Of the Lord's Supper.
Today, as you know, the institution of the holy sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is celebrated. For even though this sacrament is preached daily among Christians, it is still proper,
That some special days were taken to remember its origin and beginning. Therefore we will now also speak of it, as the text gives it and God gives grace. Thus writes the evangelist Lucas:
Luk 22:7-20.
Now the day of sweet bread came, on which the paschal lamb had to be sacrificed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go, prepare us the passover, that we may eat it. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare it? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, a man shall meet you bearing a pitcher of water: follow him into the house where he entereth in, and say unto the master of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the inn wherein I may eat the passover with my disciples? And he will show you a great paved hall; there prepare it. And they went, and found as he had said unto them, and prepared the passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with
*) Held on the day of the institution of the Lord's Supper, April 2, 1534, in the parish church.
him. And he said to them: I was heartily desirous to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, that I will eat no more thereof, till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take the same, and divide it among you: for I say unto you: I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took the bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave it unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. The same also took the cup after supper, saying, This is the cup, the new testament in my blood, which is poured out for you.
1. this is a part which took place in the Lord's supper; which part is to be distinguished from the sacrament of his body and blood. For in this piece nothing is said about the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, but about the eating of the paschal lamb, which Moses commanded in the Old Testament. It is written in the Law, Exodus 12, that on the fourteenth day of the first month in the afternoon, that is, between five and six o'clock in the evening, the Jews were to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that is, the Paschal Feast, for seven days, and to put away all leavened bread and leavened bread from all their houses, and to eat nothing but sweet unleavened bread for the seven days, and on the first day of the same Paschal Feast they were to eat the Paschal Lamb.
The same Jewish paschal feast is approaching this evening, according to our reckoning, and Christ is keeping the same feast here with his disciples, saying: "I have heartily desired to eat this paschal lamb with you before I suffer; for I say unto you, that I will eat no more of it henceforth, till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. So he wants to say: I had a great desire and longing to eat this paschal lamb with you. For it is to be the last Easter that I will keep with you. For with these Easters the Russian and Jewish old Paschal lamb, priesthood, kingdom and service shall cease, and new Easters shall begin in my kingdom of the New Testament. Therefore I will also now lastly eat the paschal lamb with you, so that I may give it the last (farewell) and make its end.
(3) The ancient paschal lamb of Moses the Jews were to eat: they were to be girded about their loins, and have their shoes on their feet, and staves in their hands.
They had to eat it, as those who hurry away and are ready to run away. It was the Lord's Passover, so they all had to be shod, girded and equipped as pilgrims who are about to leave. Just as a messenger stands before the table and eats in haste, and drinks a drink to refresh himself, and goes away: so also the Jews had to eat their paschal lamb. So Christ also stood, or, as the evangelists say, sat, and had his shoes on his feet and his staff in his hand, likewise also his disciples, and ate in haste, as if they now wanted to eat.
4 Our dear Lord Christ kept such a meal of the old paschal lamb with his disciples, so that it would be a last, not only of his person, as he now wanted to forgive himself of this life on earth, where one eats and drinks with the other, but also of the whole law of Moses. The Jews had to keep their Easter in order to praise and glorify God's grace and mercy, that God had redeemed them from Egypt and established both kingdom and priesthood for them, and had accepted them as a people of property. This benefit, shown to them by God, should be commemorated during the Easter feast, and they should thank God for it. Christ abolishes all this here, that one should no longer preach about the redemption from Egypt, nor should one cultivate this Jewish kingdom and priesthood any longer; but all this should now be gone and obsolete, even though it had already been ordered by God through Moses.
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, saying, Take the same, and divide it among you. For I say unto you: I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.
5 This is not the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, but it is a last drink to the paschal lamb. As if the Lord wanted to say: This shall be the drink of John. Now I drink it with you, as it was ordained by Moses, but henceforth no more. With this cup and drink I will give the old paschal lamb its valete, and henceforth there shall be new paschals and new paschal lambs in the New Testament.
(6) This is how Christ kept the old Easter with his disciples, and this should be noted so that it is properly distinguished from the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. It is true that one also eats and drinks here, as in the sacrament. But here is bad bread and wine, so that Christ has given his last to the old Jewish paschal lamb, kingdom, priesthood, preaching and thanksgiving for the redemption from Egypt. But soon he begins and establishes a new paschal lamb, a new kingdom and priesthood, a new preaching and thanksgiving, as follows:
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave it unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. The same also the cup, after supper, saying, This is the cup, the New Testament in my blood, which is poured out for you.
7 The Lord instituted the sacrament of his body and blood. And this text can be kept very well. For it is not long, and in addition it is finely bright and clear. Our dear Lord Christ did not want to burden us with many laws, as the Jewish people were burdened in the Old Testament. He takes no more than bread and wine, and speaks his word over them: "Take, eat, this is my body; drink, this is my blood," or, "this is the cup, the New Testament in my blood"; item: "this do in remembrance of me. Let us then open our eyes and sharpen our ears, and grasp these words firmly and surely.
8) When the Lord gives the cup to his disciples and says, "Take this and divide it among yourselves," he does not say, "This is my blood," but says:
"This is the fruit of the vine, of which I shall drink no more henceforth." But here, when he takes the bread, he says, "This is my body"; and when he takes the cup, he says, "This is my blood," or "the New Testament in my blood." Therefore here remaineth not the same bread and wine: but the bread is his body, which he giveth to eat; and the wine is his blood, or the New Testament in his blood, which he giveth to drink. For thus the words are, "He took the bread," "He took the cup," and adds the words, "This is my body," "This is my blood," or, "This is the cup, the New Testament in my blood." These words make that the bread is his body and the wine his blood. Whoever eats this bread eats the true body of Christ; and whoever drinks from this cup drinks the true blood of Christ, whether he is worthy or unworthy.
(9) This is to be firmly believed. For the dear Christians should give glory to God and confess that what God says, He can also do; as St. Paul writes of Abraham that he did so, Rom. 4, 21. Whoever wants to be a Christian should not do as our enthusiasts and the spirits of the pagans do, who worry about how it can be that bread is Christ's body and wine Christ's blood. They want to measure and understand God with their reason; and because it does not rhyme with their reason, they think that God cannot do it either. But what is the point of worrying about it for so long? And even if one tears oneself apart, one will still not be able to comprehend our Lord God with human reason. For our Lord God is not such a God who can be measured, understood and grasped by human reason, and His works and words are also not such works and words that would be subject to human reason. It is said, as St. Paul says, Eph. 3:20: "God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or understand." What is it then that we torture ourselves to death over this, and subject ourselves to judge and set God's word and work in such a way that they should fit and rhyme with our reason? But so it shall be: Is it GOt-
tes word, then God is almighty and true; what he says, that he can also do.
(10) Therefore let us stand fast by these bright and clear words, when our Lord Christ saith, Let the bread that is offered be his body, and the cup or wine that is offered be his blood, or the New Testament in his blood; and let us walk in simplicity, and believe without any doubt that it is so, as simple children do; and let us thank Christ for such grace, and be glad of it, and strengthen our hearts, and see why Christ hath done it, and not dispute and ask whether he can do it. They are forward hearts, which ask nothing why Christ has done it, but ask only whether he can do it.
No one can know how it happens that our eyes see. No one is able to find out with his reason how it happens when he falls asleep and wakes up again. When I open my eyes, I am about two miles away with my face. Item, a preacher's single voice fills many thousand ears and hearts. Such things I see and hear, and yet I cannot understand how it is done, though I am torn. If then we do not understand that in which we live and of which we have daily need, why do we want to be masters and judges in God's great works, which are hidden from us? Our tongues chatter in our mouths, and are stirred up, and out of them comes an intelligible language; so that no one can understand how it is done. Item, no one can tell how a little hair grows on the head. If then you cannot understand this, how it happens, which you still experience daily: Dear one, give Christ the glory that it is true that he says here, "This is my body," "This is my blood," even though you do not understand how it is possible.
(12) It is a very vexatious thing to try to make God's works rhyme with our reason. For if we cannot measure the creatures, nor comprehend the things wherein we live and soar daily, how shall we measure and comprehend those things which God alone shows in his word, and wherein we do not live and soar? Therefore, we should give glory to God, and let Him be almighty and
be truthful, and believe what he says, so that he can do it. That a cow eats hay and grass, you can judge, there dll have reason about; item, about gold, silver, stone, wood, grain etc. What to make of it, you can judge and judge; there be as wise as you can. But what God does and creates, as the eyes see, the ears hear, and the tongue of man speaks: let all scholars, prudents, and wise men, with their highest reason and art, stand here, and let them debate, question, and inquire; yet no one will be able to tell you thoroughly how the least of what God does is done.
(13) Therefore, we should leave God's word and work undisputable and unquestioned, and ask only who spoke and did it: whether God spoke it or a man spoke it; whether it is God's work or a man's work. If it is God's word and work, close your eyes and do not question how it is, but believe that God is almighty and true in his words and works. I am to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and believe that through the same bath in the Word I am cleansed from all my sins, and I am not to dispute how it is. For there is God's word, command and promise: "Go and teach all the Gentiles, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."
14 So Christ also says here in clear, plain words, "Take, eat, this is my body; drink, this is my blood, which do in remembrance of him." Therefore, in the Sacrament, under the bread and wine, His body and blood are truly and substantially presented and received. For it is his word, command and order. A man did not speak such things, but Christ Himself ordered, appointed, and commanded them. For as baptism is no man's word or work, but Christ's word and work; so also this sacrament is no man's word or work, but Christ's word and work alone. How this happens, we will not be able to explain with our reason.
founding. For since I do not know, nor can I know, how it is that I see, hear, speak, whether I already feel such things, much less will I know how it is that Christ thus distributes his body and blood in the sacrament.
(15) If any man then be not deceived, let him not turn to the quarrels of enthusiasts, nor to subtle, sharp, high questions; but look to the fruit, profit, and joy which he shall have of this sacrament. Christ has arranged and instituted it in the most easy and lovely way. Whether Christ stood or sat with his disciples is not important, but it is important to keep his word, institution, command and order.
(16) He does not take a hard work. For eating and drinking is the easiest work of all, since people like nothing better; indeed, the most cheerful work in the whole world is eating and drinking, as it is customary to say: Before eating there is no dancing; item: On a full belly stands a cheerful head. In sum, eating and drinking is a lovely, necessary work, which was soon learned and people were taught. Our dear Lord Christ takes this same sweet and necessary work and says: "I have prepared a happy, sweet and lovely meal, I will not put a hard, heavy work on you, I will not put on you that you put on a monk's cap, run to Jerusalem in armor, be circumcised, slaughter and sacrifice cattle, wash clothes, as was commanded in the law of must; but I will set up a supper: When ye come together in my name, and will preach and teach of me, take bread and wine, and speak these words of mine upon them; and my body and blood shall be there, true and substantial.
(17) Because our dear Lord Christ takes such a sweetly necessary work and prepares such a sweet, comforting meal, it is a wonder that people are so hard and difficult about it and shy away from the sacrament. If one preaches about the Sacrament, it is a burden to them; if one exhorts them to it, they consider it a greater burden. For they are concerned that they must become pious and forsake sin. In the papacy, it was no wonder that they shied away from it and were terrified.
because the people were so burdened. For this lovely, comforting sacrament has been spoiled with gall, vinegar and wormwood, and the joy we should have from the sacrament has been taken away. For thus we have been taught that we must be so pure that not even a speck of daily sin remains in us, and so holy that our Lord God could hardly look at us for great holiness. I could not see such things in myself, therefore I was afraid of the Sacrament. And such terror, which I learned in the priesthood and of which I am accustomed, still clings to me today, if I should come to it with joy.
(18) It is true that we must be pious and forsake sin. For if thou love sin more than the grace of God, thou shalt think more of it than of this. But let not men be put off from the Sacrament; for it is sweet and comforting meat. Christ did not institute such a supper, giving us poison and death. For since we were drowned and dead in sins before, there is no need for poison to be given to poison. Mark his words, and thou shalt hear that he saith, He gave his body for thee, and shed his blood for thee. He does not say that he gave his body for you and shed his blood for you, but for you, for your good, comfort and strength, for the salvation of your poor soul, so that you may become more and more hostile to sins and more and more a Christian; therefore Christ does not give you the sacrament of his body and blood to be your poison and death. As he baptizes thee, and puts thee into water, not that thou shouldest die and perish in the water; but that by that same blessed bath thou shouldest be delivered from sins, and born again, that thou shouldest be a new man, born in grace: so in this sacrament he giveth thee his body and blood to eat and to drink, not that he should strangle thee and kill thee, but that he should quicken thee and make thee alive.
(19) Therefore, learn with all diligence what is the use and end of this sacrament, and why Christ instituted it, namely, for me and for you and for all of us.
When I feel my sin, I have been a bad boy and a disobedient child, the devil has caught me, I have not done what I should do; then I should come to this table, receive the sacrament, that I may be freed from my sins and be refreshed. To such people who feel their sin and would like to be rid of it, one should speak that they receive the Sacrament, and not regard it as a terrible judgment from which one should shrink, but as a sweet, comforting food for poor, afflicted souls. It may well be due to an old habit of the priesthood that we shy away from this sacrament; but Christians are to be taught that they may go with joy, certainty and confidence, and say: I am a poor sinner, I need help and comfort, I will go to the Lord's Supper, and feed myself with the body and blood of my dear Lord Jesus Christ. For he instituted this sacrament so that all hungry and thirsty souls might be fed and refreshed. He will not rebuke me, much less strangle me, if I come only in the name that I may be blessed, have help and comfort.
(20) And even if such a treasure and rich consolation were not there, which should make this Sacrament a joyful and happy meal for us, we should nevertheless go to the Sacrament, so that we might do a service to our Lord God, who has commanded and ordered us to do so. Many ancient teachers called it eucharistiam, a thanksgiving. In the papacy, it was called a sacrifice or office, which, if one wanted to interpret it correctly, is a service of God. When I preach God's word, I sacrifice; when you hear God's word with your heart, you sacrifice; when we pray, give, lend, help our neighbor, we sacrifice. So also, when I receive this Sacrament, I sacrifice, that is, I do God's will and service, I confess and thank God who has given us this Sacrament along with all the goods of the Kingdom of Heaven, as He commanded and commanded me.
(21) Therefore it may be called a sacrifice: not that the sacrament itself is a sacrifice, but that the receiving or the custom is a sacrifice.
of the Sacrament may be called a sacrifice: not a sacrifice for sin, but a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise, that I may confess that Christ died for my sin. The pope has made the sacrament a sacrifice, and such a sacrifice so that the whole world may be reconciled to God: But neither the sacrament nor the custom of the sacrament is a work offering, so that God's grace and help might be earned and acquired; but the custom of the sacrament, or the memorial of Christ, as the Lord himself calls it, is a thank-offering, so that we may confess and give thanks to God that we are redeemed, justified, and saved by pure grace, through Christ's suffering, death, and shedding of blood. Just as the preaching of the Gospel is sacrificium, that is, a thank-offering, so that we may confess and thank God that we have the treasure of His word from Him: so also the receiving of the Sacrament is a thank-offering, so that whoever receives the Sacrament thereby indicates that he is grateful to Christ for His suffering and grace.
22 Therefore, if the great, rich consolation would not move us to receive the sacrament, we should nevertheless look to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and use the sacrament often, so that he may be praised with such remembrance and receive thanks from us. JEsu Christ's glory and use the sacrament often, so that he may be praised, glorified and honored with such remembrance, and receive thanks from us. For just as Moses preserved among the Jewish people a memorial of the exodus and redemption from Egypt, so that when the Jews ate the paschal lamb, they had to praise, extol, and thank God for the good deed of redeeming them from Egypt, leading them through the Red Sea, and giving them the kingdom and priesthood; this was a joyful meal for them, and even today the Jews hold their peace, and eat the paschal lamb with joy, as if they were going to a merry dance: Thus Christ willed to preserve in his people of the New Testament a memorial of his suffering and death, so that when we receive the sacrament we should give thanks to him for the redemption, so that he has redeemed us, not from Egypt and the Red Sea, but from sins, death, the devil, hell, God's wrath and all misery. This shall not be a terror to us, but joy and gladness.
to be, first of all, in the spirit, so that we may serve God and praise and thank Him for His grace and good deeds shown to us in Christ. Therefore, we should go to the sacrament willingly and joyfully, with all certainty, and say: I will also go to the right paschal lamb, and eat and drink the body and blood of my dear Lord Jesus Christ, keep his memory, and thank him for his redemption; so that I will not be found among the despisers and the ungrateful, who throw to the winds and forget such a precious redemption.
23 This is Christ saying, "Do these things in remembrance of me. With the word "my" he takes away the remembrance of the old paschal lamb, which was a remembrance of the redemption from Egypt and the promise of the kingdom and priesthood; in sum, it was a remembrance of an outward work, arranged so that the redemption would be preached to Egypt and the Jewish people would give thanks to God for such a benefit. And so I want to say: Just as the Jews in the Old Testament sacrificed the paschal lamb and ate unleavened bread, and remembered with such food and drink that God had brought them out of Egypt by great signs and wonders, out of the house of service, and had given them the land of Canaan, which they had not built, and houses full of all good things, which they had not hewn, and vineyards and oil mountains, which they had not planted: So when you perform my sacrament in the New Testament, remember me, that I died for you, gave my body for you to death and hell, and shed my blood for you, and thereby strangled death, sin, hell, God's wrath, for your good.
(24) This is another redemption, namely, a spiritual, eternal redemption, since we are not redeemed from a physical king, but from the devil, who is a king of sins and death. Christ redeemed us from the same Pharaoh, and through this redemption brings us not into a physical, but into an eternal kingdom and priesthood, where we are to be kings and priests forever. These are his deeds and his goods, which we do not obtain by our wisdom, holiness, strength, or by the power of our hands.
and powers, but which he has purchased for us through his body and blood, given and shed for us. And this he gives us in the sacrament, so that we may praise and glorify him for it.
(25) This then is our service in the New Testament, as the service of the Jews was in the Old Testament, that when we receive the Sacrament, we may proclaim and preach with heart and mouth that Christ has taken us poor sinners upon his shoulders, and blotted out our sins by the sacrifice of his body, and swallowed them up by his blood. So we should celebrate our Easter by praising and glorifying the man called Jesus Christ for his great, infinite redemption, and for the eternal kingdom and priesthood which he acquired and gave us through his body and blood. He alone has overcome sin and death, in himself, in his body and blood; and this he gives us, and as a certain sign, pledge and seal he gives us his body to eat and his blood to drink in the sacrament.
(26) O Lord God, what an abominable, terrible thing it was under the papacy, when this sacrament was so shamefully perverted; and what an abominable, terrible thing it will be again in the world, if we do not use this sacrament rightly and thank God for His unspeakable good deeds. In the papacy, nothing righteous was preached about either the sacrament or its rite. Of the Passion, one has honestly (barely) had the bare text, without all understanding. Of the Sacrament, then, it was taught: "You must take one form, or you are not obedient to the Mother, the Christian Church; item, you must have repentance and sorrow, prepare yourself worthily, and do a work of obedience. The joyful, comforting, and sweet meal that we should have had at the Sacrament and of faith was silenced, and thus the Sacrament became a mere work of man.
27) Now you see that sacramental devotees and Anabaptists are springing up everywhere; these are especially weary and full spirits, who do not thank our Lord God for His grace and benefits, and indeed, do not thank our Lord God for His grace and benefits.
Lord God must also be wrong and be punished by them; they turn back His word, do not use this sacrament with joy, do not praise and glorify God, but seek their own honor, praise and glory. Therefore, we should earnestly pray to God to bestow His grace upon us and to keep us in the right understanding of His Word and Sacraments, and especially of His Supper, so that we may receive it with joy and thank Christ for His goodness and love.
028 But shall any man say, Shall we preach and proclaim nothing else, but that Christ died for us? Is it not enough to preach this once? I have heard it many times, and now I know it well. Answer: The Jews did not have to commemorate the redemption from Egypt alone, but repeated the same commemoration forever. Why then would we Christians let ourselves be put off repeating the remembrance of our redemption, so that Christ has redeemed us from sins, death, the devil and hell, forever? If thou art such a man, saying, I heard it before, why should I hear it again? then is thy heart weary, full, and disgusted, and this meat is not to thy taste; as it was to the Jews in the wilderness, when they were weary of the bread of heaven. But if thou be a Christian, thou shalt not be weary, but shalt delight to hear these things often, and to speak of them continually.
I will say of myself: I am a doctor of the Holy Scriptures, yet the more I look at the infant faith, Our Father, Baptism and Sacrament, the more it tastes good to me. I could well say with the weary, satiated spirits: I know the faith, Our Father, the words of baptism and sacrament, Psalter etc.But I experience it daily, and must confess that if I have already prayed the faith today, said the Lord's Prayer, looked at the words of baptism and the sacrament, and tomorrow do not repeat these things bit by bit, then my soul becomes cold and lazy; if I also do not say it the third day, then I become even colder and lazier, until I even come to despise. Seven years ago
I said that I did not want to go to the sacrament sooner, because I would be skilled; and I still had this from the priesthood. But when I realized that the devil wanted to stop me and finally take me away from the sacrament, I said: "Devil, I may be skillful or unskillful, but I am in need of the sacrament and cannot do without consolation; therefore I want to go and no longer forgive, and so I went, sometimes even without confession. Not that I have therefore thrown away confession altogether, despised or omitted absolution; but that I have sometimes gone without confession, only in defiance of the devil, who wanted to stop me, that I should not go to the sacrament sooner, because I would be completely and utterly skillful.
(30) Therefore it is not true when thou sayest, Thou mayest now, but thou mayest no more hear nor repeat it. If I leave the prayer a day, I lose a large part of the fire and faith. For as the prophet Isaiah, Cap. 55, testifies, v. 10, 11: "The word does not go forth without fruit; just as rain moistens the earth and makes it fertile, so God's word moistens, comforts and improves the soul of man. If you abandon God's word and prayer and think, "I will pray well," you lose strength and heat from your soul. Therefore, do not take God's word to mean that once you have heard it, that is enough. Without this, it happens that a person gets involved in other business and forgets the word. Therefore one should run to the word again daily. If you do not do this, see to it that you do not become too cold and too lazy, until you finally do not feel yourself anymore and do not come to the sacrament in a few years.
(31) Now we have heard that there are two causes that should provoke and drive us to the sacrament: first, our own benefit and need; for Christ has ordained and instituted the sacrament for our good, and for our comfort and joy. Secondly, we should be motivated by God's glory and service. If, for our own sake, we do not want to pray the Lord's Prayer, Faith etc. and, for the sake of our blessedness, we do not want to pray the Sacrament, we should not pray it.
But let us pray for God's sake and use the Sacrament, so that He may have His glory and service from us. I have said this as an admonition, so that we may have need of the glorious gifts and the great gift, because we have it, so that it may not be taken away from us; as has happened to the papists recently, and is happening daily to the evil spirits. When the treasure is gone one day, we will want to use it, but there will be no preaching.
There will be no more people who could teach us.
These two things happened this evening: the first, that Christ ate the paschal lamb with his disciples for the last of the Jewish paschal lamb, kingdom and priesthood; the second, that he instituted the sacrament of his body and blood; which we should use and remember often. For this, may the merciful God grant us His grace, Amen.