In the Ten Commandments we learn to confess our sins. With the Creed, we learn what God has done for us. In the Lord's Prayer we cry out for our heavenly Father to keep us in the faith. In Holy Baptism we confess that we are the Lord's and in Confession we have the opportunity to hear the sweet words of Holy Absolution. Then, finally, in the Sacrament of the Altar, Christ is truly present among us to forgive us and bestow upon us what He won at the cross. What is it and what does it do for us? Let's read in the hymnal page 326 and 327, the first and third questions about the Sacrament of the Altar...Every question or misunderstanding about the Sacrament of the Altar can be answered by Jesus' words. His Words tell us what this Sacrrament is: His Body and Blood. What to do with it: Eat and drink. What good it does: gives the forgiveness of sins. The Catechism reminds us that everything we need to know about this gift is all there in those words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” With those words, Jesus gives His gift to us and guards us from all false teaching and misunderstanding of this gift.
“Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Given and shed. These words point us straight to Calvary where God Himself in the flesh bled and died for us. There, on the cross, He gave Himself into death to take away our sins. His body was mocked, spit upon, crowned with thorns, pierced with nails and a spear. From those holy wounds His blood spilled forth, washing away our sins. As the Passover Lamb was slaughtered and eaten in the Old Testament, so this Lamb of God is slain upon the cross and gives His Body and Blood as a holy Passover food that rescues us from death. When we eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus, have no doubt that it is the same Body and Blood that was upon Calvary. When Christ's Words are spoken, the bread and wine that sit upon the altar now has with it the true Body and Blood of Jesus. Then our Lord who was on the cross 2000 years ago and is now at the right hand of God is yet here with us now, today, not just in our memories or imaginations but really and truly present is this special and sacramental way.
Given and shed. FOR YOU. For the forgiveness of sins. It's not just that Jesus died on the cross and rose again. His death wouldn't do you any good if its fruits and benefits weren't ever given to you. You weren't there when they crucified the Lord. But He is here now in His Body and Blood for you. And what does His Body and Blood bring us? Forgiveness of sins. Again, in yet one more way, the Lord bestows upon us His forgiveness, His promise that He will not treat us as our sins deserve but rather has cast them into the depths of the sea and made them white as snow. But along with that forgiveness comes eternal life and salvation. Jesus said quite clearly: “If you eat my flesh and drink my blood I will live in you and you in Me and I will raise you up on the Last Day.” (John 6). There it is. The Lord's Supper is not JUST that whatever sins you committed this past week are wiped out. It's so much more. It's the promise that Christ Himself now lives in you and that because He overcame death by His resurrection you will too. So it is perfectly acceptable to say, “Because I have eaten and drunk the Body and Blood of Jesus, my sins are forgiven. I am saved. I am in Christ and He is in me. I will rise on the Last Day and be alive forever!” All of those things are the gifts and promises Christ gives with that Body and Blood that were given and shed for you.
Now we all know what will happen if we stop eating. Not just dieting or even fasting, but just don't eat. We'll become malnourished and eventually we'll die. Now I don't know many people who decide they want to stop eating and let their bodies waste away. But there is always the temptation that we despise the Sacrament and think little of it and so let ourselves drift away from it. Many people do this and they are putting themselves in spiritual harm because eventually their faith that is sustained and made strong by Jesus' Body and Blood will wither away. Therefore let us never despise this holy gift of Christ's Body and Blood, the Sacrament of the Altar! But let us hunger and thirst for it as the medicine of immortality and the cure for our sin and death.
The Sacrament of the Altar is not just a ceremony or something we do in church. It is the highlight and center of our life as Christians that here, at His own altar, Christ Himself feeds us and strengthens us and nourishes us in Him. Here at Christ's altar is not a symbol of something but the Lord Himself, letting us feast upon Him for salvation. “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Those are Jesus' words that mean what they say and give what they say: His Body and Blood that were crucified and raised for you so that you your sins are gone and you have eternal life. “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” It's all there in His Words. At His altar. His gift to you. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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