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Lord's Supper 2 Christ's body and blood are truly present in, with and under the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper whether we believe it or not. This does not mean however, that the sacrament is magical and that we receive the benefits of the Supper whether we believe or not. Faith is needed to take hold of the benefits of the Supper. But what are those benefits and how do we to receive them? What is the purpose of the Lord's Supper? This can be found in the words of Jesus. He says about the Sacrament, "This is my body, which is given for you, and this is my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." This is why Christ wants us to come. He wants us to receive the forgiveness of sins, which He has won for us. Luther comments in the Large Catechism, "Therefore it is fitting to call [the Sacrament] the food of the soul that nourishes and strengthens the new man. It is of course through Baptism that we are first born anew. But it must be said here, as before, that human flesh and blood still retain their old skin. We often grow faint and weary and sometimes even stumble as the devil and the world confront us with their many obstacles and temptations. That is why the Lord's Supper is given us for daily food and sustenance to refresh and strengthen us, so that our faith may not become weary in battle but go from strength to strength." The devil is clever. He recognizes that a full scale attack will not work in most cases and so he tries various schemes to wear us down and get us to abandon the faith or become indifferent or impatient. The goal of the devil is always to get us to doubt God's promise or to believe the wrong thing. He knows very well that faith is the point at which we are vulnerable. Christ's work is finished. The devil cannot undo Christ's death and resurrection so he comes after us to lead us away from our Lord's finished work. Our Lord knows very well what the devil is up to. This is why He has given us His Supper. It is a source of comfort to us. Through it He renews us and strengthens us so that we would be all the more confident that our sins are forgiven. He has won forgiveness for all people, but in the Sacrament He applies this to us personally. Some wonder, "How can bread and wine forgive sins?" But, of course, we are not saying that bread and wine have the power to do this. It is the word of Christ that makes a Sacrament. He declares that the bread and wine are His body and blood and it is this bread and wine which has Christ's promise attached to it that gives us the forgiveness of sins. In the Large Catechism, Luther draws a parallel between the Sacrament and the Gospel. Christ won for us the forgiveness of sins on the cross. And how does this forgiveness come to us? Through the word. "Where do people learn about forgiveness or how can they lay hold on it and appropriate it, unless they hold and believe the Scriptures and the Gospel?&ldots; Our opponents must agree after all that here in the Sacrament is the very message we hear everywhere in the Gospel. As little as they dare say that the whole Gospel or Word of God outside of the Sacrament is valueless, so little can they say that the words in the Sacrament are valueless." Luther continues, "Whoever takes these words ["given and shed for you"] as addressed to him and believes that they are true, he has what the words declare. But whoever does not believe has nothing because he lets this healing grace and blessing be offered to him in vain and refuses to enjoy it. The treasure is opened wide and placed at everyone's door.&ldots; But it remains for you to take it, confidently believing that everything is exactly as the words say." |
