cxviii, followed by a prayer, and this was accordingly known as the cup of the HaUel, or of the Song. (10.) There might be, in conclusion, a fifth cup, provided that the "great Hallel" (possibly Psa. cxx-cxxxvii) was sung over it. See Passover.
Comparing the ritual thus gathered from rabbinic writers with the N. T., and assuming («) that it repre- sents substantially the common practice of our Lord's time, and (b) that the meal of which he and his disci- ples partook was really the Passover itself, conducted according to the same rules, we are able to point, though not with absolute certainty, to the points of departure which the old practice presented for the institution of the new. To (1.) or (3.), or even to (8.), we may refer the first words and the first distribution of the cup (Luke xxii, 17, 18) ; to (2.) or (7.), the dippuig of the sop (»//a>- fiiov) of John xiii, 26; to (7.), or to an interval during or after (8.), the distribution of the bread (Matt, xxvi, 26 ; Mark xiv, 22 ; Luke xxii, 19; 1 Cor. xi, 23, 24) ; to (9.) or (10.) (" after supper," Luke xxii, 20), the thanks- giving, and distribution of the cup, and the hymn with which the whole was ended. It will be noticed that, according to this order of succession, the question whether Jadas partook of what, in the language of a later age, would be called the consecrated elements, is most probably to be answered in the negative.
The narratives of the Gospels show how strongly the disciples were impressed with the words which had giv- en a new meaning to the old familiar acts. They leave unnoticed all the ceremonies of the Passover, except those which had thus been transferred to the Christian Church and perpetuated in it. Old things were passing away, and all things becoming new. They had looked on the bread and the wine as memorials of the deliver- ance from Egypt. They were now told to partake of them " in remembrance" of their Master and Lord. The festival had been annual. No rule was given as to the time and frequency of the new feast that thus super- vened on the old, but the command, " Do this as oft as ye drink it" (1 Cor. xi, 25), suggested the more contin- ual recurrence of that which was to be their memorial of one whom they would wish never to forget. The words, " This is my body," gave to the unleavened bread a new character. They had been prepared for language that woidd otherwise have been so startling by the teach- ing of John (vi, 32-58), and they were thus taught to see in the bread that was broken the witness of the closest possible imion and incorporation with their Lord. The cup, which was " the new testament" (ciaOi'iioi) " in his blood," would remind them, in like manner, of the wonderful prophecy in which that new covenant had 'been foretold (Jcr. xxxi, 31-34), of which the crowning glory was in the promise, '• I will forgive their ini(iuity, and I will remember their sin no more." His blood shed, as he told them, " for them and for many," for that remission of sins which he had been proclaiming throughout his whole ministry, was to be to the new covenant what the blood of sprinkling had been to that of Moses (Exod. xxiv, 8). It is possible that there may have been yet another thought connected with these symbolic acts. The funeral customs of the Jews in- volved, at or after the burial, the administration to the mourners of bread (comp. Jer. xvi, 7, " neither shall they break bread for them in mourning," in marginal reading of A. v.; Ewald and Hitzig, ad loc; Ezek. xxiv, 17; Hos. ix, 4 ; Tob. iv, 17), and of wine, known, when thus given, as " the cup of consolation." IMay not the bread and the wine of the Last Supper have had something of that character, preparing the minds of Christ's disci- ples for his departure by treating it as already accom- plished ? They were to think of his body as already anointed for the biiri.il (^Matt. xxvi, 12; Mark xiv, 8; John xii, 7), of his body as already given up to death, of his blood as already shed. The passover meal was also, little as they might dream of it, a funeral feast. The bread and the wine were to be pledges of consola- tion for their sorrow, analogous to the verbal promises
LORD'S SUPPER
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LORD'S SUPPER
of John xiv, 1, 27; xvi, 20. The word SiaOt'iKT] might even have the twofold meaning which is connected with it in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
May we not conjecture, without leaving the region of history for that of controversy, that the thoughts, desires, emotions of that hour of divine sorrow and com- munion would be such as to lead the disciples to crave earnestly to renew them ? Would it not be natural that they should seek tliat renewal in the way which their Master had pointed out to them ? From this time, ac- cordingly, the words " to break bread" appear to have had for the disciples a new significance. It may not have assumed, indeed, as yet, the character of a distinct liturgical act ; but when they met to break bread, it was with new thoughts and hopes, and with the memories of that evening fresh on them. It would be natural that the Twelve should transmit the command to oth- ers who had not been present, jyjtl seek to lead them to the same obedience and the 'Same blessings. The nar- rative of the two disciples to whom their Lord made himself known " in breaking of bread" at Emmaus (Luke xxiv, 30-35) would strengthen the belief that this was the way to an abiding fellowship with him.