1 Corinthians 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. "Do you then," men ask, "reduce this sacrament to make it only a symbol? "I confess my inability to appreciate the force of the depreciatory innuendo. Does not a symbol mean all that it symbolises? Has it not the same honour and sanctity attaching to it as that which it represents? Are not symbols the most sacred things on earth? Why is it that men will take a tattered piece of silk and nail it to the mast, and blow themselves and the ship to atoms rather than any enemy's hand should touch that flag? It is only a symbol. Why is it that in one corner of the battle-field "the swords' flash is brightest, and the pistols' ring is loudest" round a blood-stained banner? It is only a symbol — but a symbol of England, and of all the freedom, the honour, the truth, the heroism, that that word "England" means! Thus, for the eye of faith and the heart of love these symbols mean all that they recall and represent. We are to eat that bread and drink that wine in remembrance that His body was given, and that His blood was shed for us. (T. T. Shore, M.A.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
    |