We are reminded further that the same phra.se /cNJK (xaTakX^K) ipTof is repeatedly used of a solemn act of our Lord independenilv of the Kucharist ( Mk ti«i II 86 II '••'. Lk 24«>J. And' we gather from the context of the last passage that there was .some- thing distinctive in this particular act by which our Lord was recognized (Lk 24'^). We are re- minded also of the many instances in which atten- tion is specially called to the ' blessing' (eiXoyeii' or fixapurreii') of food by our Lord. They are the same words which are used in connexion with the s.icramental Hread and the sacramental Cup.
There is something in these facts which is not quite fully explained. There are lacuiue in our knowledge which we would fain fill up if we could. Ihe institution of the Kucharist appears to have I'onnexions both backwards and forwards — back- wards with other meals which our Lord ate together with His di.sciples, forwards with those common meals which very early came into existence in the Apostolic Church. But the exact nature and method of the.se connexions our materials are not sullicient to make clear to us.
(4) Signijiriince of the J'^uchnrist. — We feel these gaps in our knowleilge when we pass on to con- sider the signilicance of the Sacrament. Certainly llarnack was not wholly wrong, however far we may think him from being wholly right, when he held that the primary object of Christ's blessing was the meal as such, in its simplest elements, not specifically bread and wine (cf. TU \ll. ii. 137).
Tlie prominence tftven to tlio meal and to the natural pro- iluct* uf the earlh which contHhute to it, linds 30ine support in the eucharistic [irayers of the Oiiluch^. ' First, as regards the iiip: We i;ive thee thanlis, () our Father, for tiie holy vino of thy son I>nvl»i wlilch Ihou mailest Icnown unto us thn>uj?h thy Son .lesus ; thine is the (:lory for ever and ever. Then as re- gards the broken liread : We (five thee tlianks, () our Father, lor llie life ami knowledjie » iilch thou didst make known to us through thy Si>n .lesus ; tiilne is the tflory for ever and ever. .\> tills broken brcail was scattered upon the ntountains, and bflntc (rattiered tot'ether beeanie one, .so may ihv Church be ^Mthcred tojrether from the ends of the eartii iiitii tliy kini^ilom ; for thine is the jriory and the power throu^'h Jesus Christ, for ■■ver and ever. . . ." Thou, Almltrhty Master, didst create all thlnirs for thy name's sake, ami didst five food and drink unto men for enjoyment, that they mi^^ht ren<ier thanks to thee : iiul didst bestow upon us spirlluai ftxKl and drink and eternal life throudh tliy Son ' (/Jiil. ix. a-l, x. 8).
It would however, be doing an injustice both to the ancient and to the modern writer if we sup- posed that they had in view only the gifts of (iod in nature, llarnack writes: ■ TJie Lord instituted a meal in coinmemoratioii of Ills death, or rather He described the food of the body as His Klesli and Blood, i.e. as the food of the .soul (through the forgiveness of sins), when it Wius partaken of with thanksgiving, in memory of His death' (i>/).
cit. p. l.^Sl). And the Didache looks beyond the physical eating and drinking to the ' spiritual food and drink,' and to the 'eternal life' bestowed through the Son ; and when it speaks of the • holy vine of David,' there is at least an allusion to the Jewish doctrine of the Messiah, if not directly to the Johannean allegory of the Vine.
We thus come round to an a.spect of the Supper which has been emph.asized and illu.strated, e.speci. ally by SpitUi. There are allusions not only in the immediate context of the words of insiitulion (Mk 14^ il), but also ehsewhere (Lk 141^ ' Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God' ; cf. Mt 8'i 22-1'. 2.5"') to the language in use among the Jews respecting the great Me.ssianic banijuet. This took its start from the teaching of the Prophets (e.y. Is 2.5''), and has points of contact with prominent passages in the Wisdom literature. ThiLs in Pr 9'' Wisdom issues her invitation, 'Come, eat ye of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled" ; which is taken up in Sir 24''."--' 'They that eat me shall yet be hungry, and they that drink me shall yet be thir.sty.' And in a like connexion the idea of the manna is applied in Wis Iti'^'f 'Thou gavest thy people angels' food to eat, and bread ready for their u.se didst thou jiro- vide from heaven without their toil. . . . For thy nature (17 vTrSaracli aov) manifested thy sweetness toward thy children.'
We are clearly upon the line of thought which links on to tin; discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum. Indeed, we meet here with the same phenomenon that has already come before us on other sides of our Lord's teaching. The current ideas are not discarded, but taken up on to a higher plane and filled with a new content. We have seen that Wisdom Wiis regarded as giving her- self to be -eaten' {i.e. spiritually appropriated and a.ssimilate(l). Philo repeatedly identifies the manna with the Logos (Spitta refers to ed. Man- gey, i. 120, 214, 484, 504). Hence we aie not sur- prised to find that St. Paul speaks of the wfcvuan- Kbv ^owiia and TrvevfiariKdv Tr6^a, the miraculously- given meat and drink which nourished the Lsraelites in the wilderness being treated as typical of the Christian Sacrament. In 1 Co 10* it is not the water, but the stricken rock as the source of the water, which St. Paul identities with Christ Him- self. But a little further he says plainly, ■ The cup of bles.sing which we bless, is it not a coinniunion of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not a commiuiion of the body of Christ :' ' {il>. v.'"). And in Jn 0*"' our Lord is made to describe Himself as the 'living bread which came down out of heaven.' and it is explained that Ihe bread which He will give is His flesh, for the life of the world.