Matthew 26:26-29 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take… Supper: — This rite shows us what Christ thought, and would have us think, of His death. By it He points out the moment of His whole career which He desires that men should remember. Not His words of tenderness and wisdom; not His miracles, amazing and gracious as these were; not the flawless beauty of His character, though it touches all hearts, and wins the most rugged to love and the most degraded to hope; but the moment in which He gave His life is that which He would imprint for ever on the memory of the world. And not only so, but in the rite He distinctly tells us in what aspect He would have that death remembered. Not as the tragic end of a noble career which might be hallowed by tears such as are shed over a martyr's ashes; not as the crowning proof of love; not as the supreme act of patient forgiveness; but as a death for us, in which, as by the blood of the sacrifice, is secured the remission of sins. And not only so, but the double symbol in the Lord's Supper — whilst in some respects the bread and wine speak the same truths, and certainly point to the same cross — has in each of its parts special lessons entrusted to it, and special truths to proclaim. The bread and the wine both say, "Remember Me and My death." Taken in conjunction they point to the death as violent; taken separately they each suggest various aspects of it, and of the blessings that will flow to us therefrom. I. A Divine treaty or covenant. II. The forgiveness of sins. III. A life infused. IV. A festal gladness. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. |
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