THE LORD'S SUPPER

THE LORD’S SUPPER

Luke 22: 7 - 23; 1 Corinthians 11: 23 - 26

JT It has been suggested that we might consider the Lord’s supper, and what accompanies and surrounds it.

The disciples here raise a question with the Lord as to where the passover should be celebrated, and He said to the two who were sent to make preparation, “Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house. The Master saith unto thee. Where is the guest-chamber where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready”. There are spiritual thoughts connected with all these directions as to the place.

WGB What is meant by the man with the pitcher of water?

JT Well, it suggests something spiritual. It is an earthen pitcher. I think it represents a vessel of the Spirit. It indicates a vessel in which the Spirit of God would be active. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels”. It is a wonderful thing that the Spirit of God is indwelling these. The Spirit of God is active in such. But here a man bearing a pitcher is going somewhere. They were to follow him into the house where he was going. There was a distinct lead. It is a great matter in regard to the Supper to see where the man who has the pitcher of water is going.

WGB The heart follows there.

JT Yes; indeed. There are many circles now, but does the man with the pitcher go ^[p. 40] in to each?

WGB The Lord goes where His authority is owned.

JT It would appear that the authority of the Lord was recognized there. His rights were recognized. The Lord simply asks where the guest-chamber is.

EJMcB You take the man with the earthen vessel to be a type of the active ministry of the Spirit, and the authority of Christ is seen in the fact that there is a demand made for this guest-chamber.

WGB And the demand is acknowledged, too. That is a great help to christians who are perplexed as to the Supper.

JT The Supper cannot be dissociated from the assembly.

EJMcB Will you say a little on the recognition of the activities of the Spirit?

JT Well, it is a wonderful thing that there is here upon earth the ministry of the Spirit. There is a great deal of ministry in christendom; a great deal of activity in service. There is such at the present moment in this city. But what christians should look for is the ministry of the Spirit. There should be a sensitiveness as to whether the activity is spiritual activity. The greatest lack is want of ability to recognize what is of God.

EJMcB The effect of spiritual ministry is that the affections of the saints are refreshed.

JT Christ is sure to be the subject of spiritual ministry. The Spirit brings forward the things of Christ. One of the greatest thoughts in Scripture is that “God is a Spirit”. The Lord said that to the woman of Samaria, and it was in order to set aside all material worship; to set aside in her mind all idea of materialism, and of ceremonialism, in worship. God is a Spirit, and hence every one is put to the test as to spiritual ministry, as to whether we have spiritual ^[p. 41] sensibilities.

JRK Is the authority of Christ the test as to the true ministry of the Spirit?

JT Yes, true ministry is sure to be connected with the authority of Christ. But the authority of Christ is set aside in christendom. If the authority of Christ is not recognized you cannot have the ministry of the Spirit. Where these two thoughts are allied you get the assembly, and hence you can have the ministry of the Spirit. It is the Lord’s supper, and that involves His authority. The state of the Corinthians was such that they did not have the Supper, though they did come together.

EJMcB There is the Lord’s authority on the one hand, and state on the other. At Corinth the state was such that though they had the outward form, yet they had not the Supper.

JT The apostle does not hesitate to say that the Corinthians had not the Supper. The question is asked sometimes. Have the religious systems around us got the Supper? Well, have they shown themselves subject to the Lord’s authority? We are asked sometimes what have the systems got. Clearly they have not got the Supper, though they take the sacrament.

JRK Would you say the “master of the house” represents the Lord?

JT Well, it represents rather the element that recognizes His authority.

WGB What is the spiritual thought in the title of “Teacher”?

JT I suppose that in Judaism it carried some moral force with it. A teacher would have certain moral authority. What is taught carries weight with it. The Lord has a moral claim on us. We owe our Christianity to Christ. Every Christian will admit that. Every Christian ought to recognize that the Lord has some moral claim upon him. There could be no doubt that this “master of the house” knew ^[p. 42] something about the Lord, because the Lord refers to Himself as the Teacher in the message He sends, and at once he shows the upper room furnished.

EJMcB What is your idea as to the “large upper room furnished”?

JT It shows that the place we occupy is morally very large.

EJMcB There is room for all christians. All christians may have a place there.

JT One feels for young believers. Why are not young believers partaking of the Supper? It is for all!

EJMcB There is no reason why they should not.

JT If you love the Lord you ought to break bread. If there is a response to His affections there should be an opportunity for its outlet. There are a great many absentees. The Lord appeals to the affections of those who are absent. He thinks of them all. He loves each one individually. The Lord loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and He loved them equally. The Supper is really a family affair. Family affairs are of great interest to the family, and the Supper is pre-eminently a family affair. The Lord knows every one in the family; as every man knows each member of his family by name. Mr. Darby gives a very touching note in regard to Luke 24. Speaking of the Lord taking the bread, and blessing it, and breaking and giving it to the two, he says. ‘He took the house-father’s place’.

JRK Is it because we are defective in regard to the family that we are not at the Supper?

JT Where sin is not judged you cannot be at the Supper. But why should we not judge sin? why go on in sin? The Supper is there for you when you do judge it. The passover has reference to Christ as subject to the judgment of God — made sin. “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast”. God provides the passover Lamb for you, but the unleavened bread is what you provide.

JRK Unleavened bread was the only bread that was provided during the whole of the seven days.

JT Well, it is the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. One is hardly a christian at all if one is not sincere. It is not hard to understand what sincerity is, and what it is to be true. The great point is to see the spiritual thing. There is little use in talking about spiritual things unless the heart is right. Sincerity and truth are the outcome of the Spirit.

EJMcB Will you make a few remarks as to the Supper itself?

JT Apart from a spiritual state the Supper is not enjoyed.

Ques Why is it called Supper?

JT Well, because ordinarily supper is the last meal of the day. The last meal of the day is a meal at which you are free. The responsibilities of the day are over. The Lord’s day is the suitable time because we are free then. In coming together we should be entirely free in mind from secular affairs. A man can sit down with his family at supper-time free from the cares of the day. It would not be so at breakfast time, or dinner time, for then his responsibilities would be before him. The day would be before him. The idea of a day is responsibility. “Are there not twelve hours in the day”. “Work ... while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work”. The Supper is to bring the Lord Himself before us.

JAM It is only as we are free in mind that we can take the Supper?

JT Yes, we must be free to take it rightly.

EM We are sometimes taken up with singing — ‘We praise Thee, glorious Lord, who died to set us free’.

JT Well, that is very suitable. There is no ^[p. 44] direct injunction with regard to the Supper. We have the Lord’s request, and then the precedent established by the early christians. They came together on the first day of the week to break bread.

Christianity is much more a question of what is established by the Lord and His apostles, than by a system of injunctions. Hence the great need to be spiritual. Everything the Lord did had a spiritual thought behind it for us. So when the passover is ended He breaks the loaf, and He gives it to them. That is a spiritual idea. In the Supper there is that which you see, and that which you eat.

EJMcB I feel the importance of the suggestion of the last meal of the day; we are entitled to be perfectly free.

JT Yes, there is no labour in front of us, so that we can be free to sit down and contemplate Christ. The Lord set something before their eyes. There was the loaf — what they could see. There are, I think, two thoughts in it. The Lord had no part in the eating of the Supper, but He did something — He broke the loaf.

Ques Does the breaking of the bread signify His death?

JT Well, it refers to what He did. I think it refers to the fact that His body was to be given in death, and that He gave it voluntarily. It is what He did. It is not what others did to Him. Eating is communion and appropriation. The fellowship is in the eating. There is that which is presented to us objectively in the Supper. There is one thing I cherish very deeply, and that is that the action was a family action, and the Lord was really within the house. As regards the passover, it was also connected with the family. The Supper was instituted after the passover. The Lord was the “house-father”. The family were looking to Him. He took the house-father’s place. In Luke 24, when He took that place He took bread ^[p. 45] and broke it, then He vanished, but they knew Him. They knew Him in the breaking of bread. There was something in the way He did it that made them recognize Him. It was the action that belonged to the head of the house.

JRK The bread was not broken by those who invited Him in. He did it. He broke the bread, and that fact reminded them of what He had done before. As you say, He was taking the house-father’s place. It is very beautiful indeed.

EJMcB What do you say in regard to the one who may break the bread at the present moment?

JT Well, I have seen one take the place of the head of a house in his absence. The eldest son might do that if his father were away; and he might do it in the way his father would do it. So that in the manner in which it was done the absent one would be called to mind. The absent one would be recalled by the act. It is thus, I think, with the person who now breaks the bread. As it is done the Lord Himself would be recalled to the minds and hearts of those of us who are sitting there. The absent one would be recalled by the act. Paul says, “I speak as to intelligent persons”, which I think refers to spiritual formation. The breaking of the loaf suggests the Lord to you. I do not understand the word “do” apart from that fact. It recalls the occasion. It recalls the Person.

Rem You think that the fact of “this do” reminds us of Him, and brings Him prominently before us in that way?

JT Yes. The Lord says He will come to us; but it is in a spiritual way. The difficulty is on the spiritual side, not the material side. Why should not the Lord move? Love will move. Did you ever know a stationary love? Love in the essence of it is active. The Lord is actually away. He was present when He instituted the Supper. The very ^[p. 46] thought in the Supper contemplates His absence. In the assembly the Lord comes to us in a spiritual way, so that He is personally with us.

EJMcB If He were not absent we would not break the bread.

JRK Is it that the Lord moves?

JT Yes, the Lord moves.

SL In a spiritual way it is made a reality to us.

JT Why should not the Lord come to you, or to me? The movement is not on your side only, but on His also. The point I am seeking to make clear is that He moves. Surely the Lord can move if He pleases. How well His people know that He moves to them individually. They have proved that many a time.

EJMcB If He moves to the individual. He can move to the company.

JT He says, “I will come to you”. Let us admit the truth. In verses 21 - 23 of John 14, the Lord makes His coming conditional — conditional on keeping His commandments. “I will ... manifest myself to him”. Then He speaks about His word. If we keep His words the Father and He will come. Is not that activity?

EM There is movement on His side.

WK Instead of leaving them in the desolate condition in which they were. He will come to them.

JT I have likened it to a mother saying to her children in the next room, who are calling for her, “I am coming”. She cannot go to them just at that instant, but she assures their hearts and sets them in expectation. Our side is to come and partake of the Supper.

WGB He brake it and gave to them. Would not that include the whole thing?

JT I think the Spirit distinguishes between the breaking of it, and the eating of it. The Lord did not eat of it. What He did reminds us of Him.

^[p. 47] Then there is the announcement of His death. “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come”. It is announced to the world, but the world has not any idea of the remembrance of Christ. That is for our hearts. I think it should be a very precious thought to us that the Lord will come; that the Lord is active towards us. I cannot understand why He should be in any way restricted. He came out of heaven to speak to Paul, and He stood by Paul at Jerusalem.

Rem I think this is bound to make His coming very much more real to us.

JT The great thing is to be in a suited state for it. That lies at the bottom of it all. The most simple soul may be conscious of the Lord’s presence.

EM The effect is very marked on the soul that is conscious of the Lord’s presence.

JT The Lord is with His people at all times, and He supports us specially in our difficulties and exercises. Matthew 18, I think, is a levitical meeting, because of the burdens of the testimony being taken there. It is a meeting of those who are exercised about the testimony. The Lord is there to support them. The assembly proper has no reference to what is levitical. It is a special season of privilege. That is the moment you would expect the Lord to come to the company. He comes now, indeed, as the heavenly Man. The Lord’s affections are there, but in Matthew 18: 20, He is supporting us in our exercises in the levitical circle. In the assembly proper He is coming to us as His “brethren”. At the Supper you are free from the thought of responsibility. You are free for the moment. The Supper is the link between the wilderness and the land. When you come to the assembly you have Christ and the assembly. The Lord wants the assembly, He wants us to be free. He loves the thought of ^[p. 48] the assembly, because it affords to Him what He is seeking. We recall Him according to what He is. He was the Head in Luke 22. He took the initiative in everything. The disciples understood that. They were accustomed to that. He always did it. The Lord was the “house-father”. Lordship has reference to official authority. The term Lord’s supper is in contrast to the “table of demons”. It is in contrast to what is outside, 1 Corinthians 10, has reference to what is outside. Chapter 11 has reference to what is inside. We come together in a scene out of which Christ has been rejected. How essential it is that we should have in our hearts the thought of the Lord’s authority over us. Christians in the early days were all spiritual. I think John 14: 18, supposes this, hence His “coming” applied to all. But His commandments and His word became a test. The assembly is a spiritual formation, but we come together down here as in flesh-and-blood condition. We come together to eat and drink; but we go on to what is spiritual.

WGB To hear His voice and to see His face! There would be no distance if we knew that in our hearts.