The Washington herald., 1914-10-10

pointed for His cricufxion- In the les
SON of today We have the story OF how
He kept the feast Again as In the case
OF the finding Of the colt, We have the
evidences Of His own preparation Mark
gives this in detail, evidently as some
thing impressive. When they asked Him
where He would keep the feast, He d.
rected them to go into the city, and to
follow a man who would meet them.
bearing a pitcher Of water. Doing so
they would be led to the house the good
man Of which would show them large
upper room. furnished and ready. They
found this as He had said.
There at eventide He repaired with the
twelve, and together they sat around the
Passover board The occasion was re-
markable one in the light Of history.
The Passover feast was the perpetual
memorial Of the exodus. and in the dis
pensations of the Divine government this
was its last observance. In the midst Of
the feast. an event of grave solemnity
and awe-inspiring significance took place
The betrayer was Identified and eX-
cluded. The exact order Of events In
connection with this Passover observ-
ance, and the institution Of the memorial
supper is q little difficult to trace, and
there are different opinions as to the
point at which Judas left the company.
a CAREFUL "a NAAG "AAoAI "a
the records, especially that OF John,
convinces me that he left directly when
he was thus identified, and before the
new feast was Instituted.
That institution was remarkable, and
must have been arresting to those who
were present From the Passover board
the Lord took bread. and after words OF
praise addressed to His Father, He brake
II. saying as He did so, Take ye. this Is
Ny Body" After that He took the cup,
and first giving thanks He gave 1t also
to the disciples, and they all drank OF
this He said, This is Ny blood Of the
covenant which is shed for many" Thus
the bread and the fruit OF the vine were
symbols of His body and Of His blood
shed; and so they were likewise the sym
bols Of His new mystic Body, the
Church, Of which these men were to form
the first members, and of that sacrihcial
service in which they were to cooper
ate with Him in the enterprises OF the
Kingdom Of God .
Whereas the paragraph arranged for
our lesson closes with verse 3. the story
Is really completed by the Inclusion OF
the next verse which reads, And when
they had sung an hymn, they went out
unto the mount Of Olives" The refer
ence undoubtedly Is to psalms lis to us
constituting as they do the last part OF
the great HaIlel. The first part, psalms
lI3 and Ia, had been sung earlier In the
celebration Of the Passover feast.
The Teaching.
The symbolism Of this event was at
once simple and sublime. The Lord, and
the twelve men gathered around Him,
constituted at that hour the fulflment Of
the Divine purpose in the Hebrew people
The history of these people as nation
called to specific service began with the
first Passover and the exodus which fol-
lowed It In that upper room in Jeru-
salem we now see the Messiah and the
Remnant. In them the true purpose Of
God was fulfilled. Here for a while
the Hebrew nation, as an instrument Of
God, came to an end. Jesus speaking to
the rulers in the Temple had said. The
Kingdom Of God shall be taken away
from you, and shall be given to a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof" BY
the way OF the Passover and the exodus
in the past. the Kingdom OF God had
been given to the Hebrew people. In
this hour in the observance OF the Pass
over feast and Its merging into the new
feast, the transference was made.
In this symbolic hour the old passed
away. The covenant of the law which
came by Moses. and was wholly OF the
letter, was abrogated. At the same time
the new was initiated. The covenant Of
grace and truth which IL Of the Spirit.
took its place. By the relationship to