The Lord’s Supper: The benefit and who receives the benefit

Sermon for Midweek of Septuagesima

Small Catechism Review: The Lord’s Supper, part 2

Last week we considered very simply what the Lord’s Supper is. It 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. It is bread and wine. And it is the body and blood of Christ. Bread, wine, body, and blood are all really present in the use of the Sacrament.

We should say a word about what the “use” is. It includes everything from the consecration—when the minister takes bread and wine and blesses them, according to the Lord’s command—to the distribution to the communicants, to the reception (the eating and the drinking) by the communicants. Throughout the use of the Sacrament, as instituted by Christ, it is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine. Anyone who receives it receives, orally, bread, wine, and the Lord’s true body and blood. Apart from the use of the Sacrament, there is no Sacrament. It’s just bread and wine.

Knowing what the Sacrament is is essential. But so is knowing what it’s for—what benefit it gives and who receives the benefit. So our Catechism asks and answers those questions:

What is the benefit of this eating and drinking?

That is shown us by these words: “Given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins,” namely, that in the Sacrament, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there are also life and salvation.

How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things?

Clearly it is not the eating and drinking that does it, but the words that are there: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words accompany the bodily eating and drinking as the chief part in the Sacrament, and whoever believes these words has what they say and as they declare, namely, forgiveness of sins.

In the Old Testament, the body and blood of an animal sacrifice would make atonement for the sins of the Israelites, and those who brought the sacrifice would receive forgiveness from the priest who offered it. The forgiveness of sins was always the purpose for which sacrifices were brought.

But as the writer to the Hebrews says, it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Those animal bodies and their blood were shadows of the real thing, the body and blood of Christ, true God and true Man, given and shed once for all to make atonement, that is, to earn forgiveness for all sins. The forgiveness of sins—of all sins, of the sins of all people—was earned, once for all, through the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ on the cross. No other atonement can be made. No other price can be paid to earn God’s favor. That was it. That was the one. And it was perfect.

And just as those who brought sacrifices in the Old Testament often participated in them—either by eating the sacrificed food or by being sprinkled with the sacrificed blood, so those who come to the Lord’s Table participate in His sacrifice by eating and drinking it, so that we receive, again and again, the forgiveness that was earned at the cross.

When I say that “we” receive that forgiveness, I mean, as the Catechism says, all those communicants who “believe these words.” All communicants, even people who might inwardly be unbelieving and impenitent, receive the body and blood of Christ if they come to the Lord’s Table. But only believers receive the forgiveness of sins. As always, we are justified by faith, forgiven through faith, made acceptable to God by faith alone in Christ alone and in His promises given to us in Holy Scripture, not because faith is such a great work, but because faith lays hold of Christ. Here in the Sacrament of the Altar, faith specifically lays hold of Christ’s promise to give us the forgiveness of sins by giving us the body and the blood that were sacrificed to earn that very forgiveness.

Is the forgiveness we receive in the Lord’s Supper different from the forgiveness we receive in Holy Baptism or in the absolution or in the Gospel in general? No, the forgiveness is the same. But just as doctor might prescribe three different medications that work well together in order to  make you healthy and keep you healthy, so the Lord has prescribed preaching, and Holy Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper to work well together for the spiritual health of the Christian, to strengthen faith, to firm up our resolve to walk according to the Spirit, and to give us a special, unique way to experience this communion with the true body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Cherish it, both for what it is and for the benefits it gives! Amen.