Luke 22:14

And when the hour had come, etc. After having described the preparation of the paschal meal, he here describes the consecration of the Sacrament of the altar. And since this Sacrament is the fulfillment of the Law and is fruitless for the ungrateful, this section …

And when the hour had come, he reclined at the table, and the twelve apostles with him. The hour of eating the Passover is designated, which, as it has been often emphasized, occurred on the fourteenth day of the first month, brought to evening, and …

By the hour of eating the Passover, He signifies the fourteenth day of the first month, far gone towards evening, the fifteenth moon just appearing on the earth.

They ate the Passover standing; so how is it said of the Lord that He reclined? They say that, having eaten the lawful Passover, they then reclined afterward, according to the common custom, to eat whatever other foods there were.

These verses contain Luke's account of the institution of the Lord's supper. It is a passage which every true Christian will always read with deep interest. How astonishing it seems that an ordinance, so beautifully simple at its first appointment, should have been obscured and mystified by man's inventions! What a painful proof it is of human corruption — that some of the bitterest controversies which have disturbed the Church, have been concerning the table of the Lord. Great indeed is the ingenuity of man, in perverting God's gifts!

These verses contain Luke's account of the institution of the Lord's supper. It is a passage which every true Christian will always read with deep interest. How astonishing it seems that an ordinance, so beautifully simple at its first appointment, should have been obscured and mystified by man's inventions! What a painful proof it is of human corruption — that some of the bitterest controversies which have disturbed the Church, have been concerning the table of the Lord. Great indeed is the ingenuity of man, in perverting God's gifts! The ordinance that should have been for his wealth — is too often made an occasion of stumbling. We should notice, for one thing in these verses — that the principal object of the Lord's supper was to remind Christians of Christ's death for sinners. In appointing the Lord's supper, Jesus distinctly tells His disciples that they were to do what they did, "in remembrance of Me." In one word, the Lord's supper is not a sacrifice. It is eminently a commemorative ordinance. The bread that the believer eats at the Lord's table, is intended to remind him of Christ's body given to death on the cross for his sins. The wine that he drinks, is intended to remind him of Christ's blood shed to make atonement for his transgressions. The whole ordinance was meant to keep fresh in his memory — the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and the satisfaction which that sacrifice made for the sin of the world. The two elements of bread and wine were intended to preach Christ crucified as our substitute under lively emblems. They were to be a visible sermon, appealing to the believer's senses, and teaching the old foundation-truth of the Gospel — that Christ's death on the cross, is the life of man's soul. We shall do well to keep this simple view of the Lord's supper steadily in view.

THE outward ordinances of the Christian religion are but two—and those two are exceedingly simple—yet neither of them has escaped human alteration. And, alas, much mischief has been worked and much of precious teaching has been sacrificed by these miserable perversions! For instance, the ordinance of Baptism, as it was administered by the Apostles, represented the burial of the Believer with Christ and his rising with his Lord into newness of life. Men had to exchange immersion for sprinkling and the intelligent Believer for an unconscious child—and so the ordinance is slain!

THE outward ordinances of the Christian religion are but two—and those two are exceedingly simple—yet neither of them has escaped human alteration. And, alas, much mischief has been worked and much of precious teaching has been sacrificed by these miserable perversions! For instance, the ordinance of Baptism, as it was administered by the Apostles, represented the burial of the Believer with Christ and his rising with his Lord into newness of life. Men had to exchange immersion for sprinkling and the intelligent Believer for an unconscious child—and so the ordinance is slain! The other sacred institution, the Lord's Supper, like Believers' Baptism, is simplicity itself. It consists of broken bread and wine poured out—these items being eaten and drunk at a festival—a delightful picture of the sufferings of Christ for us and of the fellowship which the saints have with one another and with Him. But this ordinance, also, has been tampered with by men. By some, the wine has been taken away altogether, or reserved only for a priestly caste. And the simple bread has been changed into a consecrated host. As for the table, the very emblem of fellowship in all nations—for what expresses fellowship better than surrounding a table and eating and drinking together? This, indeed, must be put away and an "altar" must be erected! And the bread and wine which were to help us to remember the Lord Jesus are changed into an "unbloody sacrifice," and so the whole thing becomes an unscriptural celebration instead of a holy institution for fellowship! Let us be warned by these mistakes of others never either to add to or take from the Word of God so much as a single jot or tittle! Keep upon the foundation of the Scriptures and you stand safely, and have an answer for those who question you.

And when the hour was come - That is, the evening. See Mat 26:20, and Mar 14:17.

When the hour was come - The hour of eating the paschal lamb, which was in the evening. See the notes at Mat 26:20.