THE LORD'S SUPPER.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper may be regarded as a typical or pictorial
summary of the great salvation. In Baptism the gospel is exhibited
subjectively--renewing the heart and cleansing from all iniquity: in the
Lord's Supper it is exhibited objectively--providing a mighty Mediator,
and a perfect atonement. Regeneration and Propitiation are central
truths towards which all the other doctrines of Christianity converge,
and in marking them out by corresponding symbols, the Head of the Church
has been graciously pleased to signalize their importance.
The Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation and thoroughly
furnished unto all good works; but we are not at liberty to adulterate
these records either by addition or subtraction. If they should be
preserved exactly as they issued from the pen of inspiration, it is
clear that the visible ordinances in which they are epitomized should
also be maintained in their integrity. He who tampers with a
divinely-instituted symbol is obviously to some extent obnoxious to the
malediction [483:1] pronounced upon the man who adds to, or takes away
from, the words of the book of God's prophecy.
Had the original form of administering the Lord's Supper been rigidly
maintained, the Church might have avoided a multitude of errors; but
very soon the spirit of innovation began to disfigure this institute.
The mode in which it was observed, and the views which were entertained
respecting it by the Christians of Rome, about the middle of the second
century, are minutely described by Justin Martyr. "There is brought,"
says he, "to that one of the brethren who is president, bread and a cup
of wine mixed with water. And he, having received them, gives praise and
glory to the Father of all things.... And when he has finished his
praises and thanksgiving, all the people who are present express their
assent saying _Amen_, which in the Hebrew tongue signifies _so be it_.
The president having given thanks, and the people having expressed their
assent, those whom we call deacons give to each of those who are present
a portion of the bread which has been blessed, and of the wine mixed
with water; and carry away some for those who are absent. And this food
is called by us the Eucharist, of which no one may partake unless he
believes that which we teach is true, and is baptized, ... and lives in
such a manner as Christ commanded. For we receive not these elements as
common bread or common drink. But even as Jesus Christ our Saviour ...
had both flesh and blood for our salvation, even so we are taught that
the food which is blessed ... by the digestion of which our blood and
flesh are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made
flesh. For the apostles in the memoirs composed by them, which are
called gospels, have related that Jesus thus commanded them, that having
taken bread and given thanks He said--'Do this in remembrance of me,
this is my body;' and that, in like manner, having taken the cup and
given thanks, He said, 'This is my blood;' and that He distributed them
to these alone." [484:1]
The writer does not here mention the posture of the disciples when
communicating, but it is highly probable that they still continued to
_sit_ [485:1] in accordance with the primitive pattern. As they received
the ordinance in the same attitude as that in which they partook of
their common meals, the story that their religious assemblies were the
scenes of unnatural feasting, may have thus originated. [485:2] For the
first three centuries, _kneeling_ at the Lord's Supper was unknown; and
it is not until about a hundred years after the death of the Apostle
John, that we read of the communicants _standing._ [485:3] Throughout
the whole of the third century, this appears to have been the position
in which they partook of the elements. [485:4]
The bread and wine of the Eucharist were now supplied by the
worshippers, who made "oblations" according to their ability, [485:5]
as well for the support of the ministers of the Church, as for the
celebration of its ordinances. There is no reason to believe that the
bread, used at this period in the holy Supper, was unfermented; for,
though our Lord distributed a loaf, or cake, of that quality when the
rite was instituted, the early Christians seem to have considered the
circumstance accidental; as unleavened bread was in ordinary use among
the Jews at the time of the Passover. The disciples appear to have had
less reason for mixing the wine with water, and they could have produced
no good evidence that such was the beverage used by Christ when He
appointed this commemoration. In the third century superstition already
recognized a mystery in the mixture. "We see," says Cyprian, "that in
the water _the people_ are represented, but that in the wine is
exhibited the blood of Christ. When, however, in the cup water is
mingled with wine, the people are united to Christ, and the multitude of
the faithful are coupled and conjoined to Him on whom they believe."
[486:1] The bread was not put into the mouth of the communicant by the
administrator, but was handed to him by a deacon; and it is said that,
the better to shew forth the unity of the Church, all partook of one
loaf made of a size sufficient to supply the whole congregation. [486:2]
The wine was administered separately, and was drunk out of a cup or
chalice. As early as the third century an idea began to be entertained
that the Eucharist was necessary to salvation, and it was, in
consequence, given to infants. [486:3] None were now suffered to be
present at its celebration but those who were _communicants_; [486:4]
for even the catechumens, or candidates for baptism, were obliged to
withdraw before the elements were consecrated.
The Passover was kept only once a year, but the Eucharist, which was the
corresponding ordinance of the Christian dispensation, was observed much
more frequently. Justin intimates that it was administered every Lord's
day, and other fathers of this period bear similar testimony. Cyprian
speaks even of its daily celebration. [486:5] The New Testament has
promulgated no precise law upon the subject, and it is probable that
only the more zealous disciples communicated weekly. On the Paschal week
it was observed with peculiar solemnity, and by the greatest concourse
of worshippers.
The term _sacrament_ was now applied to both Baptism and the Lord's
Supper; but it was not confined to these two symbolic ordinances.
[487:1] The word _transubstantiation_ was not introduced until upwards
of a thousand years after the death of our Saviour; [487:2] and the
doctrine which it indicates was not known to any of the fathers of the
first three centuries. They all concur in describing the elements, after
consecration, as bread and wine; they all represent them as passing
through the usual process of digestion; and they all speak of them as
symbols of the body and blood of Christ. In this strain Justin Martyr
discourses of "that _bread_ which our Christ has commanded us to offer
_in remembrance of His being made flesh_, ... and of that _cup_ which
He
commanded those that celebrate the Eucharist to offer _in remembrance of
His blood._" [487:3] According to Clement of Alexandria the Scripture
designates wine "a mystic symbol of the holy blood." [487:4] Origen, as
if anticipating the darkness which was to overspread the Church,
expresses himself very much in the style of a zealous Protestant. He
denounces as "simpletons" [487:5] those who attributed a supernatural
power to the Eucharistic elements, and repeatedly affirms that the words
used at the institution of the Lord's Supper are to be interpreted
spiritually. "The meat," says he, "which is sanctified by the Word of
God and prayer, as it is material, goes into the stomach, ... but, by
reason of prayer made over it, _it is profitable according to the
proportion of faith_, and is the cause that the understanding is
enlightened and attentive to what is profitable; and _it is not the
substance of bread, but the word pronounced upon it_, which is
profitable to him who eats it in a way not unworthy of the Lord."
[488:1] Cyprian uses language scarcely less equivocal, for he speaks of
"_that wine_ whereby the blood of Christ is set forth," [488:2] and
asserts that it "was wine which He called His blood." [488:3]
Christ has said--"Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them;" [488:4] and, true to His promises, He
is really present with His people in every act of devotion. Even when
they draw near to Him in secret, or when they read His word, or when
they meditate on His mercy, as well as when they listen to His gospel
preached in the great congregation, He manifests Himself to them not as
He does unto the world. But in the Eucharist He reveals His character
more significantly than in any of His other ordinances; for He here
addresses Himself to all the senses, as well as to the soul. In the
words of institution they "hear His voice;" when the elements are
presented to them, they perceive as it were "the smell of His garments;"
with their hands they "handle of the Word of Life;" and they "taste and
see that the Lord is good." But some of the early Christian writers were
by no means satisfied with such representations. They appear to have
entertained an idea that Christ was in the Eucharist, not only in richer
manifestations of His grace, but also in a way altogether different from
that in which He vouchsafes His presence in prayer, or praise, or any
other divine observance. They conceived that, as the soul of man is
united to his body, the Logos, or Divine nature of Christ, pervades the
consecrated bread and wine, so that they may be called His flesh and
blood; and they imagined that, in consequence, the sacred elements
imparted to the material frame of the believer the germ of immortality.
[489:1] Irenaeus declares that "our bodies, receiving the Eucharist, are
no longer corruptible, but possessed of the hope of eternal life."
[489:2] This misconception of the ordinance was the fruitful source of
superstition. The mere elements began to be regarded with awful
reverence; the loss of a particle of the bread, or of a drop of the
wine, was considered a tremendous desecration; and it was probably the
growth of such feelings which initiated the custom of _standing_ at the
time of participation. But still there were fathers who were not carried
away with the delusion, and who knew that the disposition of the
worshipper was of far more consequence than the care with which he
handled the holy symbols. "You who frequent our sacred mysteries," says
Origen, "know that when you receive the body of the Lord, you take care
with all due caution and veneration, that not even the smallest particle
of the consecrated gift shall fall to the ground and be wasted. [489:3]
If, through inattention, any part thus falls, you justly account
yourselves guilty. If then, with good reason, you use so much caution in
preserving His body, how can you esteem it a _lighter sin to slight the
Word of God_ than to neglect His body?" [489:4]
"The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of
earth purified seven times." [489:5] The history of Baptism and the
Lord's Supper demonstrates that, when speaking of the ordinances of
religion, it is exceedingly dangerous to depart, even from the
phraseology, which the Holy Spirit has dictated. In the second century
Baptism was called "regeneration" and the Eucharistic bread was known by
the compendious designation of "the Lord's body." Such language, if
typically understood, could create no perplexity; but all by whom it was
used could scarcely be expected to give it a right interpretation, and
thus many misconceptions were speedily generated. In a short time names,
for which there is no warrant in the Word of God, were applied to the
Lord's Supper; and false doctrines were eventually deduced from these
ill-chosen and unauthorised designations. Thus, before the close of the
second century, it was called an _offering_, and a _sacrifice_, [490:1]
and the table at which it was administered was styled the _altar_.
[490:2] Though these terms were now used rhetorically, in after-ages
they were literally interpreted; and in this way the most astounding
errors gradually gained currency. Meanwhile other topics led to keen
discussion; but there was a growing disposition to shroud the Eucharist
in mystery; and hence, for many centuries, the question as to the manner
of Christ's presence in the ordinance awakened no controversy.