4. He 13*'*. — The starting-joint in this passage is the assertion in v.^ of the unchangeableness of Christ : ' Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, yea and for ever." From this is derived the thought of v.", that since Christ, the c-entre of Christian life, is unchangeable, Christian belief must have stability and c-onsLstency. Hence ' divers and strange teachings,' .such as those in Judaistic forms of Christianity, and the extemalitie,s to wliich Judaizing teachers would have led Chris- tians, are to be avoided ; and the power that stablishes the heart is to be sought in Di\'ine grac-e. Tlus contrast leads on to v. *", the joint of which is to emphasize the sharp line wliich di^•ides Christianity from Judaism ; since Christians ' have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which sene the taljernacle. ' "\*v."- *- pass on to the like- ness Ijetween the Jewish sacrifices and the sacri- fice of Christ, in that in the former bodies were ' burned without the camp,' and in the latter Christ 'suflered without the gate.' V." notes the conclusion from the sacrifice of Christ that it is right for Christians to abandon Mhat is distinct- ively Jewish. V." takes up the frequently-impliwl thought of this Epistle, that the old c-ovenant is eartldy, and that the new covenant, both now on earth and in its future jjerfection, is heavenly. The Christian get* beyond the old earthly cove- nant. He reac-hes the new heavenly covenant in the city of the li%-ing God, which on earth he does not realize as an abiding possession, though even now he has the life of Christ which makes his citizensliip, and through which he is eventually to reach perfect holiness and fniition of God. Vv.'^- 1« point out that through Christ Christians can offer up to God a 'sacrifice of praise,' and that with this are to be asscK-iated the ' sacrifice* ' of doing good and communicating, with which ' God is well pleased.' These two ver-ses, then, descrilje the worship and life of Christians as being a sacrificial ofiering to God. The Epistle as a whole regards tlie heavenly centre of tliis earthly worship and life as being the high-priestly work of our Lord in heaven. If the 'altar" mentioned in v.^'' is the altar of the Eucharist. tliL- implies that the earthly centre of the sacrificial worship and life of Chris- tians is in the Eucharist. This would be in harmony ^\-ith the traditional Christian %-iew of the Eucharist as the means whereby Christians enter into and partake of the heavenly offering of Christ. The interpretations of the word" ' altar " which ne«l be mentioned are that it denotes (1) Chrbt Himself, (2 1 the cross of Christ, [3i the altar of the Christian Ciiurch. Any one of these three interpretations would give a gcod meaning to the verse. It might be truly said that the Jews have no participation in Christ, or in His cross, or in the Christian altar. But the use of the word 'eat" makes it difficult to supjose that a reference to the Eucharist was not at any rate included by the writer. Thus there is the idea of the priesthcxxl of Christ as an abiding priesthood, and the sacrifice of Christ as an abiding and continually pleaded .sacrifice in heaven, and of the Eucharist as the means of enter- ing into and pleading that heavenly sacrific-e on earth, and as the earthly centre of the sacrificial worship and life of Christians.
5. Rev 5''.— 'A lamb standing as slain." The offering of our Lords li\ing ('standing") created
human nature ('lamb'), which liad passed through death (' as slain '), is here represented as the centre of the heavenly worship. This passage, therefore, has an indirect relation to the Eucharist as the corre- sponding earthly centre (see above on He 13*'^^).
6. Summary. — The results of the exegesis of the NT passages relating to the Eucharist may be summed up as follows : (1) In the reception of Holy Communion there is a gift of Christ's body and blood to sustain and increase His life in those who receive it. (2) The consecrated elements are the spiritual body and blood of the risen and ascended Clirist. (3) Those who receive the communion grow thereby in that living union with Christ which their baptism conferred. (4) The feast of communion is also a sacrificial presentation of Christ. (5) It is important to observe that the tradition found in the teaching of the writers of the Church corroborates what is thus seen to be taught in the NT.
Literature.— Frankland, The Harhi Eiieharist ; Gore, The Body of Christ ; Strong, The Doctrhie of the Real Presence ; Stone, The Holy Communion ; Thomas, A Sacrament of our Redemption; Adamson, The Christian Doctrine of the Lord's Supper; Lambert, The Sacraments in the NT; Franzelin, Tract, de SS. Eucharistice Sacramento et Sacrificio, pp. 12-74, 356-363 ; Lobstein, La doctrine de la sainte c^'ne ; Schultzen, Das Abendmahlim NT ; Batiffol, Etudes d'histoire et de theo- logic positive, Tifeme s^rie ; Abbott, Essa>/s chiefly on the Ori- ginal Texts of the OT and NT, pp. 110-^128, also A Reply to Mr. Suppie's and Other Criticisms; Alford on Mt 2626, 1 Co lOisn, and He 13^; Comely on 1 Co IQis^ and 1123-32; EUicott on 1 Co 1016-18 and 1123-32 ; Evans on 1 Co 1016-18 and 1124-31 ; piummer on Lk 2219- 20 {ICC), and in Hastings' DB iii. 148-150: Sandav, ib. ii. 636-638 ( = Outlines of the Life of Christ, pp. 157-169) ; Swete on Mk 1422-24 ; Westcott on Jn 6 and He 13 10 ; Wordsworth on Mt 2626-23 and Jn 651-56.