LiTERATrKE. — Schultzen, Das AbendmaTtl im .VT", 1595: J. H. Thayer, " liecent Discussions respecting the Lord's Supper ' in JBL xviii. [l5i'9l 110-131 ; Cremer and Loofs, • Abendmabl,' i. and ii., in PliE^ i. ; Drews, ' Eucharistie,' ih. v.; Zahn, 'Asrapen,' ii. i. : Pluuiuier, 'The Lord's Supper,' in Hastings' DB\\\. ; J. A. Kobinson, ' Eucharist' in Encyc. Bill. ii. The views of Harnack, Julicher, and Spitta are clearly outlined b\- G. TVauchope Stewart in ExpoK. 6tb ser. viii. [|89S] 43-61, S0-Hi'2, and by Grafe in Ztxchr. /. Theol. u. Kirche. 18ii5, pt. 2. See also Percy Gardner, Origin of the Lord's Supper. 1S93 ; J. F. Keating, The Agape and the Eucharittt, 1901 ; J. C. Lambert, T/ie Sacrameiitx in the XT, 1903 [e.xcellent] ; G. H. Box, Jeicinh Antecedenta of the Eiichariitt, and replv bv J. C. Lambert in JThSt, vols. iii. iv. ; H. B. Swete, ' Eueharistic Belief in the Second and Third Centuries,' ih. vol. iii. ; W. B. Franklaud, The Etn-ly Eucharist. \9&2 [useful forte.xtual material] ; Bishop A. .t. Maclean, art. ' Agape' in Hastings' forthcoming Enci/c. of Religion and Ethics. R. A. Falconer.
LORD'S SUPPER (II.).— The NT passages bear-
72
LORD'S SUPPER
LORD'S SUPPER
ing on this subject may eunveniently be divided into the following group? :—
1. Preparation for Institution. — (li Feeding of Fii€ thomnnd ,Mk 6-^- -^^Mx U ■-• -^', Lk 9^«- 1", Jn 6^^ ^). In connexion ^vith this miratle it is im- portant to obsene that ^a) it is recorded in aU four Gospels ; {h) the record contains the following sig- nificant phrases, which it is well to comimre with the phraseology in the accounts of the institution : \a.i^v (Mk., M*t., Lk. ; eXadep, Jn. ), eiXoy^ffej' (Mk., Mt., Lk. : ei-xa-piCTTricras, Jn. ; cf. Jn 6'^ ei'xap'O'rTjcay- Toi Tov Ki'pioi'l. Ka-€K\a<j€v (Mk., Lk. : ^Xatras, Mt. ; Jn. omits), eSidov (Mk., Lk. ; IdwKev, Mt. ; dtedwKev, Jn.) ; (r) the event carried on and emphasized the idea of a sacred meal, which, as a means of com- munion with God, had been profoundly impressed on the mind-s of the Jews by the sacrificial system.
(2) FcMing of Four thou.^and (Mk 8*-«= Mt'lo*- *'). In connexion with this must Ije observed : (a) the same tyf>e of phra;>es as in the Feeding of the Five thousand: \a5ihv (Mk. ; eXa^Sev, Mt.), ei'xapi(7T^<7as (Mk., Mt. ),e«:Xcurei'(Mk.,Mt.), e6i5oi'(Mk., Mt. ), eiXo- Yhaai (Mlc only) ; (b) the same idea of a sacred meal as in the Feeding of the Five thousand. With the Feeding of the Five thousand and the Four thousand should be comj^iared the meals after the Resurrec- tion in Lk 24*'- ^^ ** and Jn 2P^, where, though neither appears to have been the Eucharist, the idea of a sacred meal is maintained, and the phrase- ology should Ije noticed (XaSujj' tov aprov eiXoyija-ev Koi /tXdtras eredioov avrois and iv ttj /cXcuret tov aprov in Lk 2-t*'- ^, and Xo/i^Sdvet tov apTov Kai Sioiaxriv aiVots, /rai TO o'y^dpiov bp-oiiiK in Jn 21-'^).
(3) Discourse in the Fourth Gospd in connexion tcifh Fo3cfing of Five thousand. This miracle, like others, is called a-qfuiov in the Fourth Gospel (Jn 6^*- *), i.e. it has a place in the group of ' signs ' wliich are so called because ' they make men feel the mysteries which underlie the visible order" (West- cottl. The peculiar significance of this 'sign' in particular was drawn out by our Lord in the dis- course at Cajjemaum which followed it. That it was an acted jjarable of Divine truth He asserted to the multitude which sought Him at Capernaum, in the words : ' Ye seek me, not because ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled. Work not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give tinto you : for him the Father, even God, hath sealed' (Jn 6-*- ^). Thus it supplied the starting-point for the conversation with the multitude, in which our Lord identified ' the bread out of heaven that is genuine,' which ' the Father giveth,' with Himself a-< ' the bread of God which cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world,' ' the bread of life,' ' the bread which cometh down out of heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die,' ' the living bread which came down out of heaven ' ; and further declared, ' the bread wliich I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world ' (\-v.=^--5i). As the conversation proc-eeded, our Lord spoke, in still clearer terms, of the reception of HLs flesh and blood as the means whereby there was to be participation in Himself, and as requisite to the possession of life : ' Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eter- nal life ' ; ' My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 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. This is the bread which came down out of heaven' ; ' He that eateth this bread shaU live for ever' (w.52-o8| Recognizing the difiiculty caused to His hearers by this teaching, our Lord laid stress on the deep spiritual significance of what He had .said : ' The Spirit is the Ule-giver ; the flesh profiteth nothing :