λαβὼν ἄρτον. The account in St Luke closely agrees with that given by St Paul (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), which he ‘received from the Lord.’

τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου. Comp. “I am the door,” John 10:7. “That rock was Christ,” 1 Corinthians 10:4. “The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” 1 Corinthians 10:16. All the fierce theological debates between Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Zuinglians, Calvinists, &c. might have been avoided if men had borne in mind the warning of Jesus, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life,” John 6:63. As for the word “is” on which so much stress has been laid, if Jesus spoke in Aramaic he would not have used the verb at all.

διδόμενον. St Paul uses κλώμενον instead. 1 Corinthians 11:24.

εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν�. Only here and in 1 Corinthians 11:24. The emphasis is on the latter words. The Christian Passover was no more to be in remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt, but of that far greater deliverance wrought by Christ.

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Old Testament