The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1941-03-13

Old things pass away, and new
things take their place-such seems
to be the law of life. That which is
useful and greatly desired fulflls
its time of service and is set aside
for that which takes its place. The
change which occurred in our lesson
shared this aspect, but was in reality
so vital and fundamental that it
merits our closest attention.
The Passover feast had (since
that great and awful night of IsraePs
redemption out of Egypt's bondage)
pointed forward to the Christ and
His cross as the fulfllment of the
type of redemption by the shedding
of blood. Eut now the hour had
come for Him to give Himself in
death, and He set aside the Pass
over because it has been fulflled)
to establish the great Christian
feast of remembrance-the Lords
table, showing forth His death till
He come.
/. The Last Passover wv. 14-18).
Our Lord looked forward with in
tense desire to the Passover which
He now observed with His disciples,
for it was the last feast of that kind
recognized by God. All that it had
foreshadoWed of deliverance and
hope was fulfilled in Him who now
sat at the head of the table He
had moved forward with resolute
purpose and desire to the day when
His mission on earth was to be &C
complished, and He was to become
our Passover Il Cor. SD.
The fact that He had looked for
ward to it with desire does not in
any sense minimize the deep dark
ness of either Gethsemane or Cal
vary. Remember that, when in the
garden he faced that hour and
thought of the possibility Of the cup
being taken from Him, He said to
the Father, mot what I will, but
what thou wilt" Praying concern
ing the same matter Gin John II:
27), He said, CHOW is my soul
troubled; and what shall say? Fa-
Their, save me from this hour: but
for this cause came 1 unto this
hour"
III. The First Communion wv. 10,
20).
Taking the unleavened bread and
the unfermented wine of the Pass
over, which had just been observed
by Him for the last time, Jesus es-
tablished a new feast, the Christian
feast of remembrance, which we call
communion or the Lords table.
AS we have already suggested, it
is a feast of remembrance. "For
as often as ye eat this bread, and
drink this cup we do show the Lords
death till he come" Il Cor. 1925.
At the Lords table His followers find
spiritual strength in remembering
His death for them, and they also
find joy as they remember that He
is to come again. In doing so they
testify to the world that they be-
lieve in and cherish these truths.
This feast is also rightly called
communion, for down through the
ages and until He does come the
saints of God have at His table sweet
communion, first of all with Him,
and then with one another.
We also note that our Lord spoke
of the cup as 'nly blood of the new
testament" The word testament
means covenant" The Lords ia
BILE therefore speaks of our allie
glance to Him, Of our loyalty to our
Lord, and our devotion to His serv-
ice. The Christian Church therefore
speaks of the communion service as
sacrament, a word taken from
the Latin "sacramentum, - meaning
oath, and essentially an oath of al
legiance.
III. Betrayal and Strife wv. 81
30).
Someone will say, "That point
does not belong with the other two.
Both the feast of the Passover and
the Lords Supper are for the joyful
remembrance of deliverance and re-
demption." The objection is well
taken except for one thing-we are
dealing with human beings as they
are, not as they should be and could
be by the grace of God.
Here in the inner circle of the
twelve there was one traitor. 1t
seems impossible, but apparently
Judas had maintained such outward
conduct as to turn no suspicion in
his direction, even though all along
he had in his heart the blacklist of
treachery against his Lord. It is a
sad and soul-searching fact which
is here revealed, that it is possible
for one to make high profession
of faith in Christ and even so to live
as to give no cause for criticism,
and yet to be unregenerate and in
fact the enemy of Christ.
What about the strife regarding
position? Shame on us, for it still
goes on in the church. Not even
the remembrance of our Lords
death and the reminder that He is
coming again is enough to keep men
from wanting to be greatest.
May the spirit of Christ get hold
of some self-seeking Christian as he
today sees Christ as the One whose
body was broken and whose blood