Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

When we gather at the rail in worship to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we do more than following customs and traditions passed down to us from our forefathers. We do what St. Paul says that we do, namely “26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Cor. 11:26) We confess and believe that Jesus is really present with the bread and wine after it has been consecrated with God’s Word (the words of institution). It is a paradox of the Christian faith.

Paradox is defined as “a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.”

It sort of like when you put two positive ends of a magnet together, if they are small enough magnets you might be able to force them for a little bit of time, but there is a magnetic phenomenon where the two same charged magnets repel one another. It is the same way with the Lord’s Supper. It is the bread and it is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the wine and it is the blood of our Lord. Both statements are true completely at the same time.

The root word for Sacrament in the New Testament is the word Mysterion, where we get our English word for mystery. It is bread and it is the body, it is the wine and it is the blood of Christ. How it is exactly is a mystery of faith and as Lutherans we have grown comfortable with this Divine Mystery.

Martin Luther wrote the following about the real presence of Christ in Holy Communion: “At creation God ordained that the sun must daily rise and shine and give light and warmth to creatures. Just so the Lord Jesus Christ also ordained and commanded that in His Church His essential body and blood are to be present in the Lord’s Supper, not merely in a spiritual but also in a bodily and yet incomprehensible manner.” (LW-6, No. 6775)

From Matthew’s Gospel we have the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: 26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.(Matt. 26:26-28)

Jesus clearly says, “this is my body” and “this is my blood,” and so as Christians we take Jesus at His Word. How it is incomprehensible to the rational mind? But the why is answered by Jesus, Himself. Jesus’ body and blood are broken and “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

We also know from the Scriptures and Luther’s Small Catechism, wherever there is the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation go hand in hand with it. All Christians who believe in Christ, who discern the body and blood of Jesus and repent of their sins are invited to participate in the Lord’s Supper.

Luther poses the question and then gives a clear answer: “Who, then receives the Sacrament worthily?” “Fasting and bodily preparation is, indeed, a fine outward training; but he is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given’, and ‘shed for you’, for the remission of sins. But he that does not believe these words, or doubts, is unworthy and unfit; for the words ‘For you’ require altogether believing hearts.”

God’s blessings to you during this Lenten Journey as we are Guided to Cross and as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and get a foretaste of the Feast that is to come in God’s eternal Kingdom of Glory.

In Christ’s Peace,

Pastor Ryan Honeycutt