God provides a holy and precious meal to sustain and strengthen us on our pilgrimage through life we call-the Lord's Supper.
Jesus promised to be with us always, to the very close of the age (Matt. 28:20). Through His precious Word and Sacraments, our Lord continues to fulfill His promise.
Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of the Altar with these words: "This is My body, given for you. This cup is My blood of the new testament, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins" (Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-25).The Lord's Supper "is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink"(Small Catechism).
To understand the Eucharist, we need to examine Christ's words of institution in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and in 1 Corinthians, as well as St. Paul's additional statements about the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11 and 10. On that basis we can establish the following concerning the essence of the usus (the use) of the Lord's Supper (consecration, distribution, reception):
The real and substantial presence of Christ's body and blood during the usus.
The sacramental union of bread and wine and of Christ's body and blood during the usus.
The oral manducation (chewing) of bread and wine and Christ's body and blood by all the communicants during the usus.
The real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the usus is brought about solely and alone by the power of Christ according to the words of institution, that is, by His command and promise. We accept this statement (Point 4) with the understanding that:
a) The real presence is effected solely by the original words of institution spoken by our Lord (causa efficiens) and repeated by the efficient at His command (causa instrumentalis).
b) The Confessions do not assert more as a point of doctrine than the above, which is clearly taught in Scripture.
In the Sacrament of the Altar our Lord and Savior is continually distributing to us the body and blood of the sacrifice He made for us, the sacrifice by which He paid for the sins of the entire world. Thus, receiving His body and blood, we receive forgiveness, life and salvation. Flowing from these tremendous treasures of God's mercy are the love, peace and hope that He gives us in His Supper, and the ability and desire to do God's will, living in love and harmony with others.
It is often observed how there is a foreshadowing of the Lord's Supper in the Old Testament discussion of how the sacrifices were eaten by those for whom they were offered (1 Cor. 10:18). The Scriptures indicate that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb.9:22). The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7; Matt.26:28;Acts 20:28;Rom.5:9;Heb.9:14;Heb.12:24; 1 Peter 1:18-19;Rev.1:5;Rev.7:14). And it is this very blood He gives in His Supper.
We do not try to explain how Jesus is present under the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper, rather we believe, teach, confess and rejoice that He is present. We Lutherans let the words of Jesus stand without arguing about their possibility, or trying to explain how they are true. As Luther put it so clearly, "We maintain that the bread and the wine in the Supper are the true body and blood of Christ"(SA III.6). Everyone who communes receives into their mouths the body and blood of Jesus Christ, whether they believe it or not, be they worthy or unworthy.
Jesus' Word is sure and certain. The Holy Spirit gives us faith to trust in and believe Jesus' words, "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." Faith in Christ's promise is what makes us worthy to receive His Supper. Christ's words of institution retain their validity and efficacious power and thus, by virtue of these words, the body and blood of Christ are truly present, distributed and received.
We receive the Lord's Supper often because of how much we need what the Lord gives in His Supper. We dare never make a law about how often an individual "should" or "must" receive the Lord's Supper. But this is a separate question from how frequently Holy Communion is offered in our congregations.
Our Lutheran Confessions make it clear that the Lord's Supper is offered every Lord's Day and on other days when there are communicants present (AC XXIV.34 and Ap.XXIV.1).
In saying this, our Confessions are merely reflecting the truth of the Sacred Scriptures, which place the Lord's Supper at the center of worship (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Cor.11:20,33), not as an appendage or an occasional extra. It is for this reason that we repeatedly encouraged our congregations to provide the opportunity for communicants who so desire to receive the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day.
The Lutheran Churches Of Calvary Grace reject the doctrine of transubstantiation, which teaches that the substance of the bread and wine are changed entirely into the body and blood of Christ. Scripture teaches that all communicants receive both the bread and wine and the body and blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16).
The Lutheran Churches Of Calvary Grace believe that there is no precise or measurable moment within the celebration of the Lord's Supper when the body and blood of Christ become present. We therefore reject the view that one must believe that Christ's body and blood are present as soon as the words of consecration have been spoken and the view that one must believe that Christ's body and blood become present only at the moment of eating and drinking.
Here is how one Lutheran theologian beautifully describes the precious treasure of the Lord's Supper:
"The Israelites were fed with manna in the wilderness as with bread from heaven (Ex. 16:15). In this Holy Supper we have the true manna, which came down from heaven to give life to the world. Here is that bread of heaven, that angel's food, of which if any man eat he shall never be hungry (John 6:35,51). "The children of Israel had the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat, where they could hear the Lord speaking with them face to face (Ex.25:21, 22). Here we have the true ark of the covenant, the most holy body of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col.2:3). Here we have the true mercy seat in the precious blood of Christ (Rom.3:25), through which God has made us accepted in the Beloved (Eph.1:6).
"Nor does Christ simply speak the word of comfort to our souls, He also takes up His abode in us. He feeds our souls not with heavenly manna, but, what is far better, with His own blessed self. Here is the true gate of heaven for our souls, and the ladder reaching from earth to heaven on which the angels of God ascend and descend (Gen.28:12).
"Christ holds us dear because He has bought us at so dear a price. He holds us dear because He feeds our souls with so dear and precious a food. He holds us dear because we are members of His body, of His flesh (Eph.5:30). "The holy flesh of God, which the angelic hosts adore in the unity of the divine nature, before which archangels bow in lowly reverence, and before which the principalities and powers of heaven tremble and stand in awe, has become the nourishment for our souls. Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad (Ps.96:11), but still more let the believing soul exult and sing for joy, to whom God gives such an unspeakable gift!"
