Luke 22:14-23

Institution of the Lord's Supper. Denunciation of the Traitor (Matthew 26:20; Mark 14:17; 1 Corinthians 11:23). See on Mt. St. Luke's account most resembles that in 1 Corinthians 11:23, which is only natural, seeing that he was a disciple of St. Paul. The most striking peculiarity of his account is that he mentions two cups, one before and one after the blessing of the bread. The latter is without doubt the cup of the Holy Communion, or Eucharist, which, as his been shown on St. Matthew, corresponded to the 'Cup of Blessing' or 'third cup' of the Passover Supper. The earlier cup of St. Luke may therefore have been the 'second cup' of the Passover, which was drunk after the lamb was placed on the table (see on Mt). The mention of two cups by St. Luke was early felt to be a difficulty, and accordingly a few ancient MSS reduce the cups to one, some by omitting the former cup, others by omitting the latter. The latter omission, which has the support of only one Greek and five Latin MSS, has met with some support from recent critics. If it be accepted, St. Luke's first cup must be that of the Eucharist, and in that case he represents the Eucharistic cup as consecrated before the bread.