We are doing so for the sake of increasing numbers among us who are largely unaware of their inheritance as Covenanters in both life and thought.The complete Glad Hearts volume is available for purchase under the Resources Link on the Home Page of the rootedwings.com website. Comments or questions regarding any of the readings here are always welcome.
Lord's Supper: Central to Church's Life
Communion also expresses the contemporaneity of the cross. ...As the action of God, the cross cannot be simply and solely historical; it must be eternal both in its origin and in its effects. As eternal, it belongs as equally to the present as it does to the past and to the future. The historical act needs no repetition to bring it into the present but it does require recall and reconsideration. When we break the bread and bless the cup, the share in the eternal nature of the cross becomes immediate in the present moment, part of our personal history.
Everett L. Wilson (1936- ), Christ Died for Me (1980), pp. 151,152.
The Lord's Supper is a time to emphasize the three relationships of the Christian life. They are 1) our relationship with God, 2) our relationship with ourselves and 3) our relationship with others.
Our Relationship with God. At the Lord's Supper we remember that God loved us enough to send Jesus as a gift to us. This is the reason the Lord's Supper is sometimes called, "the Eucharist," which means "the good gift." We also remember that God has made a New Covenant with us. In this covenant we let him rule in our lives because we love him and wish to obey him. This relationship with God is known as "communion," and this is the reason that the Lord's Supper is sometimes called "Holy Communion." Communion with God is possible because Jesus died for us, our sins are forgiven, and we know that God wants to be our friend. We can never explain just how the Holy Spirit makes Jesus so real to us when we take part in the Lord's Supper. It is one of our most sacred times of worship, and we always take part in it with great reverence.
Our Relationship with Ourselves. We prepare ourselves for the Lord's Supper by asking God to show us any sin that is in our hearts. As we confess our sins to God we also accept his forgiveness, and we pray for his help to be faithful to him in the future. Because we know that our sins are forgiven, our consciences do not trouble us, and we have peace with ourselves. We also have hope for the future because we know that Jesus has promised to come again to finish the establishing of his righteous Kingdom.
Our Relationship With Others. "Communion" means to have good relationships with other people as well as with God. If we have sinned against other people, we determine to make it right with them as soon as we can. Immediately after the Lord's Supper is a good time to greet one another and to wish each other God's peace. If we have sinned against any of our Christian brothers and sisters, this is a good time to ask them for forgiveness. Some churches have a time during the service of the Lord's Supper when the people may greet one another. This is known as "passing the peace."
Every time we take part in the Lord's Supper we are reminded that Jesus died and arose again in order that we might have good relationships with God, with ourselves, and with others. We end each time together with joy because we have again been assured that our sins are forgiven, because we know that God will help us to be faithful Christians, and because Jesus has promised to come again.
Wesley W. Nelson (1910- ), God's Friends: Called to Believe and Belong (1985), pp. 189,190.
The Lord's Supper is an indication of God's inexpressible love toward us. It is Christ's last will and testament, offering us assurance of our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins. Through the life-making power of this heavenly food, believers are strengthened in faith, love to God and neighbor, hope, patience, devotion, and endurance. The Lord's Supper is a means whereby Christ not only lives with, but also in us. In this connection Spener [1635-1705] easily utilized the Galatians 2:20 and 2 Peter 1:4 passages concerning the indwelling Christ and his followers' participation in the divine nature. The Supper is a communion of the saints around Christ's altar.
K. James Stein (1929- ), Philipp Jakob Spener: Pietist Patriarch (1986), p. 222.
Just as Jesus established real, tangible relations with people who had no idea that he would even darken the doors of their homes, so he has commanded this meal with him. It is not in memory of him. That would be of little value, for it would be in memory of an absence. The meal is in fellowship with him and with all others who are in him. He comes to us, desires to eat with us, to give himself to us, and to be there for us. Hence our tradition has spoken of his real presence, for it is on him that we depend for acceptance, for being able to see ourselves as he sees us. To be seen as he sees us opens up a new perspective on us and on each other. Faith lets the bread be what he said it was: "my body, which is for you." Body means presence, availability, and accessibility.
In this fashion God not only communicates about himself to us. He gives himself.
C. John Weborg (1937- ), Alive in Christ, Alert to Life (1985), p. 83.
Peter and John arranged for the Passover feast, and in doing this they did not forget their own advantages and preferments at the table. It appears as if they had selected the choice places for themselves: John choosing the couch closest to Jesus, and Peter the next. For Judas Iscariot they had reserved what was perhaps the most distinguished place of honor, the couch opposite Jesus. Thus he became in a special way the table companion of Jesus, sharing his bread and dipping it in his bowl. It is not impossible but that the disciples thought that their position at the table on this festive occasion in some manner would symbolize their position in the kingdom. Yes, who knows? Maybe they even expected that just at this festival the kingdom would be proclaimed and the places of honor announced! At any rate, one had to assert himself, look after his own interests, and contend for his rights. There was a great deal of unholy ambition in all these preparations, and very little of the Master's spirit.
No wonder that a spirit of gloom rested on the whole company when the Master finally arrived together with the others. Not at all strange if quarrels and contentions occurred about the chief seats. No one wanted to yield to the other. No one wanted to give up his preference. No one wanted to take the lowest place voluntarily.
At last they all inclined at the table, and the meal was to begin. But the spirit of festivity was lacking. Then the Master, who until now had certainly been a quiet, sad spectator of the scene, to the consternation of all, suddenly rose from the table as if he were about to leave the whole company. But no, their astonishment increased when he instead quietly takes off his outer garments, binds a linen cloth around himself, pours water into a basin, and begins to wash the feet of his disciples, performing for them the most menial of a slave's service.
It was a reproach without words. And it fell heaviest on John and Peter. He did what they had neglected, what they had considered themselves too good to do. No wonder if Peter felt it so keenly that he could not endure it in silence, but blurts out: "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus had not uttered a word previously, but now he answers calm and determined in a way that immediately silences all opposition: "If I do not wash you, you have no part in me." The Master was used to command even if he is serving. He is Lord even as a slave. And he gets his will. He washes the feet of all, all, even of Judas Iscariot. After this service he takes his position again at the table and resumes the interrupted meal. With his deed as text he speaks to his company, words that humiliate and bring peace. The waves of emotion are stilled. Before the Master all become small. The smaller they become, the bigger and more advantageous becomes the place of each one. Is it not enough, is it not beyond all measure a great advantage to be allowed to be along, to have part in him!
David Nyvall (1863-1946), "The Feast of Holy Communion: A Word for Awakening and Meditation" (1912), republished as David Nyvall, The Lord=s Supper (1951), pp. 7,8.
Give the invitation. Give the invitation to salvation. Give the invitation to a relationship to Jesus. Give the invitation to his body, the church. Give the invitation to his table. The invitation is to come to this sacred table not because you are strong, but because you are weak. Not because you have any claim on the grace of God, but because in your frailty and sin you stand in constant need of his mercy and help. Come not because you fit in, not because everyone around the table is like you, not because you feel comfortable, not because everyone there is someone with whom you would like to spend your vacation. Rather, come to seek his presence and pray for his spirit.
Glenn R. Palmberg (1945- ), "Giving the Invitation," The Covenant Quarterly, November, 1993, p. 40.
Springs of grace are streaming from the cross of Christ,
where for our redeeming he was sacrificed.
Soothing balm is pouring into hearts that grieve,
joy and hope restoring when earth=s comforts leave.
When my heart is sinking >neath the load of care,
at this fountain drinking, heaven=s strength I share.
When the morn is glowing, and at eventide,
springs divine are flowing, mercy to provide.
By this fount of blessing is my resting place;
safe from things distressing, peace I here embrace.
Carl A. Stenholm (1843-1884), "Springs of Grace Are Streaming," tr. E. Gustav Johnson (1893-1974), from The Covenant Hymnal (1973), No. 510.
Now we come to the consideration of the right celebration of the Lord=s Holy Sacrament. I feel as if I want to go about among you now with the bread and the cup, but that is not possible. ...Remember what grace you have received of God, grace to believe that your sins are forgiven, grace to eat and drink this mean which is instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. ...You are exposed to sin, and these will be known to you when you walk in the light. We know that the kingdom of God with respect to its subjects is a sinful kingdom where many and great sins are revealed. As an example, Paul wrote to the Corinthian congregation, "What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?" The rich took much with them to the feasts and ate by themselves while they let the poor be hungry. What sins! In all probability you, too, are afflicted with sin and perhaps for that reason you do not dare to come to the Lord=s table. You say, "No, today I cannot receive the Lord=s body and blood because I am such a great sinner."
Dear one, we know that you have many and great sins. But who shall cleanse you from all of them? I know of no one who can do that but Jesus. But, dear one, you are thinking of purifying yourself, inasmuch as you do not dare to come with your sin to receive forgiveness and added assurance. Hear what the Lord said through his apostle, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." Do not wait another month to receive grace and forgiveness and Christ in the sacramental way. It is to the distressed that he is given so that they may have peace and a good conscience.... Do not stay away because of sin.
J. M. Sanngren (1837-1878), "A Communion Sermon," March 1877.
Quoted in Eric G. Hawkinson, Images in Covenant Beginnings (1968), pp. 102,103,104.
How wonderful it is to come in perfect bliss,
with saints in sweet communion to such a feast as this.
Of greater joy to me no other thing can be,
than sharing with God=s children this love and harmony.
I know that he is near, my friend and Savior dear;
I feel his holy presence, his loving words I hear.
My soul is now at ease, my blessings here increase,
since from all guilt the Savior has given me release.
His full abundant grace in truth I can embrace,
and therefore in his keeping my life and soul I place.
O Christians, sing with joy, with praise your tongues employ;
the goodness of his blessing the world cannot destroy.
No mortal here below can ever see or know
the glory that in heaven the Father will bestow.
Nils Frykman (1842-1911), "How Wonderful It Is," tr. E. Gustav Johnson (1893-1974), alt., composite from The Covenant Hymnal (1973), No. 520, and The Covenant Hymnal: a Worshipbook (1996), No. 569.
Though there is no prescribed frequency for the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion in Covenant churches, the first Sunday of every month has proved to be a wise and accepted practice. Churches may want to plan communion services at other times as well so that more time may be given to the observance of this sacrament, to emphasize certain seasons of the church year, and to make the sacrament available to all members of the church....
While the efficacy of the Sacrament of Holy Communion does not depend upon external details, the minister should remember that because it is a sacramental act, that which is seen and done is of real significance. The table should be covered with a cloth of fair white linen. In preparing the elements of the sacrament, adequate provision of bread and wine should be made so that there will be no need to replenish the table during the service. Unfermented wine and wafers may be used where practical considerations or local customs make them preferable to sacramental wine and unleavened bread (matzos).
The officiating minister should stand behind the communion table, facing the congregation, wherever this is possible. His [or her] position is that of one who serves at a table and not of one who approaches an altar on behalf of the people. The deacons should be grouped symmetrically at the sides of the table so as not to obscure the view of the congregation. A sacrament is to be seen; it is a visible means of grace.
"Holy Communion," from A Book of Worship for Covenant Churches (1964), pp. 67,68.
The Lord's Supper is celebrated with a wide range of frequency, depending on local church customs and preferences. Covenant churches practice open communion: that is, the sacrament is freely available to all who believe, regardless of church membership. The Lord's Supper always belongs as an integral part of worship, and not as a private, separate act (with the exception of serving those who are incapacitated and unable to attend).
A Family Matter: An Exploration in Believing and Belonging (Inquirer's Class Manual of the Evangelical Covenant Church, 1994), p. 33
Lord's Supper: Who May Participate?
Jesus Christ himself is host at this table. As Covenanters we believe that the Lord's Supper is for all who are in Christ. Not only Covenanters, therefore, but all Christians are welcome. Moreover, we come Anot because [we] are righteous@ but in love for Christ, seeking to be his true disciples. Any person who, hearing Christ's call, wants to express love for God and desires to feed on the Word may respond by sharing in the sacrament. Though worthiness is no criterion for participation, the Scriptures do clearly enjoin us to examine ourselves and to discern Christ's body (1 Corinthians 11:28,29).
Children belong at the Lord's table, too. Youth of confirmation age, who are beginning to grasp the Christian faith, may come to the Lord's table. In counseling with them their pastor may encourage their participation even before they have been confirmed. If parents bring younger children to worship convinced that they, too, love Jesus Christ and want to follow him, they also may be served with their parents.
AHoly Communion,@ from The Covenant Book of Worship (1981), p. 106.
In the minutes of a meeting of the Mission Synod held in May, 1876, the acceptance of the following recommendation is reported: "Young people should be given a thorough-going and coherent instruction in the foundation principles of the Christian faith; in this instruction the Bible and Dr. Martin Luther's little catechism should be the principal textbooks.... When the instruction is completed, there shall not follow an unconditional attendance at the Lord's Supper. When the examinations have been held, the children shall be examined by the church board for reception into the congregation or society on the same basis as older members."
The committee which brought this recommendation also reported an answer to another question: "What is the best way to deal with persons who wish to participate in the Lord's Supper but are not known to be in real need of the Lord?" Answer: "Such persons shall be admonished with God's Word and God's mercy to a change of mind. If the admonishment has the desired results, they are entitled to the benefit of the sacrament; if not, they shall be considered as unworthy."
It is apparent from these decisions that some loose practices prevailed. The decisions constitute evidence that a believing church ideal cannot be realized without congregational discipline. This too involves grave risks if discipline is exercised by those who enjoy it too much and are themselves in need of discipline.
Eric G. Hawkinson (1896-1984), Images in Covenant Beginnings (1968), pp. 83,84.
Not regarding the Mission Society of Swede Bend as a church but only a means for missionary endeavors, the organizers intended to take part in the church as hitherto, and, for instance, take part in the Holy Communion in the church. In fact, it was not yet clear to them that it would be right to do otherwise. The question of celebrating the Holy Communion was under consideration and a subject for discussion for some time. More and more it dawned upon them that this Holy Feast was instituted for the disciples of Jesus Christ and that it must be right for any group of disciples to celebrate it if they so desired. But in order not to make a mistake they sent the Rev. Mr. Björk to Chicago to consult with the brethren in that city concerning this important matter and to find out their opinion. In Chicago the Rev. Mr. Björk found that the very same question was of burning interest among the Mission Friends in that city. Finally, after considerable study of the New Testament and well-known religious writers, it was agreed that any group of Christians who desired to celebrate the Lord's Supper could do so without the assistance of a regularly ordained minister and without asking permission from any existing church. When this had been made sufficiently clear, the Holy Communion was celebrated by the Mission Friends in Chicago, and the example was followed in Swede Bend and in other places where Mission Friends had begun to settle and hold meetings of their own.
C. V. Bowman (1868-1937), The Mission Covenant of America (1925), pp. 30,31.
While we recognize a mystery in the Lord's Supper, let us remember that the sacrament is not magic. You won't miraculously be freed from all temptations just because you have taken
Communion. Do you remember what we said about baptism? We said there is a difference between the outward sign (what the minister and people do in the sacrament) and the spiritual gift given through it. The spiritual blessing or gift must be received" into your own life.
Now you are probably asking, "Who may receive Communion? Is it for everyone?" The Lord's Supper is for those who have accepted the Lord as Savior. These words are often used [from the Covenant Minister=s Service Book] at the Communion Service: "All that humbly put their trust in Christ, and desire his help that they may lead a holy life; all that are truly penitent for their sins and would be delivered from them; all that walk in love with their neighbors, and intend to live a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways, are invited to draw near with faith and to take this holy sacrament."
...If vou were told that you would be able to meet the President of the United States tomorrow morning, you would, I suspect, prepare yourself for the interview. You would make sure you
were dressed neatly, with your hair properly combed, and your shoes shined. Even more, you would give attention to what you would say, to the questions you would ask, and to the way you would conduct yourself. Such preparation is needed before coming to the Lord's Table. We should repent of our sins and remember our special need of grace. We must be careful not to come to the Table "unworthily" (see 1 Corinthians 11:27-32), but in such a way that we can receive his blessing.
Clifford W. Bjorklund (1921-1986), Harry J. Ekstam (1918- ), Karl A. Olsson (1913-1996), and Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), According to Thy Word (1954, 1955), pp. 405,406.
The fellowship of redeemed people is collected into its most meaningful form when they sit down around the communion table. The body of believers becomes consciously one in Christ, with full awareness that these believers differ in understanding and with the measure of their devotion somewhat out of focus in the background. It is the most beautiful and often the most influential hour in the modern Christian's busy schedule.
The church must never cease to be aware that Christ is the substance of its life. It is not perpetuated by organization or sacrificial giving. These are effects and not causes in the family of God. It feeds mystically on the Person of Jesus Christ, partaking of his body and blood in which alone eternal life exists.
The communion table is no panacea for the unregenerate soul. It cannot be substituted for personal commitment. But it is the place where every believer recommits...to God and again deliberately opens his [or her] soul to the presence of the living Christ. [A Christian communes] as an individual, and [yet] does it as a member of the body. For the body must be a living organism if it is to function, with each member alive and performing in coordination with the other members.
The Christian who thinks of himself as a "lone operator" in the Lord's vineyard has not read his Bible very carefully. There are no "independent" members of the body if they belong to Christ, and they cannot function fruitfully apart from it.
C. Milton Strom (1911-1972), Holy Curiosity (Board of Publications of the California Conference,1966), p. 17.
Another matter which has begun to worry a number of friends is the terrible misuse of the Lord's Supper. One aspect of that topic, howeverBand it is not any less "terrible"emerges when brethren begin to quarrel about it so that there is no peace within the group. It happens frequently that those who quarrel most about it are those who have not studied the Word very much and have even less spoken to the Lord about the matter. If you are convinced by the Word that it is wrong to celebrate communion together with people who are obviously enemies of Jesus and you fear that through such association you might give approval to that misuse and thus violate your conscience, you can always find others of a like mind with whom to commemorate the death of Jesus in accordance with your conception of the Word.
But you ought not, because of that conviction, agitate for it among others nor separate yourself from those who are within that religious work through which both you and they have become aware of sin and grace. You know within yourselves that you lived, for many years perhaps, an intimate life with the Lord before your eyes were opened regarding this matter. Even then you were active in extending the kingdom of God unto the salvation of many souls. Are you now ashamed of and ready to deny that work of the Lord by withdrawing from the brethren whom the Lord now has where formerly he had you? And you, dear brethren, who still cannot in good conscience celebrate the Lord's Supper together with openly ungodly, worldly people, why are you offended when there are some that do not share your scruples? You ought to have at least as much knowledge of God's Word that you realize that the celebration of the communion in the State Church is quite different from what the Scriptures teach in this respect. It ought to make you admit that there is at least some ground for anxiety and distress in one who perceives through the light of the Scriptures this sad intermingling of the church and the world. Search the Scriptures and you will lose the desire to judge the brethren who conceive of the celebration of the Lord's Supper more liberally than you.
C. J. Nyvall (1829-1904), Travel Memories from America, 1876, tr. E. Gustav Johnson (1959), pp. 21,22.
The Lord's Supper was instituted for those who love him. The ungodly and hypocritical have no place at the table of the Lord, for partaking it implies a renewal of allegiance to the fellowship with Jesus Christ. It is not some kind of a magic charm that will bring a blessing to a wicked man who receives it. It is a spiritual gift which only the spiritual soul can receive. On the other hand, it is not for the perfect saints only. There are no perfect saints! It is for every sincere believer in the Lord, however weak and unworthy he may feel himself to be. It is just such souls, weak in themselves, that need it most and receive the greatest blessings from it. To receive it right the believe should a) recognize that it is an essential part of true worship; b) seek always to be present and share it; c) come to it after having searched his own heart and confessed all sins; d) be reverent and honest in receiving it; e) put aside every thought and all malice and worldly things that would hinder receiving its blessings; f) come expecting to receive a blessing; [and] g) come ready to bring a blessing to others as he shares it with them.
Leonard J. Larson (1894-1973), "Christian Youth and the Communion Service," from Covenant Graded Lessons (1943), p. 23.
We are not able to perceive with certainty if the Lord's Supper is shared only by true believers, for we cannot like the Master read the thoughts of the betrayer or unmask the hypocrite. But we can all contribute toward making the Lord's Supper the feast of the whole congregation. That depends on each one of us. It was unthinkable that any disciple would absent himself voluntarily a single time when the first congregation celebrated the Lord's Supper. Had it happened, it would have made him suspect, yea, even stamped him as an enemy. Still, they celebrated the Lord's Supper each day. Now it is usually celebrated once a month, and there are Christians who consider this too often, yes, simply think it too brazen and improper to participate each time. And yet, the blessings of the Lord's Supper are in proportion, as are all other spiritual blessings, to the measure which we bring. Only if all are present, is the measure filled. We do not have any idea about the blessings which would come to the congregation through the Lord's Supper if the whole congregation were present to receive them. We may not comfort ourselves for our being so few, with the words of the Lord: AWhere two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them,@ as if the Lord meant to say that the fewer we are who gather, the greater will the blessing of his presence be for each one. That is not what the Lord says. He mentions "two or three" if we are not more. Two or three can constitute all just as well as two hundred or three hundred. And then they surely receive the whole blessing undiminished. But the same rule does not apply to two or three if all are two or three hundred. An absent guest at the Lord's Supper resembles the mute note in an organ. He causes the blessing to be withheld not only from himself but from all the rest. He is a recreant who dissipates the congregation's treasures and riches with which it least of all can dispense....
...The Lord's Supper is a love feast...a feast of purity...a feast of unity...a feast of confession.... The prices of the market are not valid there. There the values of the stock exchange are not respected. Only the blood is of value there. There it is said, "You were ransomed for a price, not with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus." There it is said, "For what will it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"
Yes, the feast of the Lord's Supper, the feast of Christ and the church, is the feast of remembrance, the feast of all holy memories, the feast of the whole Christian faith, the birthday feast of the church, the feast of church history, the eternal, the unchangeable fundamentals' great festival, the feast of old age, but also the feast of hope and youth. Paul says: "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." The Lord's Supper is his feast who ascended into heaven, a farewell feast. But it is just as much his feast who shall come again in the same manner as he departed, a welcoming feast. The Lord's Supper is Jesus' love feast, and even as much his feast of power. The Lord's Supper is his feast who comes each day conquering for his kingdom through the successes of missions. He comes victorious and to win victories. His greatest victories we have not seen yet. We shall behold them in his company. He must reign until he has put the last enemy, Death, under his feet. The Lord's Supper is the feast of Jesus' resurrection, and it shall be concluded with no less festivity than the Easter triumph of the church.
David Nyvall (1863-1946), "The Feast of Holy Communion: A Word for Awakening and Meditation" (1912), republished as David Nyvall, The Lord's Supper (1951), pp. 16,18,19.
Lord's Supper: The Elements
The phrase "my body" means the self of Jesus, which was surrendered to death for man. Its being offered to the disciples is best understood as a parallel to that offering made in the sacred meal of an Old Testament sacrifice. The worshiper would partake of the sacrifice he offered, or which was offered for him. His eating of this sacrifice, and God's accepting this sacrifice, suggested to the worshiper his communion with God in the sacrifice. Similarly, the body of Jesus was a sacrifice which was presented to his disciples as something in which they could share, and which is also acceptable to God, and through which, therefore, they had communion with God.
The word Athis@ in the saying, "this is my body" obviously refers to the bread. But the word "is" is not so easily defined. Christians who have understood it literally have ended with a Roman view of transubstantiation, i.e., the belief that the material bread was transformed into the body of Christ. Other Christians have held that the word "is" means "symbolizes." The bread is merely a symbol of Christ's body.
A view which lies somewhere between these two extremes seems to do best justice to Jesus' meaning. Rendering "is" by the word "means" or by the phrase "effectively represents" is most consistent with the prophets' use of "prophetic symbolism." This would make the saying read, "This bread effectively represents my broken body offered for you." This is to say, the bread is not only a symbol, but also a means whereby the blessings of Christ's sacrifice may be appropriated. Jesus offered to his disciples a means whereby they could share in the power of his surrendered life. By participating, i.e., by eating the bread, they could through faith be united with him in his death. In taking the bread they could die to self. They could make his death theirs: "we have been united with him in a death like his" (Romans 6:5). Further, in taking bread they could share in his life, in his redemptive mission for the world: "the bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16). To participate in his body means to share in the sufferings of his life and death for the salvation of the world (cf. Matthew 25:37, 40; Mark 8:34 ff.; 2 Corinthians 1:3 ff.).
...The wine, the symbol of his blood, was [also] more than a symbol; it was a means of grace. It afforded the disciples an opportunity both to appropriate Christ's life of fellowship with God and to share in his life of redemptive suffering. There then, in the Upper Room, a new covenant between God and man was effected. Jesus established a new redeemed and redeeming community, the Christian church.
Henry A. Gustafson, Jr. (1924- ), Studies in Mark (1958), pp. 66,67.
...At this feast [Jesus] expressed words which were so strange, so inexplicable, and yet impressed themselves so indelibly on the memory of the disciples. "Do this in remembrance of me," he said. He repeated this again and again with the deepest sadness, the innermost love. "Do not forget me, I want to live in your memory; I want to remain in your love, in your warm remembrance. Whatever you do, do not forget me." And he added words, still deeper, with a hidden meaning. "This is my body," he said, "which is broken for you." It was as if he wanted to say, "I lack words with which to express my love for you. But here you see it without words. Just as I break this bread I am willing to have my body broken for you. Nothing is too dear for me to give; nothing too bitter to endure. Death itself is sweet for your sake." And as he shared the cup with them he said: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin." It was as if he had wished to say: "I know you are no saints. You sit here with evil consciences, full of unholy ambition, maybe of hate and jealousy. But in me, in my love, you are clean. I forgive you all. I am glad to forgive you. Drink deep, drink abundantly from the cup I offer you. This cup is my blood, given to you for your forgiveness of sin."
Again and again he repeated the words with which he had begun: "Do this as often as you eat, as often as you drink," at every meal, each day do it in remembrance of me. Let each meal remind you of me. Let me continue as hitherto to be a daily guest in your life. This speech, so little understood by the disciples just then, but so indelibly engraved on their memories, successively flowed still richer, still warmer. It grew as a spring flood. It raised itself in songs of praise. It descended in warm, ardent blessings, and lifted itself again in prayers and thanksgiving. John, who listened that evening like no one else among the disciples, John, who did not repeat the other evangelists' stories about the actual institution of the Lord's Supper, has nevertheless communicated his rich part of the story in those wonderful chapters that we call Jesus' farewell speech to the disciples, and Jesus' high priestly intercessory prayer. Those chapters are inseparable from the Lord's Supper. They are as much a part of the Lord's Supper as the feast itself.
David Nyvall (1863-1946), "The Feast of Holy Communion: A Word for Awakening and Meditation" (1912), republished as David Nyvall, The Lord's Supper (1951), pp. 10,11.
The bread and the wine are not the important things in the Supper. They are only the simple means, in company with which we receive something unseen and unexplainable but nevertheless sure. What is the nature of the Supper? What do we receive in company with the bread and wine? When the bread comes, it does not come unaccompanied, and when the cup comes and moves from one to the other it does not come alone but is accompanied. Listen: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16). When you receive the broken bread in the Supper, then you receive in and with the bread the broken body of Christ, which was broken and given for you on Golgotha to eternal salvation. This you receive, and this is the essential thing.... How can Christ give us his body to eat and his blood to drink? Because a few cannot understand it, they throw the whole thing overboard and say that the bread symbolizes the body of Christ and the cup symbolizes the blood of Christ, but not the reality. Then you receive from the Lord's Supper only a lovely picture of Christ, but not the reality. We have more in the communion than a beautifully painted picture. We have the real, the essential, which we can live by: his precious body and his own precious blood. That we will never permit ourselves to be robbed of. I do not understand an iota of it. I believe it nevertheless.
August Pohl (1845-1913), "The Lords Supper," a sermon from April 3, 1898. From Herbert E. Palmquist, The Word Is Near You (1974), p.96.
[Luther=s] doctrine of the Lord's Supper is expressed thus: "In, with, and under the bread and wine the Lord imparts himself, his flesh and blood, in the Holy Communion, certainly not as material elements for the partaker's taste, and yet not merely as spiritual elements independent of eating and drinking, but rather as realities, through the believer's eating and drinking." Without the elements of the Lord's Supper there is no Lord's Supper. But the elements of the feast are not Christ in any corporeal sense, nor do they convey Christ divided and dismembered "as if he could be masticated with the teeth," but whole and undivided. Christ is not present in the elements of the Lord's Supper "as hay in a sack." He is there nevertheless.
Luther developed this doctrine of the Lord's Supper during his fierce and somewhat unworthy fight with Zwingli. In this fight Luther was right in reality, and the struggle was therefore unavoidable. Zwingli was not a reformer such as Luther, who called for a return to the original apostolic tradition, but somewhat of a renovator along the lines of free development, He was a child of his time, who destroyed the superstitions, rather than restoring the original doctrine. He manifests this in his disdain of the elements in the Lord's Supper, which to him are only symbols. He simplifies to such an extent that he eliminates. The Lord's Supper becomes to him only a feast of remembrance. And if the elements in the Lord's Supper were only symbols, they could indeed be helpful in calling our attention to the great object of the Lord's Supper, which is Christ. They could help us to remember him, and thus serve us as other symbols do. But they would not be indispensable. They do not function in the life of the Lord's Supper. They are not the organs of the Lord's Supper. Indeed Zwingli agreed with Luther against the church that "Without Christ, no Lord's Supper," but he did not say with Luther, "Without the elements in the Lord's Supper there is no Lord's Supper."
Calvin accepted Zwingli's progressive idea of the Lord's Supper, and like Zwingli he regarded the elements in the Lord's Supper as symbols, but he emphasized that the meaning of the Lord's Supper was not merely a memorial celebration but a feast the observance of which "imparts to the believer, through the Holy Spirit, power from the risen Savior ascended to the Father's right side." Thus, Christ himself is not given to the believer, through his partaking of the elements, which was Luther's doctrine, but in connection with celebrating the Lord's Supper, though not expressly stated, a spiritual power is imparted by the heavenly Savior. Only Luther among the reformers, gives to the elements of the Lord's Supper a functional meaning. Only the Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper adheres and sanctions the church's idea of the Lord's Supper as a sacrament, not, to be sure, in regard to the church's dogma of transubstantiation, but in connection with the apostles' teaching of the Lord's Supper, expressed especially in these words: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?"--not to mention the very words of Jesus when he instituted the feast, "This is," which Luther held to so stubbornly. Melanchthon, tired as he was in his old age of the "fury of theologians" and their quarrel about the Lord's Supper which did not edify anyone, wanted to adopt the words of Paul, just mentioned, as a dogma of the Lord's Supper which all of Protestant Christendom ought to be able to accept.
David Nyvall (1863-1946), "The Feast of Holy Communion: A Word for Awakening and Meditation" (1912), republished as David Nyvall, The Lord's Supper (1951), pp. 14,15.
The Lord's Supper is a memorial feast as is indicated in the words, "Do this in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24). However, to speak of it as commemorative does not exhaust its meaning. The Greek word anamnesis connotes the re-calling or re-presenting of a past event so that it becomes a powerful and effective reality in the present. Through this sacramental re-presentation Christ's sacrificial death and victorious resurrection are made present to faith. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16).
The Lord's Supper is a joyous feast of communion and celebration which is observed by the Church "between the times": between Christ's First Coming and his Second Coming. It looks back to the last meal he ate with his disciples, and it looks forward to the heavenly banquet of the redeemed at the end of history. It rejoices in the inauguration of the Kingdom in the person and work of Jesus, and it eagerly awaits the consummation which is to come: a consummation in which the whole creation will participate. It is significant that at this table, elements of creation (bread and wine) become, through the Holy Spirit, bearers of the grace of God and thereby anticipate the final transformation of the creation itself into "the new heavens and the new earth," which will perfectly express the grace and glory of God.
Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), Covenant Affirmations: This We Believe (1981), p. 139.
