(e) A dish of 'haroseth (a compound of apples, almonds, raisins, and cinnamon).

(ƒ) Parsley.

(g) A dish of salt water or vinegar.

(h) A cup of wine placed at each plate.

At this time Jesus announced to the disciples that one of them should betray him. This called for searchings of heart, and led each one to ask for himself, Lord, is it I? Even Judas, lest his reticence should betray him, asked the same question.

The form of the question in the Greek implies, Surely it is not I, is it? "All their want of nobility, all their failure in love, all the depth of their selfishness, all the weakness of their faith,

'Every evil thought they ever thought,
Every evil word they ever said,
Every evil thing they ever did,'

all crowded upon their memories, and made their consciences afraid. None of them seemed safe from anything." Is it I? Better that question than "Is it he?"

He

Good for that man if he had not been born. Such a life was not worth living. had so resisted every motive and influence that could make him better that there was no hope left for him.

The action of Judas, in the light of oriental custom, was one of the basest a man could Compare Shakespeare's account of Brutus killing Cesar, his most intimate

perform.

friend,

"For Brutus, as you know, was Cesar's angel!
This was the most unkindest cut of all;

For when the noble Cesar saw HIM stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitor's arms,

Quite vanquished him; then burst his mighty heart."

JUDAS AND THE LORD'S SUPPER. AN ILLUSTRATION. The following story was told by Rev. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman. I have no means of knowing how true it is to fact, but it is true to human nature on a downward course.

"There is no incident that more forcefully illustrates the marring effect of sin than that connected with the painting of Leonardo Da Vinci's great masterpiece, The · Last Supper.' Long and in vain had the artist sought for a model for his Christ.

"I must find a young man of pure life,' he declared, 'before I can get that look on the face I want.'

"At length his attention was called to a young man who sang in the choir of one of the old churches of Rome, Pietro Bandinelli by name. He was not only a young man of beautiful countenance, but his life was as beautiful as his face. The moment he looked upon this pure, sweet countenance the artist cried out in joy: At last I have found the face I wanted.' So Pietro Bandinelli sat as the model for his picture of Christ.

"Years passed on and still the great painting, The Last Supper,' was not finished. The eleven faithful apostles had all been sketched on the canvas, and the artist was hunting for a model for his Judas. I must find a man whose face sin has hardened and distorted, he said, 'a debased man, his features stamped with the ravages only wicked living and a wicked heart can show.'

"Thus he wandered long in search of his Judas, until one day in the streets of Rome he came upon a wretched creature, a beggar in rags, with a face of such hard, villainous stamp that even the artist was repulsed. But he knew that at last he had found his Judas. "So it came about that the beggar with the repulsive countenance sat as the model for Judas. As he was dismissing him Da Vinci said, 'I have not yet asked your name, but I will now.' 'Pietro Bandinelli,' replied the man, looking at him unflinchingly, 'I also sat to you as the model for your Christ.'

"Astonished, overwhelmed by this startling declaration, Da Vinci would not at first believe it, but the proof was at hand, and he had finally to admit that Pietro Bandinelli, he whose fair, sweet face had been the inspiration for his great masterpiece, the face of Christ, had now become so disfigured by the sins of a lifetime that no trace was left of that marvelous beauty which before had been the admiration of men."

SCENE V. Institution of the Lord's Supper. - Vs. 26-29; Mark 14: 22-25; Luke 22: 17-20; 1 Cor. II: 23-26. These passages must all be read in order to have a complete view of this scene.

he

26. 1And as they were eating, 2 Jesus took bread, and a blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 4 Drink ye all of it;

for

covenant,

28. For 5 this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed' for many for the remission of sins.

unto

29. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

I Mark 14: 22; Luke 22: 19. 21 Cor. 11: 23.

31 Cor. 10: 16.

4 Mark 14: 23.

5 See Ex. 24: 8.

6 Jer. 31: 31.

7 Matt. 20: 28; Rom. 5: 15.

8 Mark 14: 25; Luke 22: 18.
9 Acts 10: 41.

a Many Greek copies have, gave thanks.

CONNECTION WITH THE PASSOVER. And as they were eating the Passover meal Jesus used the same bread and wine that was upon the Passover table and taught the Passover truths.

The rites of the new kingdom of heaven expressed for the spiritual life the deliverance from the slavery of sin, the redemption through blood, the promise of allegiance to the Lord, the hope of the Promised Land, which was enacted in actual life by the saving of the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt. "The Passover brought together the largest number of individuals to claim and consciously recognize their part in God's redeeming grace and power, and because of its sense of all-embracing victory, millennial gladness, universal salvation, was better fitted to become the distinctive and enduring symbol of redemption, and express the mighty hopes of Jesus as he stood on the threshold of his passion, than any of the sacrifices of the altar." The Expositor.

99 66

BREAKING THE BREAD. Jesus took bread, the thin cake of unleavened bread, and blessed it, "invoked blessings,' consecrated with solemn prayers." Take, eat, make it a part of yourselves. This is my body, represents my body, symbolizes my body, does for your bodies just what my spiritual life does for your souls.

27. And he took the cup. Nowhere in the accounts of the Lord's Supper is the word "wine" used, but "cup," or "fruit of the vine ; " so that fresh, unfermented grape juice fulfils all the conditions of this observance, and is even a more perfect symbol than fermented wine. Gave thanks. From the Greek word eucharistesas, thus translated comes The Eucharist, i.e., The Thanksgiving, as the name of the Lord's Supper. Here is one of the wonders of Christ's love, that he could give thanks over the shedding of his own blood. How much more should we give thanks for that marvelous gift of his love, by which eternal life, the blessings of heaven, and everlasting communion with God become ours! Drink ye all of it, in order that all might participate in the blessings which it symbolized.

28. This is my blood. A type or emblem of his blood, his life (Lev. 17: 14), which he laid down as the atonement for sin. Of the new testament, R.V., "covenant,' which God was now confirming to man. The new covenant was that God would renew and save all who believed in Jesus. It is the new promise to men, the new Gospel dispensation, in which God has used his perfect wisdom in seeking to save the world from sin. Which is shed for many. Multitudes, not merely a few, are to be saved by Christ. For the remission of sins, including the forgiveness of sin, and the deliverance from the power of sin. Sin is to be put away entirely, so that the heart and life are clean and

pure.

29. Drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. This verse implies that his death is near, but that Jesus himself passes through death into the eternal life of the kingdom of God. “The thought of the meeting again is brought in to brighten the gloom of the leave-taking.) ."-Exp. Gk. Test.

VI. Farewell Scenes. PARTING WORDS.-John 14. At the table, and 15, 16, after they had risen from the table, and were about to depart. These words are full of promises, of comfort, and of instruction, and will ever be read with more interest and help. fulness when we remember the circumstances in which they were spoken. FAREWELL PRAYER. John 17. In the upper room toward midnight.

a

unto

30. 1 And when they had sung an 'hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

I Mark 14: 26.

a Or, psalm.

THE CLOSING HYMN.

30. And when they had sung an hymn. Probably the usual Psalms (115-118) with which the Passover closed, and which were very fitting to this occasion.

1. This ceremonial is adapted to universal use and teaching. The three elements connected with the divine ordinances of the church are water, bread, and grape juice. They are symbols easily understood by every one.

They represent the foundation truths of the gospel, cleansing, sacrifice, spiritual sustenance, love, new hearts, pure lives, divine strength, communion with God.

They are almost universal.

They are connected with the daily life and common duties and privileges.

2. It is because they are so common that they are such useful memorials of Christ and his work. We never can escape from these reminders. And they are the more helpful and interesting because, as Mr. Ruskin says, in nature the most common shapes and forms are the most beautiful, and that you can almost tell what lines or curves are the most beautiful, by finding out those which God has created in the greatest abundance.

3. We need memorials because in the rush and turmoil of daily life we are tempted to forget. The din and roar of city streets is apt to dull our ears to the music of heaven, and the dust of traffic to cloud our vision of spiritual glories.

"Lord God of hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget-lest we forget."

4. There is no motive stronger, no greater inspiration to consecration and service, than the sacrifice of Christ for the remission of sin.

5. It keeps in remembrance the person and life of Christ; what he was, what he did, what he said. It makes him a living reality. All the light and glory and love of Jesus, his whole personality, come before us in this ordinance. It keeps before us our ideal and goal of living.

6. The Lord's supper is a taking or renewing of our covenant with God and his people. The covenant is devotion to Christ and to his cause on our part, a kind of Oath of Allegiance; and on God's part the promise of eternal life and salvation on earth and in heaven, of a new heart, a new nature, and all that a heavenly Father can give his children.

Dr. Trumbull, in his The Covenant of Salt, gives some most helpful light from the Orient on this subject. Salt represents the blood, the life. Bread is a recognized representative of the flesh. "When Jesus spoke of bread as his flesh and his body, and of the fruit of the vine as his blood, he used terms that in his day, and earlier, were known in popular thought as representing the truth at the basis of the covenant, by which two became one in a merged common life." "Bread stood for the flesh, and the wine for the blood." "Bread is the basis of a common meal, as blood is the basis of a common life. Blood gives life; flesh as food gives sustenance. Salt represents life; bread represents sustaining food. In this light, those who share salt together are in a life-sharing covenant; those who share bread together are sharers in a common growth." "Wine as the blood of the grape' stands for the blood which is the life of all flesh; hence, the sharing of wine stands for the sharing of blood or life." We see thus the strong and beautiful significance

of this symbolic rite. The oneness of each disciple with Jesus, in an everlasting covenant of life and love, of perfect spiritual union.

7. The Bread teaches that Christ is the food of the soul. "As our food makes our bodies what they are, and becomes in us bones and flesh and sinew and blood; as our intellectual food makes our minds what they are, so our spiritual companionship makes our spirits what they are.

"I know of no discordant note among educators in the testimony that 'the greatest thing a teacher ever brings to a child is not the subject-matter, but the uplift which comes from heart contact with a great personality.'

Professor Luther H. Gulick of New York, after a personal inquiry among leading men of the city as to the source from which they had gained most from their Sunday school experience, found that the scheme of lessons, the age or sex of teachers, had small influence compared with the character of the teachers. Proceedings of the Religious Education Society.

Souls grow by contact with other souls. The larger and fuller the Spirit with whom we come into touch, and the more the points of contact, the more free and strong is our growth. Life kindles life, love awakens love, courage arouses courage, self-devotion inspires selfdevotion; thought quickens thought. So that there is nothing in the universe like abiding in Christ, seeing him, working with him, loving him, becoming acquainted with him, to promote the growth of our souls in every good.

8. Hence it is a feast of fellowship, of brotherhood, of intimate communion with one another. "Many as the waves, but one as the sea.' It is our business to work out this truth in church practice.

Charles Reed, M.P., of England, said that he had in his library an old book describing the various sects of religion. The book belonged to his grandmother, and she had drawn on the fly-leaf a rough diagram of a circle, with lines drawn from the circumference like spokes in a wheel. On these converging lines she had written the names of the various sects, with Christ at the center; and underneath all, this legend: "The nearer to Christ, the nearer to each other."

9. More than this, the Supper is a kind of All Saints' Day. We become one, not only with those around us, but with those who have gone before, to join the heavenly host.

"O blest Communion, fellowship divine:
We feebly struggle; they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine."

10. It is a feast of Victory. It was the sun triumphing over darkness. The Lord's Supper is a prophecy of Christ's second coming, of the perfect triumph of his kingdom; for we are to celebrate it till he comes. It contains a hope and a promise of victory and heaven. Our last view of Christ in the gospels is not of death, but of an ever-living Saviour, who once was dead, but now lives for evermore. It shows that we do not worship a dead Christ, but a living Christ risen, sitting on the right hand of God, leading the hosts of Christendom. It is the morning star that heralds the new day.

11. It is an invitation to all to come and be saved. It is the church holding up the banner of redemption that all the world may see.

12. We ought to make the Lord's Supper the most helpful and important service of the church.

Golden teXT. — Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. — MATT.

26: 41.

32. Now

learn la parable of the fig tree; When his from the fig tree learn her parable: when her its

branch is

yet

now become tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh So likewise ye, when ye 33. even so ye also, see all these things, know that is near,

even at the doors.

shall

the

ye

it
he nigh,

34. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass' away, these things be fulfilled.

4

accomplished.

till all

35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

5

one,

even

36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, neither the Son, 6 but my Father only.

But

37. And as the days of No were, so shall also the coming of the Son of

38. For as in days were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that No entered into the ark,

No'ah

And 39. and they shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so

42. Watch therefore for ye know not
day your
43. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had

on

what hour

10

master

one is

cometh.

Lord doth come. known in what

watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have

THE PLACE. Christ spoke these words on the Mount of Olives, near where the Roman Tenth Legion was encamped forty years later, when Jerusalem was captured and the Temple destroyed by the Romans. From this point Jesus and his disciples. could look upon the city in all its glory.

THE TIME. The words were spoken Tuesday afternoon, April 4, A.D. 30, after Jesus had closed his public ministry and the rulers had rejected him as the Messiah, and chosen the road which led to certain destruction.