THE LORD'S SUPPER
THE LORD’S SUPPER
CAC It was before us on a previous occasion that the effect of calling the Lord to mind as the One who gave His body and poured out His blood would be that perfect unity of mind would be found marking the assembly — the Lord Jesus filling the mind, we might say, of the assembly; so that not only is the Lord known, but also the assembly is known in her true character, a fact which I thought was important.
We have been reminded more than once that in Luke 22, verses 19 and 20, the “me” has its counterpart in the “you”. He says, “This do in remembrance of me”. He also says, “This is my body which is given for you”. Thus the “me” and the “you” are Christ and the assembly in principle. I was wondering whether we had considered quite sufficiently the bringing to light of the true character of the assembly involved in the act of calling Him to mind.
Rem There is the necessity of having our minds in unison in regard to the Lord; it brings us together.
CAC Is that not a most important side of the matter? Not only does the assembly call the Lord to mind, but also manifests itself thereby in its true character as entirely occupied with Him. Well, what a moment to have once a week when the assembly becomes attractive to the Lord, so that he moves towards it! We get here that He moves towards the little company at Bethany, which may be viewed as the assembly from this point of view.
I was thinking of the Song of Songs, chapter 5. The spouse is challenged in verse 9. “What is thy beloved more than another beloved, Thou fairest among women?” And the spouse answers from verses 10 - 16. It seems to me those [p. 139] verses illustrate what it is to call Him to mind. That is, He is not actually present, but He is called to mind, and in calling Him to mind she can describe Him.
It is “me”. The Lord does not say, ‘Do this in remembrance that Christ died for thee’. That is not the thought at all. It is not what He has done, but what He is — it is Himself.
I was thinking that as the spouse speaks of Him in this way in admiration and delight, she comes to view as the undefiled one of chapter 6 verse 9. “My dove, mine un defiled, is but one; She is the only one of her mother”. I think that would answer to the assembly’s calling the Lord to mind, and being unified in so doing. She comes under His eye as unique, which is very precious to think of. She comes to light as undefiled. Why is she undefiled? Because her whole heart and mind are filled with Him. It is precious to think of that being realised in the assembly, even if it is only for five minutes!
So that really the Lord’s supper brings the assembly to light, and I believe it is the divine way of bringing the assembly to light in this world — bringing to light a company of persons who are unified in their thoughts of Christ. The spouse can say further on in chapter 7 verse 10, “I am my beloved’s, And his desire is toward me”. My impression is that that links with John 12, that is, He came on that principle, He was not sent for. He was sent for in John 11, but in chapter 12, He came on the principle of desire, He came to a place where He was thoroughly appreciated. Is it not an important matter that the Lord should be attracted to come, because He knows the kind of reception He will have? That is the kind of company that will attract Him; He knows He will be welcome there.
Rem “I am coming to you”.
CAC I was thinking of that. He comes on that principle, as being desired, not sent for. I do not think anything [p. 140] could keep Him away from a company taking the Supper and being unified by being filled with Himself. I do not think he could keep away. The first effect of taking the Supper and calling Him to mind would be that He would be attracted to come. The presence of the Spirit in a way provides the Lord with opportunity to come.
I think sometimes the Lord waits; He waits for this. He waits to see the effect which the Supper has had upon us, whether we have really been unified and whether our minds are full of Himself as calling Him to mind. He waits for that. It is very important that room should be left in the assembly for the character of things we get in John 12. It is not God or the Father here. There is no thought of God or the Father in the matter; it is the Lord who is the Object of the service. “They made him a supper”, and it is all in relation to Him.
Ques Would the previous chapters enter into it?
CAC I think so in a very marked way. They had learnt Him on previous occasions and particularly in chapter 11. They had learnt Him as the resurrection and the life. He was unrivalled in their thoughts. So this is a scene characterised by the power of resurrection, known in His own Person. When the Lord instituted the Supper He was anticipatively beyond suffering and death in His own spirit, so He gave thanks for the loaf and the cup, recognising the accomplishment of what is spoken of in the loaf and the cup. He places the disciples beyond it in giving it to them. So here the Lord is the resurrection and the life; resurrection was there in the power of His own Person even before He died. Lazarus is here too, though he is quiescent. He did not take any part in the service. That is, the service is carried on by the feminine part of the family.
Lazarus is not active in the service of the occasion; Mary and Martha are. He represents the thought of “part with Me”. He “was one of those at table with him”. Of [p. 141] course that thought ought always to be present at the meeting; it is not always voiced. Lazarus is not brought in on the side of making a supper for Him; the feminine side is brought in — the state of the assembly — and it indicates that side of the service.
Rem It is a matter of affection and of what is subjective; what has been brought out in that sense, rather than what is apparent or in testimony.
CAC I thought that. This service is entirely a matter of ministering to the Lord — not to God or the Father, but to the Lord — and ministering to Him in the feminine affection of the assembly; that is the prominent thought.
I think we need locally a greater apprehension of this, for we often find, when we are just beginning to have liberty in the service, that a brother gives out a hymn addressed to God and the Father, and the service is sometimes intruded upon and hindered.
Rem This was an occasion of great value to the Lord; He came to Bethany by His own selection.
CAC Yes, I think that is right. The Lord loves the appreciation of the assembly. We must be exercised that this part of the service is maintained. It seems as if we hurried away from it, but the Lord would detain us, and He would intimate to us when the moment has come to turn to the Father. It is the lack of this element that weakens the service Godward, and exposes where we are in our affections; because, if really lovers of the Lord, we should like to dwell upon Himself. “They made him a supper”. All the previous experience of the soul and its knowledge of Christ enter into this; so that when together in assembly we can easily take on the service, because the affections proper to the service are with us; we bring those affections with us.
Rem It is good to see Martha’s over-activity adjusted here.
CAC It seems to me that Martha represents [p. 142] the element that would secure what is suitable in the external service of the assembly; and the inwardness, the spiritual side, is secured by Mary. We must not think, of course, that the Father is losing anything by this service; it is of the utmost delight to the Father to see it rendered. This is not depriving the Father of anything; it is providing Him with positive delight. He says, “the Father himself has affection for you, because ye have had affection for me”. The assembly comes under the Father’s affectionate regard because of it. It was Abraham’s delight for Isaac to have a wife.
How this carries us away from anything formal or religious! If this is right the outward would be right, so that the assembly, marked by this service, would be in perfect order. Mary sets forth in a unique way the inwardness of the assembly in her appreciation of Christ. There is nothing like it. This pound of ointment stands alone; there is nothing in Scripture you can put beside it. She was not acting on the impulse of the moment, but she had this store in possession and could bring it out at the right moment. In the Darby Translation note we are told a peculiar word is used in regard to it, difficult to interpret and never used on any other occasion. It seems to bring out the uniqueness of it: she had gathered up a precious store; she had entered into who He was, and where He was going, in a way no one else had. None of the apostles had this pound of ointment.
Rem She was ready to take advantage of her opportunity.
CAC That is a very helpful suggestion. It should make us very alert. We need to be alert at the Supper. We ought to be more lively then than at any other time.
Ques In intelligent affection?
CAC Yes, so that this extraordinary wealth of appreciation of the assembly should come into evidence. There were types in the Old Testament like the incense and the [p. 143] anointing oil, of which the ingredients were all prescribed. But there was nothing like that about Mary’s pound of ointment. It represented what developed in her own affections as she had been with Him. This wonderful, intense valuation of His Person developed, so that she had a sense of the infinite divine wealth in His Person. That went to make up this wealth — incorruptible affections, you might say. Such are the affections of the assembly normally. The assembly is capable of taking up what is set forth in Mary’s act.
Rem It is good to know exactly when to come in.
CAC That is very delightful in regard to any little part that we take in the meeting. It is important in the service that every part in it should fit in.
Rem And the place is mentioned. It says it was there, where the dead man had been.
CAC And it is in the place where His death has been. What it must be to the Lord in the midst of a world that actually despises and rejects Him, to see a company that thinks everything of Him! We can hardly conceive the delight it must be to Him.
Rem It is the place where death has been overcome and set aside.
CAC Yes, and do not you think that Mary is there? He has died, and all she has to think of is His burial, and in her mind the day has arrived for His burial. It is beautiful. It shews that in spirit she is beyond His death, and only looking at His relation to this world, to be prepared by her affection for His burial. He is to disappear from the world, from man, by being buried, so that He should be known in a new relation in which He stands to the Father and to the assembly. He has not a link with the world;; He is out of it! Burial is the disappearance of Christ after the flesh, but He appears in the Father’s world. The next chapter shews this; and He lives in relation to the assembly. I think all that is set forth in her preparation for His burial. How the Lord would have us [p. 144] understand that He has done with this world! He has not only died but was buried, so that we may live with Him in relation to the assembly and the Father. The Lord having been buried, could not be touched after the old order at all. He could be touched in the assembly. “Handle me and see”. It is to be understood spiritually, He is to be handled in all the substantial character of His new condition.
Rem Mary anoints His feet, which speak of His pathway down here.
CAC His feet now move in the assembly in a new way. “I am coming to you” signifies a movement of His feet. It is very precious to see there is a distinction in John’s gospel. In the other gospels His head is anointed; here it is His feet that are anointed, that is, the full thought of His Person has come out in this gospel, so you could not think of anointing His head if you think of Him as God. But the assembly can also anoint Him. “He is head over all things to the assembly”. The assembly can do that, but when it is a question of His Person it must be His feet in adoration; there could be no rising up to His head in John’s gospel.
One wishes these things might affect us and come out in the service of the assembly. We pass too quickly away from the service to the Lord, to the Father; we do not give sufficient place for His service. I believe it is most important.