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Lutheran Catechism
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Date Modified:
11-12-04

Class 13

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Lesson 13 — Holy Communion

Catechism Questions 285-305 (OLD:296-331); Koehler pp. 139-141; See also "Section 4: Christian Questions and their answers"

I.

The Lord's Supper — what it is

A.

Its background in the Passover

Exodus 12
Matthew 26:26-29

The link between the Jewish Passover and the Lord's Supper is very interesting. When God instituted the Passover, He did so with two objects in mind: That Israel, by acting out this ritual each year, would remember His deliverance and goodness to them in the past. The Passover was also designed specifically to point Israel to the future: to that time when God would sent His messiah, the long-promised savior.

Passover Lamb

The lamb chosen for the Passover was the best in the flock. It had to be perfect, without blemish. It had to be the nicest to look at as well as the most energetic. The family was to bring this lamb away from the rest of the flock fourteen days before the lambs for Passover had to be killed, and keep it under close observation to make sure that it was perfect. During this time, they would feed the lamb, maybe even play with it and care for it like we would a dog. At the end of the fourteen days, they had to slaughter the lamb for the Passover meal. Imagine how it must have been to grow close to a cute little lamb over that period of time, to be endeared to it, only to slaughter it! Thus Jesus, God's own Son, was the innocent, perfect sacrifice for us when He was in the prime of His life. The lamb had to be roasted with fire, as Jesus endured the fire of God's wrath for our sins. Not a bone of the Passover lamb could be broken as it was being prepared. Likewise, Christ was spared broken bones even though the two thieves crucified with Him had> their legs broken. The Israelites were redeemed by the blood of the lamb (from the angel of death in Egypt, and afterward by the celebration of the Passover their sins were taken away, and they were then part of the family of God's chosen people again). So the Lamb of God, as He is even called in the Scripture, redeemed all people from sin, death and hell once and for all.

Unleavened bread

The first reason for unleavened bread is the quick departure and long stay in the desert. The Children of Israel were instructed to take unleavened bread because it would last longer and could be carried easier on the trip. (This even didn't last, and they had to eventually be fed by the manna in the wilderness.) There is another very important reason for unleavened bread. Leaven, or yeast, has often been used by God as a symbol for sin. (Jesus: Beware of the leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees.) The reason God uses leaven this way is that sin behaves in individual people and nations in a very similar way that yeast behaves in dough. Just a little yeast will cause yeast to effect an entire portion of dough. Look at how sin works: it very often comes in small ways, and as people get into it more and more, they do more and more. This is the important reason for church attendance and Bible study, because as we are being "leavened" by sin, God washes the "leaven" away from us and it has to start over each time.

Not only were the Israelites to take unleavened bread, they were first to purify their homes, so that there would be no yeast found anywhere. This is still a part of the modern Passover observance in Judaism. In each Passover following that deliverance from Egypt, the Israelites were to remember to purge the sin from their lives as they purged the leaven (the symbol for sin) from their homes.

Blood on the doorpost

When the angel of death was to come to destroy the firstborn of each Egyptian household, God commanded that each house in Goshen, where the Israelites were, have the lambs blood painted on the doorpost. The painting was done to the top beam first, then to the two sides. We can think of that as almost a "sign of the cross", with the vertical and horizontal beams in the arrangement they are in. Also, as Jesus says, "I am the door" or the door to heaven, these Israelites were first ransomed from Egypt by bloody doorways, and so we are also ransomed from a life of sin to heaven by the "bloody doorway", Jesus Christ.

Without going into the actual details about the actual ceremony, which is very interesting indeed, I will relate some highlights. The Passover meal was not simply like our thanksgiving meal where everyone dives in after the blessing and eats in the order that he/she likes. It is a very ordered meal, being structured almost like our modern worship service. First of all was the ceremonial washing, then eating of the bread, the lamb, and sharing various cups of wine throughout the meal. Each event was preceded by a prayer for that specific portion. At the end of the meal came the blessing after meals, which involved taking bread, breaking it, giving thanks, and distributing it to those around. This is when our Lord Jesus Christ, took bread, gave thanks and gave it to His disciples saying, "Take, Eat, this is My Body, which is Given for you. This do in Remembrance of Me." Since this was the blessing at the conclusion of the meal, the next step was the cup of blessing, which would be done "in the same manner also He took the cup after supper (since it was the cup immediately following the thanksgiving bread after the Passover supper itself) and when He had given thanks (again, the standard prayer to be used in the case of the cup of blessing) He gave it to them saying, Drink of it all of you, this is my blood of the New Testament for the forgiveness of sins. This do as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." This cup is the third in the meal, called the Cup of Blessing or Cup of Redemption. How appropriate! Jesus calls it the NEW TESTAMENT. TESTAMENT is more appropriate translation than Covenant which some of the translations have. It was a new Covenant, which replaced the old covenant (thus, we do not observe Jewish festivals because they are all part of the OLD covenant God made with Israel through Moses). It is also more than that, because it is Christ's last will and testament. This is especially evident in the words "Do this as OFTEN as you drink it, in Remembrance of Me." The words "as often" mean literally OFTEN. We can think of them as the command to partake of the Lord's supper each time it is offered here at Trinity.

The Passover meal has changed over the years, primarily because the Lambs were sacrificed at the Temple, and the Temple no longer exists in Jerusalem. So there have been some improvisations made in the Passover. The LAST SUPPER is so called because it was the last LEGITIMATE observance of Passover according to God's institution of this celebration. Remember, we said that it was designed for Israel to remember not only their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, but to look forward to the Deliverance by the Messiah from the Slavery to sin. Since after this Passover Jesus accomplished this salvation, this is no longer part of the celebration for which to look forward. Therefore, since the Passover pointed FORWARD to the Lord's Supper, and the lamb's blood removed the sins of the people because it pointed them to the blood of THE LAMB, Jesus Christ, Jesus takes this ceremony and uses it to begin another very special ceremony, where that blood which was sacrificed on the cross for our sins would be available to all believers in the Lord's Supper to forgive sins and strengthen faith. The Passover was a picture of the reality which was realized in Jesus Christ.

So we also have a twofold reality in the Lord's Supper. We REMEMBER, or look backward in time to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins, REMEMBERING that our redemption was complete by that one sacrifice at that time. We also receive that forgiveness NOW, and so this Lord's Supper becomes a channel by which that crucifixion event comes to us here in the present, almost 2000 years later. It forgives sins, NOW. It is not different blood, it is not another sacrifice, but it connects to the great Sacrifice Jesus gave on the cross. Its symbolic nature reminds us of Christ and His Word, and its reality plugs us into the very power of God as we eat and drink the body and blood of Christ in and with the bread and wine.

B.

Various views of the Lord's Supper

1.

Lutheran - the actual, true body and blood of Jesus Christ are present in, with and under the bread and wine in the sacrament.

2.

Roman Catholic - the substance of the bread and wine change into the body and blood of Christ (transubstantiation)

3.

Protestant (Reformed) - only the bread and wine(grape juice) are present, and they only symbolize Jesus' body and blood and are reminders of what He did for us.

C.

Which is faithful to Scripture?

Lutheran R. Catholic

Protestant

Matthew 26:26-29

Mark 14:22-24

Luke 22:19-20

1 Corinthians 10:16

1 Corinthians 11:23-25

1 Corinthians 11:26-28

1 Corinthians 11:29

D.

What is essential to the sacrament?

1.

the proper elements ( bread and wine)

2.

the Word of God(Words of Institution)

3.

the proper usage of the elements ( eating and drinking)

II.

The effects of communing

A.

What are the blessings of Holy Communion?

1.

Forgiveness of sins

2.

Strengthening of faith

3.

Fellowship with other Christians

B.

Who should commune? 1 Corinthians 11:27-29

1.

Christians

2.

those who examine themselves

3.

those who discern and accept the Real Presence

4.

those who know and agree with the Scriptural teaching of the sacrament

C.

Who should not commune? (close communion)

1.

Those not yet instructed

2.

non-Christians

3.

those living in sin and offense

4.

those unable to examine themselves

5.

those who refuse to accept the Real Presence

D.

What is meant by "examining ourselves"?

1.

Do we understand what the Lord's Supper really is?

2.

Do we see ourselves as sinners in need of forgiveness?

3.

do we believe that our sins are forgiven in Christ and through this sacrament?

4.

Do we intend with God's help to improve our lives?

E.

How often should we commune? Consider these questions:

1.

Why do we come to the sacrament?

2.

How much pardon and strength do we need?

3.

How often do we sin?

4.

What did Jesus mean when He said, "do this as often as you do it..."?

F.

Practical matters

1.

procedures for receiving the sacrament

2.

gum, candy, lipstick

3.

announcing

4.

use of common cup (chalice)

 

 
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