Evangelical and Catholic:
the Sunday Liturgy
of the
Lutheran Church
(PDF File)
What About
Kneeling? 		The Sign
of the Cross 		"catholic"
Worship
The Real Presence
of Christ in
the Sacrament 		Bowing What is, and Why use,
the Historic Liturgy
On Turning Together
Toward the Lord 		The Most Holy
Trinity 		Reverence and
Preparation
The Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament

This is one of the most ancient doctrines of the Lord's Supper, and yet since the Reformation, one of the most divisive. At the Last Supper, Jesus took the bread and wine of the Passover meal and said, "This is my Body; This is my Blood of the new covenant…" (Matthew 26:17-28, Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-20, and I Corinthians 11:23-26). From that time on, Christians understood the Lord's Supper to be a communication of Christ's "real presence", as the Word of God once again becomes flesh to dwell among us full of grace and truth. However, this was not some new understanding Jesus created. In fact, in the Passover Seder, Jews understood themselves as not remembering a past event, but as participating in the Exodus, the deliverance from bondage here and now. By offering up the prayer of thanksgiving, or the Berakah-recalling God's mighty acts of delivering his people from bondage in Egypt, rather than recalling the past, the events were made real in the present. In this way, all Jews continue to be participants in the Exodus, as all Jews are brought from bondage to freedom, from death to life.

In the same way, through the Lord's Supper, our Lord's passion, death and resurrection are not past events, but are made real for us, each and every time the Eucharistic Prayer and Words of Institution are said. In this Hebrew sense, we are not celebrating something that happened 2000 years ago, but we are participating in Jesus' Last Supper, death on the cross, and resurrection to eternal life. In the Lord's Supper, we too are delivered from bondage to sin and death, and brought to the Promised Land, the kingdom of God in our midst. This is what is meant by the words, "Do this for the remembrance of me."

It is unfortunate no word in English adequately presents the meaning of the Greek word "anamnesis"-which is actually what Jesus said: "Do this for the anamnesis of me." Some translate it as "remembrance", others as "memory"-but both of these miss the depth of meaning of anamnesis-which does not imply remembering, or memory, but a re-presentation, or a participation in a past event, in the present. This is how, in fact, Jesus presents himself, again, in the Lord's Supper-and this is why Jesus presents himself, again, in the Lord's Supper-to be Emmanuel: God with us.

During the Reformation, this traditional Church doctrine was upheld by Luther, Melancthon, and the other Lutheran reformers. Luther and the Lutheran Confessions state clearly that when Jesus said, "This is my Body", that's what he meant! Other Protestant reformers believed Jesus meant "This symbolizes my Body", which was a new teaching, as it denied the historic Christian understanding of the real presence. The problem with this new teaching is that it robs the Lord's Supper of its power! If the sacred elements in Holy Communion only "symbolize" Jesus' Body and Blood, they have no power to forgive, heal and give new life. Simple bread and wine cannot do what Jesus says the Lord's Supper does: bring forgiveness! This is why Lutherans, Roman Catholics and Anglicans in particular, hold fast to the doctrine of the Real Presence-and treat the sacred elements with proper respect-because they are, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ among us!