The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 536

the now covenant-the blood with which the covenant of grace was inaugurated. The partaking of that cup in repentance, faith, and love brings home the blessings of the new covenant to each believing soul. That blood was now being shed, the Lord said ; the hour of his death was so near at hand that he regarded it as already present. He gave himself now in solemn purpose, in voluntary self-sacrifice, to die for men, as he gave his body and blood to bo for ever the spiritual food of the Christian soul. It is shed "for many," about them, with reference to their needs; for all in a true sense, for "he died for all," he is the Propitiation for the sins of the whole world; for many, in a deeper, holier sense-many, not all, alas I wash their robes, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. And it is shed for the remission of sins; for that blood purgeth the conscience, that blood cleanseth from all sin, that blood is accepted as a full, perfect, and sufficient aacri6ce, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. Then with what grateful love, with what fervent hope, onght all Christian people to come to the Holy ·Eucharist I for the bread and wine which the Lord bath commanded to be received become by his ordinance the means whereby the body and blood of Christ are received after a heavenly and spiritual manner by the faithful. And that body is the bread of life, and that blood is the blood of the new covenant, sealing the blessings of the covenant of grace to those who in faith partake of that holy food. Thus coming, may we experience in our inmost souls the truth of the well- known words, "0 my God, thou art true; 0 my soul, thou art happy" (see Hooker, • Eccl. Pol.,' eh. lxvii. sec. 12). 3. Th6 new wine of tM kingdom. The Holy Eucharist looks not only backward, to the death of Christ, but forward also, to the marriage supper of the Lamb. For the Lord said that he would drink no more of that fruit of the vine, till that day when he shall drink it new with his chosen in the king- dom of his Father. Then the wine shall be new, not the new wine of this world, bus a fountain of gladness and rapture such as bath never entered into human heart. The Lord shall share that gladness with his redeemed. He rejoiceth in their salvation ; they rejoice in his most precious love. " Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." 4. The departure. The last Supper was over. They sang a hymn, the conclusion, probably, of the Halle!. The Lord and his disciples chanted the praise of God in those precious psalms, which, from the time of David onward, have ever been the Church's treasury of devotion. 'l'hey sang of that cup of salvation which, in a Christian sense, they had just received. They sang (and surely they must have felt that those sacred words had now a deeper meaning than ever) how "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." They sang of the Stone which the builders refused, soon to become the Head-stone of the comer. They repeated the" Hosanna I " of Palm Sunday, and ended their high chant of praise with the solemn refrain, "0 give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever." As the Lord was with his disciples then, singing with them, so may he be with us, in our hearts, singing with us, when we chant the praises of God in th& sanctuary. His presence, his inspiration, make praise and prayer acceptable. And now the last psalm was sung, and they went forth into the night. So should the Christian soul, strengthened and refreshed by the holy sacrament, go forth to meet the Lord. LESSONS. 1. Hate pride; remember your sins; earnestly seek the grace of lowli- ness. 2. Say, "Lord, is it I?" Do not think of your neighbours' sins, but of your own. 3. Come often to the Holy Communion. Come ; for it is the Lord's commandment. Come; for it is the food of the soul. 4. Seek to realize the presence of the Lord in prayer and praise. Vers. 31-46.-The Mount of Olives. I. TnE CONVERSATION BY THE WAY. 1. The- Lord', prediction that all should forsake him. Partly in the upper room, partly on the way, the Lord had uttered those most sacred and precious words which St. John was led by the Holy Spirit to preserve in those chapters which have well been called the holiest of the holy. St. Matthew relates only one thing which passed as they went in the late evening, in the solemn light of the Paschal moon, their hearts, we may be- eure, filled with awful forebodings and strange mysterious anticipations, to the well- known spot. The Lord had said long a.go, "Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be ~ffended in mo." The people of Nazareth had been so offended (eh. xiii. 57); now, he  -0!2 THE GOSPEL .ACOORDING TO ST. MA1"l'HEW. [oi:. XXVI.1-75.