3158.-One Cup or More by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jun 14, 1910

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 23.

3158.—One Cup or More

By Editor

In Luke 22:17, 20, did Jesus mean one cup to one deacon, or did He mean cups to one deacon? Is cup singular or plural? G. W. R.

There is no question whatever but that there was but one cup which Jesus passed to His disciples. Verse 17 was evidently during the Passover feast. "Take this and divide it among yourselves." Then comes the institution of the Lord's Supper, verse 19 the breaking of the bread, and verse 20 "the cup in like manner after supper," that is, after the Passover supper. The question with our correspondent, we suppose, is the custom of many cups which has come in of late years for two purposes largely; one to facilitate the ordinances in a large church; and secondly, on account of cleanliness from a hygienic standpoint.

The thought in the Lord's Supper seems to be oneness. It is the one loaf and the one cup; and yet it would be very difficult in a church of three or four hundred to carry out the ordinance in the strictest letter without taking very much time. Is not the thought of the unity expressed just as strongly when the wine comes out of the one pitcher or receptacle? The cup is simply the form of a dish; not a particular form is designated, because cups have many forms and sizes; and could it not be just as truly divided among the disciples if poured out of that general receptacle, the pitcher, into the smaller glasses, and passed on to the others, just the same as the loaf? In a large church it would be almost impossible to make one loaf which would be sufficient for three or four hundred members; consequently different loaves are made. But the thought is the same. It is the breaking of the loaf; it is the dividing of the same body of bread; for each loaf of itself represents the Lord's body, and so with the receptacle containing the wine. It is wine that is poured out for each one; and while there may be some, as with the writer, who would feel that it might be better to hold to the old original method, in its simplicity, in large churches the other method is certainly more hygienic and the more expeditious and equally solemn. What our Lord would have done if He had had before Him five or six hundred we do not know; but we may be assured that He would have taken the wisest, simplest, and best way.