This done, the Paschal dishes were brought back on the table. The president now took

up in succession the dish with the Passover lamb, that with the bitter herbs, and that

with the unleavened bread, and briefly explained the import of each; for, according to

Rabbi Gamaliel: 'From generation to generation every man is bound to look upon himself

not otherwise than if he had hims elf come forth out of Egypt. For so it is written (Exo

13:8), "And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that

which Jehovah did unto me when I cam forth out of Egypt." Therefore,' continues the

Mishnah, giving the very words of the prayer used, 'we are bound to thank, praise, laud,

glorify, extol, honour, bless, exalt, and reverence Him, because He hath wrought for our

fathers, and for us all these miracles. He brought us forth from bondage into freedom,

from sorrow into joy, from mourning to a festival, from darkness to a great light, and

from slavery to redemption. Therefore let us sing before Him: Hallelujah!' Then the first

part of the 'Hallel' was sung, comprising Psalms 113 and 114, with this brief thanksgiving

at the close: 'Blessed art Thou, Jehovah our God, King of the Universe, who hast

redeemed us and redeemed our fathers from Egypt.' Upon this the second cup was

drunk. Hands were now washed a second time, with the same prayer as before, and one

of the two unleavened cakes broken and 'thanks given.'

Rabbinical authorities distinctly state that this thanksgiving was to follow not to

precede, the breaking of the bread, because it was the bread of poverty, 'and the poor

have not whole cakes, but broken pieces.' The distinction is important, as proving that

since the Lord in instituting His Supper, according to the uniform testimony of the three

Gospels and of St. Paul (Matt 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24), first gave

thanks and then brake the bread ('having given thanks, He brake it'), it must have been

at a later period of the service.

Pieces of the broken cake with 'bitter herbs' between them, and 'dipped' in the Charoseth,

were next handed to each in the company. This, in all probability, was 'the sop' which, in

answer to John's inquiry about the betrayer, the Lord 'gave' to Judas (John 13:25, etc.;

compare Matt 26:21, etc.; Mark 14:18, etc.). The unleavened bread with bitter herbs

constituted, in reality, the beginning of the Paschal Supper, to which the first part of the

service had only served as a kind of introduction. But as Judas, after 'having received

the sop, went immediately out,' he could not even have partaken of the Paschal lamb, far

less of the Lord's Supper. The solemn discourses of the Lord recorded by St. John (John

13:31; 16) may therefore be regarded as His last 'table -talk,' and the intercessory prayer

that followed (John 17) as His 'grace after meat.'

The Paschal Supper itself consisted of the unleavened bread with bitter herbs, of the so-

called Chagigah, or festive offering (when brought), and, lastly, of the Paschal lamb

itself. After that nothing more was to be eaten, so that the flesh of the Paschal Sacrifice

might be the last meat partaken of. But since the cessation of the Paschal Sacrifice the

Jews conclude the Supper with a piece of unleavened cake, which they call the

Aphikomen, or after-dish. Then, having again washed hands, the third cup is filled, and

grace after meat said. Now, it is very remarkable that our Lord seems so far to have

anticipated the present Jewish practice that He brake the bread 'when He had given

thanks,' instead of adhering to the old injunction of not eating anything after the

Passover lamb. And yet in so doing He only carried out the spirit of the Paschal feast.

For, as we have already explained, it was commemorative and typical. It commemorated

an event which pointed to and merged in another event--even the offering of the better