Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-10-10
[ Asst SUPPER IS
SUNDAY LESSON
Pledge and Promise of the New
Day When All His Own Shall
Gather at the Feast
The International Sunday School Les
son For October II Is "The Last
Supper"-Mark t4:f2-25
(By William t. Ellis)

(By William T. Ellis)
Painter and poet and preacher
have drawn great pictures of this
little company of men gathered in an
upper room for a Jewish feast, that
was later turned into a memorial
supper for the Leader who was about
to leave them.
No pen or brush or voice has ever
been able-perhaps the task is i'm
possible-to picture that same sup
per as it has been repeated countless
millions of times since around the
whoel world, under conditions scarcely
to be imagined. This is one of the
tremendous institutions of civilization.
1t is vitality associated with the deep
est experiences of the human soul.
The Feast of All Races
In my own limited experience
recall having kept this Memorial
Feast in many places, and in many
unusual circumstances. | have knelt
in the early morning on a historic
battlefield with a company of men in
uniform, and received the bread and
wine from the regimental chaplain.
While storm ragged at sea, | have
knelt aboard ship-clutching a sup
port the while-sharing the same Sac
rament with travellers from many
lands In great assemblages. when
leadership in learning, piety and
wealth. lTOIn Ine WnOle naIlOn were
massed, | have been thrilled by the
Sacrament of fellowship; but not more
so than when / have partaken of it
in crude village churches. l recall sac
ramental services in remote Chinese
chapels; with dusky Indian disciples
under the shadow of the Tai Mahal;
with a great body of Egyption stu
dents in a church far up the Nile;
and with fellow Japanese Christians
in their pewless churches, where the
whole worshiping company sat on
the floor
The common imagination has been
moved by the recent spectacle of
great masses of soldiers, who were
going into battle, gathered to par
take of the Communion. Similarly,
strange solemnity is attached to
the administration of the Sacrament
on battleships before action. The
long and immeasurable professions
of celebrations of the Lords Supper
by all races and classes of people, in
every imaginable condition of stress
aud need. met to partake with their
Lord of this Last Supper, which He
instituted on the night before He
went forth to die, is a tremendous
theme for contemplation.
He That Is About to Die
The setting of this lesson could
not be more dramatic. Its remote
background is the three years Of
public ministry of Jesus with all
the antagonisms which His utter
ances had aroused. The near back
ground was the Jewish Passover. AS
true Jews, Jesus and His disciples
kept that feast in ceremonial fash
ion.
A large upper room in the home
of some Jerusalem friends had been
secured for the occasion; and the
7 fnr, ft,,a eri,1 ftgy, ,f .te-ta
dom often turns to that room. where
were spoken those loving farewells
of Jesus whicn have echoed as words
of comfort through all the centuries
since.
The full company of twelve were
preesnt with their Master for the
Passover Then Judas withdrew to
do His dread deed of avarice. 1t
seemed as If a pail were lifted from
the company when this discordant
personality was removed. Then it
was that Jesus opened His heart, and
in tenderest, most human and COM
rade-like fashion instituted the Last
Supper, a feast which Judas never
shared.
The rite could hardly be simpler
The common fat cakes of bread,
broken by the hand of the Host, and
| the common wine shared by all, were
the only elements used.
| And as they were eating, He took
bread. and when He had blessed, He
brake it, and gave to them, and said
Take ye this is my body. And He
took a cup, and when He had given
| thanks He gave to them: and they
all drank of It. And He said unto
| them This is my blood of the new
covenant, which is poured out for
many. Verify | say unto you, I shall
no more drink of the fruit of the
vine, until that day when l drink it
new in the kingdom of God"
Lest we Forget
Every gravestone the world over
| is a token of the universal human
desire to be remembered after death.
All the massive mausoleums that
have survived for even a few de-
cades. are eloquent with the same
| eagerness. This desire is instructive,
and rightly expressed, may be an
impulse to divinest living and min
istry.
The hungry, human heart of the
| Saviour shared this natural impulse.
J He wanted to abide in the memory
| of His friends. His words at the
Last Supper might be translated int"
common deathbed phrase, "ThinI 1f
me when I am gone This was a
| memorial supper first of all. This do
| in remembrance of me-" Every time
the Lords Supper is spread it says,
Remember Jesus Christ" We know
that the Christian life flourishes
only to the degree that Jesus abides
wildly within it.
The Old Era's End
The climax had come. This was
the hour of remembering. 1t was the
! last time that Jesus ever ate a formal
meal with His comrades. He made
this the ceremonial ending of the old
order and relationships. Henceforth
He would no longer be a companion
! in the flesh. His earthly work was
over His last words to the people
had been spoken; there remained only
the intimate message for the fellow
ship to be uttered in this room to the
men who had leaned upon Him,
learned of Him. followed Him, and
partaken of His personality
Thenceforth Jesus was to be all
this, and more, to His friends but
only in spiritual sense. AS this
new Supper symbolized, they were
henceforth to partake of His life and
to be sustained by Him in the spirit.
The Lords Supper is the abiding
token of Christ's desire to minister
forever to His own.