When We Gather · Stop 4

What does Luther say is happening at the Lord's table?

A small piece of bread and a sip of wine or juice. It takes less than a minute. Christians have talked about what it means ever since Jesus first shared it with his friends. Luther gave a short, clear answer in the Small Catechism.

Start this stop

Meal

In many churches, the Meal begins with the offering. People bring gifts of money, and sometimes food for neighbors in need, as a way of saying thank you to God. Then the table is set.

Luther's Small Catechism says the Lord's Supper is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine. The bread is still bread and the wine is still wine, and Jesus is truly there. Luther did not try to explain how. He trusted Jesus' own words: this is my body, given for you.

Luther said the most important words are given and shed for you. In the meal, God gives forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. You don't bring anything to earn it. You come to receive a gift.

How often a congregation shares the meal, and how people come forward to receive it, differs from church to church. Luther hoped Christians would come to the table often. Ask someone at your church how it works there.

Read it in your Bible

Luke 22:14–20. At his last supper, Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and says it is his body given for his friends. After supper he takes the cup and says it is the new covenant in his blood, poured out for them.
1 Corinthians 11:23–26. Paul passes on what he was taught: on the night Jesus was handed over, he took bread and a cup and said they were his body and blood. Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, Paul says, you tell of the Lord's death until he comes.

The Sacrament of the Altar, from Luther's Small Catechism

What is the Sacrament of the Altar? It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, for us Christians to eat and to drink, instituted by Christ Himself.

What is the benefit of this eating and drinking? That is shown us in these words: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins; namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

Words to know

Presence. Lutherans teach that Jesus is truly here in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper. It's more than a way to remember Jesus. Lutherans believe he comes to you in the meal.
Sacrament. A holy act Jesus commanded, joined to something you can see and touch, with God's promise attached. Lutherans usually count two: Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Eucharist. From the Greek for giving thanks; one of the oldest names for the Lord's Supper. Jesus gave thanks before he broke the bread.
Offering. Gifts people bring to God in worship, often just before the meal. Giving is a way to say thank you for what God has already given.
Forgiveness. What the Small Catechism says is given in the meal, along with life and salvation. You come to the table to receive, not to prove anything.