The Lord's Supper an Emblem and Memorial
C. Bradley, M. A. Luke 22:14-20 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.… I. It is AN EMBLEM. The question is, then, what unseen things do these simple objects represent? 1. The human nature of Christ; His incarnation. 2. The death of Christ, too, is shadowed forth in this ordinance. We have more than bread before us in it, it is bread which has been broken; and more than wine, it is wine which has been poured forth. 3. The consecrated elements are emblematical also of the great end and design of our Lord's incarnation and death. II. Let us now go on to another view of this ordinance. IT IS A MEMORY. "This do," He says, "in remembrance of Me." But it is not Himself simply considered, that our Lord calls on us here to remember; it is Himself as these emblems set Him forth, given and bleeding for us; it is Himself in His humiliation, sufferings, and death. Why the institution of an ordinance to bring things like these to our remembrance? 1. Partly, perhaps, on account of the joy Christ Himself feels in the recollection of them. His heart overflows with joy at the thought of His cross and passion, and He would have us think of them and sympathize with Him in His joy. 2. The remembrance of Christ's incarnation and death is of the utmost importance to us; therefore also He may have established this memorial of them among us. "All our fresh springs" are in our crucified Lord, and therefore He brings Himself frequently before us as our crucified Lord that we may go to Him as the great source of our mercies, and take of His blessings. 3. There is another reason to be given for the setting up of this memorial of our Lord's sufferings — it is our liability to forget them. (C. Bradley, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. WEB: When the hour had come, he sat down with the twelve apostles.