Heidelberg 79-82 More details on Lord's Supper

¹⁶The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?¹⁷Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Cor. 10:16-17)

Thoughts: Here the catechism shows a different appreciation of the Lord's Supper than the traditional catholic view. Just as the water in baptism isn't turned into blood signifying Christ's death to wash away sin, so the Lord's Supper is a real signifying event, but it is not the physical body and blood.  Christ says, "This is my body."  But "Is" can be representative and symbolic as well as indictin died.  So, if I point to a map and say, "This Is the United States."  It really isn't the country- but it symbolizes it.  All are welcome to the table.  In fact, the table is a reminder that none of us are worthy and all of us stand in need of forgiveness.  But those who refuse to repent or who are proudful hypocirisy.  

Q & A 78

Q. Do the bread and wine become the real body and blood of Christ?

A. No. Just as the water of baptism is not changed into Christ’s blood and does not itself wash away sins but is simply a divine sign and assurance1 of these things, so too the holy bread of the Lord’s Supper does not become the actual body of Christ,2 even though it is called the body of Christ3 in keeping with the nature and language of sacraments.4

1 Eph. 5:26; Tit. 3:5
2 Matt. 26:26-29
3 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:26-28
4 Gen. 17:10-11; Ex. 12:11, 13; 1 Cor. 10:1-4

Q & A 79

Q. Why then does Christ call the bread his body and the cup his blood, or the new covenant in his blood,and Paul use the words, a sharing in Christ’s body and blood?

A. Christ has good reason for these words. He wants to teach us that just as bread and wine nourish the temporal life, so too his crucified body and poured-out blood are the true food and drink of our souls for eternal life.1 But more important, he wants to assure us, by this visible sign and pledge, that we, through the Holy Spirit’s work, share in his true body and blood as surely as our mouths receive these holy signs in his remembrance,2 and that all of his suffering and obedience are as definitely ours as if we personally had suffered and made satisfaction for our sins.3

1 John 6:51, 55
2 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:26
3 Rom. 6:5-11

Lord’s Day 30

Q & A 80*

Q. How does the Lord’s Supper differ from the Roman Catholic Mass?

A. The Lord’s Supper declares to us that all our sins are completely forgiven through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself accomplished on the cross once for all.1 It a also declares to us that the Holy Spirit grafts us into Christ,2 who with his true body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father3 where he wants us to worship him.4 [But the Mass teaches that the living and the dead do not have their sins forgiven through the suffering of Christ unless Christ is still offered for them daily by the priests. It also teaches that Christ is bodily present under the form of bread and wine where Christ is therefore to be worshiped.

Thus the Mass is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry.]**

1 John 19:30; Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 25-26; 10:10-18
2 1 Cor. 6:17; 10:16-17
3 Acts 7:55-56; Heb. 1:3; 8:1
4 Matt. 6:20-21; John 4:21-24; Phil. 3:20; Col. 3:1-3

*

Q & A 81

Q. Who should come to the Lord’s table?

A. Those who are displeased with themselves because of their sins, but who nevertheless trust that their sins are pardoned and that their remaining weakness is covered by the suffering and death of Christ, and who also desire more and more  to strengthen their faith and to lead a better life. Hypocrites and those who are unrepentant, however, eat and drink judgment on themselves.1

1 1 Cor. 10:19-22; 11:26-32

Q & A 82

Q. Should those be admitted to the Lord’s Supper who show by what they profess and how they live that they are unbelieving and ungodly?

A. No, that would dishonor God’s covenant and bring down God’s wrath upon the entire congregation.1Therefore, according to the instruction of Christ and his apostles, the Christian church is duty-bound to exclude such people, by the official use of the keys of the kingdom,

until they reform their lives.

1 1 Cor. 11:17-32; Ps. 50:14-16; Isa. 1:11-17