Wednesday after Trinity X - Devotion in semi-Exile
Lection for Wednesday Trinity X
2 Samuel 11:1-27 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Have you ever really paid attention to verse 27 of the text from 1 Corinthians 11? OK, here it is again. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. (1 Cor. 11:27)
Why do I bring it up? Good question! I bring it up because again and again I talk with people, including even long-time Lutherans, who when the topic of the Lord’s Supper comes up will ask, “You don’t really believe that you eat the very flesh of Christ and drink His very blood?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I do! Jesus said that it “IS” is body and it “IS” His blood, why would I think otherwise? Jesus declares it to be so! He gives it to me to eat and to drink! In this meal He delivers to me the forgiveness He purchased upon the cross.” If it is not Christ’s body and blood, then why does God declare though Paul’s pen in our text that, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord? If it is just bread and wine, then why would those who eat and drink in an unworthy manner be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord?”
If we are just receiving bread and wine to remember Jesus, then we can do that at home. It can happen over donuts and coffee, brats and a beer, or even over tater tot casserole. In fact, we should remember Jesus at those times when we gather with our friends and family members. What better things to talk about in those times gathered together at our homes and other places than the wonderful deeds of God in Christ Jesus. We are to talk about the Scriptures at all times with our dearest friends.
But when we gather together at the table which Christ sets before us as we gather together as His body, the Church, there it is something more. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. (1 Cor. 11:26) This is what we do when we receive this gift, we are proclaiming His death, that as we eat the flesh of the Lamb of God, His blood marks the door of our hearts and we are freed from our bondage to sin. We eat and drink so that eternal death passes over.
That is why we need to understand the weight of that word “guilty.” To help, maybe we can consider the New International Version’s translation in which they render it by saying “guilty of sinning against” the body and blood of the Lord. This is not a “poor” translation, but is a translation showing the full force of the “guilty”-ness, that it is sinning against the body and blood of the Lord, and that guilt is sinful.
I cannot imagine how I could sin against bread. We can sin “with” wine by abusing it in overindulgence, but that sip at the communion rail is not enough to do that. So, we are told that when someone receives the Lord’s Supper unworthily, they are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
It is completely appropriate that we should come to this most holy of meals properly prepared, ready to receive this precious gift of Christ’s body and blood in repentance and faith, to receive it worthily. In so receiving, we receive the wonderful benefits that God bestows in this meal – forgiveness, eternal life, salvation, and the strengthening of faith.
What an incredible thing to receive God’s blessings in this meal Christ gives to us.
2 Samuel 11:1-27 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Have you ever really paid attention to verse 27 of the text from 1 Corinthians 11? OK, here it is again. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. (1 Cor. 11:27)
Why do I bring it up? Good question! I bring it up because again and again I talk with people, including even long-time Lutherans, who when the topic of the Lord’s Supper comes up will ask, “You don’t really believe that you eat the very flesh of Christ and drink His very blood?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I do! Jesus said that it “IS” is body and it “IS” His blood, why would I think otherwise? Jesus declares it to be so! He gives it to me to eat and to drink! In this meal He delivers to me the forgiveness He purchased upon the cross.” If it is not Christ’s body and blood, then why does God declare though Paul’s pen in our text that, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord? If it is just bread and wine, then why would those who eat and drink in an unworthy manner be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord?”
If we are just receiving bread and wine to remember Jesus, then we can do that at home. It can happen over donuts and coffee, brats and a beer, or even over tater tot casserole. In fact, we should remember Jesus at those times when we gather with our friends and family members. What better things to talk about in those times gathered together at our homes and other places than the wonderful deeds of God in Christ Jesus. We are to talk about the Scriptures at all times with our dearest friends.
But when we gather together at the table which Christ sets before us as we gather together as His body, the Church, there it is something more. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. (1 Cor. 11:26) This is what we do when we receive this gift, we are proclaiming His death, that as we eat the flesh of the Lamb of God, His blood marks the door of our hearts and we are freed from our bondage to sin. We eat and drink so that eternal death passes over.
That is why we need to understand the weight of that word “guilty.” To help, maybe we can consider the New International Version’s translation in which they render it by saying “guilty of sinning against” the body and blood of the Lord. This is not a “poor” translation, but is a translation showing the full force of the “guilty”-ness, that it is sinning against the body and blood of the Lord, and that guilt is sinful.
I cannot imagine how I could sin against bread. We can sin “with” wine by abusing it in overindulgence, but that sip at the communion rail is not enough to do that. So, we are told that when someone receives the Lord’s Supper unworthily, they are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
It is completely appropriate that we should come to this most holy of meals properly prepared, ready to receive this precious gift of Christ’s body and blood in repentance and faith, to receive it worthily. In so receiving, we receive the wonderful benefits that God bestows in this meal – forgiveness, eternal life, salvation, and the strengthening of faith.
What an incredible thing to receive God’s blessings in this meal Christ gives to us.
Receive it often trusting that Christ indeed gives to us His body and His blood for our benefit.
Lord God, heavenly Father, bless all those who receive the Holy Supper of Christ’s true body and blood as they gather at His table, grant them to receive it worthily, that they would receive the forgiveness of all their sins and be filled with His life and peace. Amen.
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