every precaution is taken that there may be no
doubtful or difficult expression employed. The aim of the maker is to
make it so plain that only one meaning can be taken from it.
Neither is any one permitted to read into it any sense different
from the clear, plain, literal meaning of the words. Fanciful,
metaphorical, or far-fetched interpretations are never applied to the
words of a will. Much less is any one permitted to _change_ the
words by inserting or substituting other words than those used by the
maker. Christ's words of institution are the words of His last Will
and Testament.
We will consider the _nature_ of the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper in the next chapter.