Concerning the design of the Supper, R. Milligan writes in 1859, page 601:

      How very difficult it is for us, living, as we do, in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, to rise to the contemplation of the purely spiritual. We now see, and hear, and taste, and feel, and smell through material organs. But we have not even one spiritual sense. [229] That is, we have no sense by means of which our spirits can directly and immediately hold communion and fellowship with other spirits.

      This may be owing entirely to our present organization. Holy angels may feel no such restraints. They may require no material media as means of intercourse and enjoyment. And this, too, may be the case with every one of us, when we shall see as we are seen, and when we shall know even as also we are known.

      But, in our present state, the picture must be presented to the eye, and the sound must be addressed to the ear. The mathematician must use his diagrams; the historian his charts; and the chemist his varied apparatus, to illustrate even the abstract and recondite elements and principles of science.

      Hence, God has, from the very beginning, taught man by signs and symbols. Even in Eden the Sabbath was instituted to remind man that this world is not eternal; that it is not the result of chance; and that it is not the work of any inferior Demiurge, but that "in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is; and rested the seventh day."

      On the same principle the institution of sacrifice was established, immediately after the fall of man. And for the space of four thousand years, the blood of innocent victims proclaimed to the world in the most impressive manner, the holiness of God, the justice of God, the claims of his government upon man, and the mysterious doctrine of expiation and reconciliation through the death and sin-offering of the great Antitype.

      In the meantime, Moses was directed to complete the system of symbolic worship. He constructed the tabernacle and all its furniture; the table of the shew bread, the candlesticks, the altar of incense, the vail, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim of glory, for the purpose of instructing the Israelites, and through them the whole world in the sublime mysteries of redemption. Other inspired teachers of the Old Testament followed his example. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve minor prophets, all taught the people by signs and symbols.

      The beginning of the reign of heaven was a new era in God's method of instruction. Great progress had been made under the Law, in the development of truth. A religious vocabulary had been formed. And hence, when the mystery was fully revealed, as it was for the first time, on the day of Pentecost, the law of the New Institution was written, not on tables of stone, but on the fleshy tables of the heart.¹ The people were then better prepared to understand the real [230] nature and object of the Messiah's reign; and to comprehend more clearly and more fully the verbal teachings of the Holy Spirit.

      But, even then, the symbolic method of instruction was not wholly abandoned. Our blessed Redeemer did not forget that we are still in the flesh; that we have bodies as well as spirits; and that while the world stands, the former must ever be the medium of access to the latter. And hence, on "the same night on which he was betrayed, he took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do ye, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come."²

      In these words our blessed Saviour very clearly and impressively sets forth the object and design of this institution. He teaches us very plainly that it is commemorative; that it is designed to keep ever fresh in our memories the first great fact of the Gospel; that its author and founder died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

      But to say that it is commemorative is not enough. It has reference to more than the mere recollection of a fact. It is also the medium of spiritual food to the hungry and thirsty soul. We are required to EAT the bread, and to DRINK the wine. Why? Not because they are converted into the body, blood, and divinity of the Son of God. Nay, verily. They are still of the meat that perishes. But there is here presented a beautiful analogy between the wants of the body and the wants of the soul. To supply the former, it is not enough to remember that there is bread sufficient and to spare; it is not enough that we even look upon the rich provision that has been bountifully supplied. We must eat it. We must masticate and digest it. We must appropriate it to the nourishment of our bodies, or our physical existence will soon terminate.

      Just so it is with the soul. It needs its regular supplies of food as well as the body. And this food must be spiritually eaten, spiritually digested, and spiritually appropriated, or the soul will languish and perish forever.

      This is beautifully illustrated by the discourse of our Saviour to the Jews recorded in the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to. John. "Verily, verily," said he, "ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles; but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perishes; but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God [231] the Father sealed. *  *  * I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews then strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you; Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven; not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.³

      It is true that this very impressive discourse has no direct reference to the Lord's Supper. The lesson which Christ here teaches was suggested by the occasion. He had on the day previous, fed four thousand persons on five barley loaves and two small fishes. And when the multitude followed him to Capernaum, eagerly seeking after the meat that perishes, he reminded them that other food was necessary; that neither the manna which God rained down upon their fathers in the desert, nor the food which he had miraculously supplied near the village of Bethsaida, could give eternal life: and that if they would live forever they must eat his flesh and drink his blood.

      This may, no doubt, be done in various ways. Every ordinance of Goad is a medium of food to the hungry soul. But no other institution is so well and so directly adapted to this 'end as the Lord's Supper. In it we are therefore commanded to eat of our Lord's broken body, and to drink of his shed blood. For "the same night on which he was betrayed he took bread; and when he had given thanks he brake it, and said, Take eat." Eat what? The bread merely? Nay, verily. For he immediately adds, "This is my body."

      We must, therefore, simultaneously eat of the commemoration loaf and of the bread of life; and while we literally drink of the symbolic cup, we must also, at the same time, drink spiritually of that blood, which alone can supply the wants of the thirsty soul. Unless we do this, the bread that we eat can in no sense be to us the body of the Son of God; nor can the, wine that we drink be in any sense the blood of the New Covenant, which was shed for the remission of the sins of many. [232]

      This, then, is just such an institution as we all need: perfectly adapted to the present condition, capacity, wants and circumstances of all who are really the humble followers of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Nothing could be more simple; and yet nothing contains a deeper and more profound philosophy. It is, in fact, in a subordinate sense, both the wisdom and the power of God for the nourishment of every soul that hungers and thirsts after righteousness.

      My limits will not allow me to develope this idea fully. I must be brief. But by way of illustration, let us look for a moment at the great suggestive power of this institution. It refers us directly to the death of Christ. For says he, "As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew forth the Lord's death until he come." But it is not limited wholly and exclusively even to that great event. No man, carried forward in thought and feeling to Calvary, can stop there. As he looks upon the cross, the nails, the spear, the blood, the convulsions of nature, and the Divine majesty, meekness, loveliness, and benevolence of our adorable Redeemer, he is also compelled to think of the untreated glories of the Divine Logos; and of his infinite condescension in taking upon him, not the nature of angels, but the nature of the seed of Abraham, "that through his death he might destroy him who has the power of death, and deliver them, who through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage." And following in the train of these associations he is unconsciously carried forward to the contemplation of the future. He thinks of the second advent of Christ; of the resurrection of the saints; of the day of judgment; and of the honors of God's everlasting kingdom. And while each suggestion furnishes fresh aliment to the hungry soul, it also serves to humble and to purify the heart. What mind thus exercised can foster feedings of pride, vanity, envy, lust, or revenge. Who that believes all this, and that feels all this, can refuse to forgive from the heart every brother his trespasses?

      But to realize all that God designs to convey to us, through the medium of this institution, requires much preparation of heart:--a theme which I must reserve for the next chapter. At your suggestion, and in compliance with your request, I have, my dear brother, commenced this series of articles. I believe with you that the subject is one of much importance; and that a clear exposition of all its bearings and relations, as an element of the Christian system, would do much to promote piety among our own brethren, and also to harmonize the jarring and conflicting opinions of Protestant Christendom. But it is not my purpose to write such a treatise. I must leave this work, at least for the present, to others; and confine myself to the very brief consideration of a few practical questions. [233]

      In the meantime, I trust that you will always be mindful of me in your prayers: and that our brethren will everywhere labor together for the furtherance of the Gospel, and the practical restoration of primitive Christianity. Let us, one and all, endeavor to be more "stedfast in the apostles' teaching, and in the fellowship, and in the breaking of the loaf, and in the prayers." Then, indeed, we will daily grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

      That God may ever bless you and yours, is the sincere and ardent prayer of your brother in Christ.

[RICHARD MILLIGAN.]      

Source:

Robert Milligan. "The Lord's Supper.--No. I. Its Design." The Millennial Harbinger 30 (November 1859): 601-605.

[MHA2 229-234]