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Immediately after the celebration of the passover, our Lord institutes his holy supper; in which institution, we have observable the author, the time, the elements, and ministerial actions.
Observe here, 1. The author of this new sacrament: Jesus took bread.
Note thence, That to institute a sacrament is the sole prerogative of Jesus Christ. The church has no power to make new sacraments: it is only her duty to celebrate those which our Saviour has made.
Observe, 2. The time of the insitution, the night before his passion; The night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took bread.
Learn thence, That it is very necessary when sufferings are approaching, to have recourse to the table of the Lord, which affords both an antidote against fear, and is a restorative to our faith.
Observe, 3. The sacramental elements, bread and wine; bread representing the body, and wine the blood, of our dear Redeemer.
Observe, 4. The ministerial actions, The breaking of the bread, and the blessing of the cup.
As to the bread, Jesus took it; that is, set it apart from common use, and separated it for holy ends and purposes. He blessed it; that is, prayed for a blessing upon it, and brake it; thereby shadowing forth his body broken upon the cross for the redemption and salvation of a lost world; Do this in remembrance of my death.
As to the cup, Christ having set it apart by prayer and thanksgiving, he commands his disciples to drink all of it; and accordingly they all drank of it, says this evangelist; and our Saviour gives his reason for it, For this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for the remission of sins Mar_14:24; that is, the wine in this cup represents the shedding of my blood, by which this new covenant between God and man is ratified and confirmed.
Whence we gather, That every communicant hath as undoubted a right to the cup as to the bread, in the Lord's supper; Drink ye all of this, says Christ; therefore to deny the cup to the common people, is sacrilege, and directly contrary to our Saviour's institution. And Christ calling the cup the fruit of the vine, affords a strong argument against the doctrine of transubstantiation; thus: "That which after consecration remains the fruit of the vine, is not substantially changed into the blood of Christ. But Christ called the wine in the cup the fruit of the vine after consecration; therefore that which Christ gave the apostles to drink, was not substantially changed into his blood. Wine is metaphorically called the blood of the grape; why may it not, by a like metaphor, be styled the blood of Christ?
After the celebration was over, our Saviour and his disciples sung an hymn, as the Jews were wont to do at the passover, the six eucharistical psalms, from the 113th to the 119th psalm.
From Christ's example, we may gather, how suitable it is to sing a psalm after the celebration of the Lord's, supper; how fit it is that God be glorified in his church, by singing of psalms; and in particular when the Lord's supper is celebrated: When they had sung an hymn, they went into the Mount of Olives.