Concerning the Holy Supper – part 1
Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: 1 Corinthians 10:15-17
Series: Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Click for a recording of today’s lesson.
From the Confessions: The Defense of the Augsburg Confession
The Tenth Article has been approved, in which we confess that we believe, that the body and blood of Christ are truly and substantially present in the Lord’s Supper, and are truly offered to those who receive the Sacrament with those things that are seen: bread and wine. We constantly defend this belief, having carefully examined and considered the subject. Since Paul says that the bread is “a participation in the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:16), it would follow, if the Lord’s body was not truly present, that the bread is not a participation in the body but only in the spirit of Christ.
Pulling It Together
This participation, as the Revised and English Standard versions translate the word, is a fellowship or, as the King James Version phrases it, a communion. The Holy Supper is a communion in the body and the blood of Christ. So, we have come to understand that he shares with us the gift and the grace of his real presence. Christ Jesus does not offer us a metaphor; he gives us his true body and blood. We are not sharing something merely spiritual in Holy Communion. Because the Lord is truly present in his supper, we receive him — not a memory, not a figure of speech, but Christ himself.
Prayer: Thank you, God my High Priest, for offering yourself as sacrifice for my sin. Amen
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Author
Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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