Friday, June 14, 2013
The Bible tells us about how Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper in a number of places. In our hymnal we combine these accounts to say: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread. And when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, 'Take, eat. This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.'
"In the same way He took the cup, after supper, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, 'Drink of it, all of you. This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'"
AS LUTHER TAUGHT: THE LORD'S SUPPER
Since Jesus says this is His body and blood, that's what we believe and teach. The bread and wine are not outwardly transformed, but even so, Christ's body and blood are offered here in a real, though supernatural, way. We call this the "real presence".
Some teach that this is nonsense. They say that Christ's body and blood cannot be here since we cannot detect them. But remember, before Jesus took His visible presence from this earth, He promised His disciples that He would be with them "even to the end of the age." We cannot SEE Him with us, but we still TRUST His promise. It is the same thing with the real presence.
Also, First Corinthians 11 says, "... whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:27).
It says that a person will be guilty of sinning against THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST.
This is a great mystery and a matter of faith. The power of the Lord's Supper is this: as surely as Christ is present in the sacrament, just as surely we know our sins have been forgiven through His body and blood given for us on the cross.
