Of the Most Reverend Sacrament.
1 Cor. 11, 23-26.
I have received it from the Lord, which I have given you. For the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. The same also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: as often as ye drink it, do it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat of this bread, and drink of this cup, ye shall proclaim the death of the Lord, until he come.
Since today in this church the reverend sacrament is to be administered and received, let us now take before us and act upon this text of St. Paul. Therein ye hear how our Lord Jesus Christ hath appointed this supper, that we should eat thereof until the last day, when he shall come again to judge the quick and the dead.
2 Although this supper is daily food, we should not grow weary of it, but always remain hungry and merry for it. For you see how warmly and kindly our dear Lord Christ means it, and it is certainly true,
*Held on Easter Wednesday in 1534 in the castle church in the presence of Johann Ernst, the younger prince, as he received Holy Communion with his court servants.
If we wanted to form in our hearts what kind of person has instituted and ordained such a supper, we would have to be ashamed in our hearts that we are so cold, lax and lazy about it.
3 In the days of old in the papacy we were deterred by the fact that Paul says: "He who receives it unworthily receives it for himself to be judged. For those who taught and interpreted this saying did not themselves understand what it meant to receive "unworthily". Hence the dishonor of the holy sacrament arose, that people were afraid of it as of a poison. It was therefore no longer called a food of comfort, but a terrible food. The false preachers have been guilty of this, and we have also deserved it with our ingratitude.
God has justly punished us. For because Christ meant it so warmly, but we, on the other hand, have been so lazy, lax and ungrateful, it has happened to us that joy has been turned into sadness, comfort into terror and weeping, and help into harm. Why have we so shamefully despised such great goods?
(4) The same thing is happening now with the sacramental revelers, who have made a dangerous noise in the church about the sacrament, and have directed people to it as if there were no more than bread and wine, so that they may deprive Christians of the comfort that our Lord Christ has given them in this sacrament. Therefore, beware of them, lest it happen to us as it did to the priesthood. Finally, the sacrament, the comforting food that everyone should love and desire, has been so obscured by the false preachers' teachings that it has been approached with trembling and fear, and everyone has feared it more than they have received comfort from it.
(5) For the sermon was this, that we should first confess our sins purely, and do enough for them. Then we were pointed to an impossible thing, that we should first be clean of all things. When we felt our impurity and unworthiness, we did not like to go, because we thought we were eating death. So it happened to me that, because I did not feel pure, I was afraid of the Sacrament, fearing that I would receive it unworthily.
The pope went on about this, made things worse, and commanded that people should go at least once a year, even though they were afraid of the sacrament. And whoever did not want to go once a year, he put under a ban. Isn't that a miserable abomination and a terrible communion, when people went unwillingly and still had to do it?
(7) Then think what delight you would have in such food and drink as was thrust into you against your will and poured into you by force. As if one wanted to pour wine over the thanks of a sick person who does not like to smell wine.
What joy or pleasure should he have in such a drink? Thus the reverend sacrament has also been unable to produce any fruit among the people under the papacy. Because it was received with such an opinion that the hearts had to conclude: You are not pure, you are not worthy of such food, you cannot enjoy it properly; and yet you had to do it, or suffer the ban as disobedient children of the church: it is easy to assume that neither consolation nor joy could have come from it.
Thirdly, the pope has given the laity only one form (as it is called), contrary to the clear, expressed command of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, who has established and ordered his will in such a way that one should not only eat his body, but also drink his blood according to his command. The pope has trampled such a command underfoot, and condemns it still today as heresy, if one takes the Lord's Supper under both forms completely, as Christ, our dear Lord, has instituted and commanded. This has been even more serious, that one has had to take the Lord's Supper differently than Christ instituted and commanded it to be taken. Fourth, the pope continued with the Lord's will and made it a fair for the departed souls, so that few masses were held for their own devotion, but only for the sake of money and prebends. That means, I think, that this sacrament has ever been acted in an excessively cruel way. And I think that if the papacy had remained in its dignity longer and the dear gospel had not come, it would have been taken from the living and used only for the dead. For we old people have well experienced what a splendor the mass for the souls had become everywhere.
(9) For this reason, I have wanted to remember it now, so that it may be seen how highly God has punished the ungrateful world, that he has seen to it that the pope has given it only one form (as they call it). And yet the same has been so darkened that the people have gone as to a work that they do not enjoy, but an abominable original.
The people have to worry about the wrath and anger of God.
(10) After this, the pope made a plaster of the mass to be put over all kinds of misfortune and sickness. Therefore, for God's sake, let us see to it that we do not also become such despisers, but have pleasure and love for the Lord's Supper and receive it gladly, so that it may remain in a right mind and right custom.
(11) But is it not exceedingly kind that the Lord should pour out his heart so completely, and say to his disciples, "Take and eat, this is my body? Take and drink of it, all of you; this is my blood, the New Testament. Do this alone, that ye may remember me," and not forget me; and do it not once alone, but often, and until the last day? Would the dear Christ therefore gladly preserve his memory, knowledge, and faith by his supper and testament, that he should not be strangled in our hearts. Therefore institute this supper, that it may remain for ever and ever, and that his death, by which we are purged from sins and all manner of eternal miseries, may be remembered forever.
(12) But this is spoken kindly, not poisonously nor angrily, yes, much more kindly than a father can speak to his son. For it is all because of this, he says, that you should not forget me. He would therefore gladly form this memory in the ears, mouth and heart of all of us, so that his holy suffering would not be forgotten, as he suffered, died and rose again from death for our sake. He wanted this to remain in the hearts of his Christians forever. For there are always other and young people growing up, who need not only to be taught the Word, so that they may learn to know Christ their Savior and also be saved, but that they may be kept in such outward worship, so that they may always have cause to praise their Savior and Redeemer Christ and to take comfort in him. Therefore, we should not grow weary of such remembrance. Where good friends come together, they can sit and chat with each other for a whole night and forget to sleep. Why then should one
To be weary of preaching and learning how our dear Lord Christ has bought us?
Now this sacrament or communion is not instituted for the sole purpose of praising Christ. For he may well say, I have no need of thy praise, I can well do without thee, nevertheless remain the Son of God, thou praisest me or not; I am neither better nor worse by thy praise; but also because we have need of this testament and supper, and it shall be to our good.
(14) For Christianity must remain united, having one mind, faith and doctrine. So that Christians may be of the same mind, they must not only come together in the sermon, so that they hear the same word and are thereby called to the same faith, and all at the same time hold to one head; but they must also come together at one table and eat and drink with one another. When they go to the sacrament, one sees who hears the gospel and believes; which cannot be seen so surely in the sermon, for there it may well happen that one hears me now who is nevertheless hostile to me from the heart.
(15) Therefore, though the gospel binds Christians together and makes them of one mind, yet the Lord's Supper does even more (though hypocrites are also found), that every Christian confess publicly and for himself what he believes. There the unequals separate, and those who are in the faith, in the same hope, mind and heart toward the Lord, come together. This is a very necessary thing in the church, so that they may be drawn together and not divided in the faith.
16 For this reason it was called in Latin communionem, a fellowship, and those who do not want to be like the other Christians in faith, doctrine and life, excorf- municatos, as those who are unequal in doctrine, words, mind and life, and therefore should not be tolerated among the group that is of one mind, lest they also separate and divide it. The holy sacrament serves to keep Christ's company together.
(17) Therefore the ancient teachers had fine thoughts and said that Christ used bread and wine for his supper, that just as many grains each have their own body and form, and are ground together and become one bread, so every man is his own grain, that is, his own person and special creature; but because we are all made partakers of one bread in the sacrament, we are all one bread and body, and are called one cake, 1 Cor. 10:17. 10, 17. For there is one faith, one confession, one love, and one hope. So in wine there are many grapes, many little berries, each having its own body and form; but as soon as they are squeezed and become wine, there is no disparity in the wine, but it is one, fine, beautiful juice. Christians should be like this.
18 Thus the ancients interpreted it, and it is not wrong. For this is the purpose of the sacrament, that it may bind Christians together in one mind, doctrine, and faith, that each one may not be a peculiar grain of his own, and make his own doctrine and peculiar faith.
How the devil does not celebrate, and would gladly tear apart such unity and equality. For he knows well what harm will come to him if we all believe the same thing and hold to one head. That is why he challenges one and another with false faith, with despair, with erroneous, false thoughts, that one does not believe correctly in the sacrament and other articles, and that he can cause a separation.
(20) Though it will not be otherwise, for there must be distresses, yet we must always prevent him from dividing us altogether. If he or she does not want to remain and separate from us in the doctrine of the sacrament or other things, let us nevertheless stay with one another, so that as one is minded toward Christ in faith and hope, so may the other also be minded. But this can never be, unless there is equality in doctrine.
Thus our dear Lord Jesus Christ has so cordially instituted the Sacrament to preserve unity in doctrine, faith and life. Outwardly we cannot be the same,
for there are unequal estates. If they are to be managed properly, unequal works must follow. A peasant deals with different works than a prince; a woman in the house with different ones than a maid. Such difference must remain in the outward life. But in Christ there is neither man nor woman, neither prince nor peasant, but they are all called believers in Christ. For the very gospel, promise, and faith that I have, a woman, a prince, a peasant, a servant, a child has.
(22) This sacrament also shows such inward equality, since no one has anything better than another. Therefore, whether it be wife or maid, master or servant, father or son, prince or subject, they are all equal here, having one food and promise, and if they believe, they belong to One Heaven, and it matters not whether I am here, or another Christian is at Jerusalem, and we know not one another. For we have but One Head. There we hold on to all of us and hope to be saved by it. The devil does not stay outside and would like to tear such unity apart. For, as I said, he knows what harm it does him when Christians are united in doctrine and faith. Against this serves this sacrament, which was instituted by Christ to keep Christians together, so that no one knows anything without believing only in Jesus Christ crucified, nor otherwise than Christ teaches.
Then this sacrament is also necessary and beneficial for each person. For even if I were to grow weary of the sacrament, the harm is mine alone, and the longer I remain without it, the worse it is for me. For it is true that our Lord Christ does not need you to remember him for his person. But you need it, because if you do not want to think of Christ, then you must think of the devil, but there you will have no benefit, but only harm.
024 For thou hast a preacher with thee, which eateth and drinketh, sleepeth and watcheth with thee, old Adam; whom thou carryest to bed with thee, and risest up and lieth down with thee, preaching unto thee without ceasing,
can masterfully persuade him to pull you down, so that the longer you grow colder and colder, and so sluggish and lazy that you finally forget the Lord Christ and his gospel and no longer ask anything about it. This, I say, is done by the preacher who hangs on your neck, yes, lies under your left teat; he blows your ears full with his preaching, so that you think nothing but how you might become great and rich before the world, so that today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and all the days seem to you that you have no time, nor can you wait to go to the sacrament. So then, if you are cold and discontented today, you will be even colder tomorrow. That's what your preacher does, the old rogue, who pulls you away so that even though you hear the sermon every day, you still think of other things and worry more about other business. For, tell me, where can you find a man who is weary of avarice and disgusted with it? Yes, from day to day, the longer, the more one becomes enamored, the more one becomes impetuous and more inclined to the shameful, cursed miserliness and usury. It is the same with other vices. A fornicator cannot think or talk enough about fornication, and the longer he talks and thinks about it, the more heated he becomes about it. This is what the old Adam does, he preaches to you until you are drowned in sins.
(25) Then again, our dear Lord Christ would gladly have it that, just as your avarice tells you and preaches to you about money and goods, about power and honor, you also let yourself be drawn here and led into that life, and remember your Redeemer, who died for you on the cross, and set your heart on fire in such a way that you would like to be with him, would grow tired of this life here, and would say: Oh Lord, I see that I cannot stop sinning, I cannot grow weary of evil. Therefore I beseech thee, help me to become hostile to the world, and to gain pleasure and love for thee etc. Such a reminder and heat is necessary for us daily against the harmful preacher, our old Adam, who is in our ears day and night.
26Therefore our dear Lord Jesus Christ instituted his supper, that we should remember thereby that there is something in the Lord's Supper.
that will follow after this life. Therefore he takes the bread and the cup, saying, "Eat, this is my body, which is given for you; drink, this is my blood, which is poured out for you for the remission of sins. Do this in remembrance of me." As if he wanted to say, "I am preparing a banquet for you here, where you will share in my heavenly goods, which are forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. And for this reason I prepare such a banquet, so that when you are assured by my will and faith in me of my body and blood, given and poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins, you will remember me again and never forget me. Therefore, if you daily remember money and goods, power and honor, joy and pleasure of this life by the suggestion of your old Adam, give me also one day in eight days, in four weeks etc. that you remember me. You are in need of this; for my sake I could well do without it.
(27) Yes, if it were money, and one gave to each not the body and blood of Christ, but a hundred Hungarian florins, or even less, there should be running, running and running. And if blind people should dare to run through the middle of the Elbe or the Rhine, they would get a hundred guilders. We should spit on ourselves, we hopeless people, that we run and run like this for the sake of a little money. And here are not a hundred florins, which are soon consumed, but the body and blood of Christ Jesus, by which we are redeemed. He gives us this treasure as our own in his will, and with it eternal life, so that we can be sure of it, take comfort in it and always remember it. But there one still flees from it as if it were poison and damnation.
28 Who then makes us run after the hundred florins and not after this precious, noble treasure? No one but the devil, who has our old Adam before, who is lazy and slothful for the eternal good, and prefers to take care of the temporal. This ingratitude and contempt is greater sin than anyone can think, for everyone throws it to the wind; otherwise we would be more diligent in keeping it, and
We should not be so serious about money and property, which we are not sure of for a moment. But those who do, may see how they will fare one day.
29 Therefore the Lord wants to admonish us with his Lord's Supper not to be so ungrateful, but to know, when we go to the reverend sacrament and confess our faith among other Christians, that he is served in this way, so that the greatest benefit is ours. Therefore we should especially thank him and be comforted by the fact that we have such a gracious bishop and feeder in him, who not only sacrificed himself for us, but also feeds us with his body and blood, which was sacrificed for us; do not ask for anything more in return than that we should remember him, so that he may preserve us in the faith and Christianity for eternity.
(30) Whoever does not want to do this, let our Lord God give him a spirit of the mob, who will preach to him that in the Lord's Supper one receives no more than bread and wine. In the papacy, when the Lord Christ was not remembered at this supper, as he commanded, the sacrament was obscured, and its custom was lost, so that no one knew what the sacrament was and for what purpose it was to be received. For everyone thought that it was necessary to receive it in order to obey the Church. That was it, people fell into many idolatries and appeals to the saints. May God help us to be more devout and grateful, and to take the treasure in the Sacrament with true earnestness and faith, because it is offered to us. Where we despise it and let it pass, it is done.
The other piece in this text is about those who receive this sacrament unworthily. It is true that we cannot say that Judas received the sacrament for comfort or correction. So there were also many among the Corinthians, as Paul reports, who received it unworthily and were therefore punished by God in body and life.
32Therefore this distinction must be left, that some receive the sacrament worthy of eternal life, but some receive the sacrament worthy of eternal life.
unworthy to be judged, that God will punish them physically for it and, if they do not repent through repentance and faith, will condemn them eternally. Therefore, it is up to us to know what it means to receive the sacrament worthily or unworthily.
In the papacy, therefore, it was taught that no one should go to the sacrament unless he was well and truly pure. Such purity, however, was based on confession, repentance, fasting, prayer, almsgiving and similar works, which were called works of penance and which the monks praised, and everyone thought that they had done enough for the sins they had committed. But let such worthiness go and despair of it. For it is impossible for us to be completely pure or to come to purity for the sake of our works. So Christ himself did not give this supper to the disciples when they were completely clean, because he washed their feet afterwards, and clearly said that they needed to wash their feet. There he does not speak of the washing of water, but of the forgiveness of sins.
34 For this reason, we should learn diligently and keep in mind that those who confess that they are poor sinners, feel many temptations, curse at times, become impatient, do not always moderate their eating and drinking, and ask for mercy: "Help me, Lord, that I may improve and become godly. These are daily sins that cling to us because we live on earth, in one more than in another. Therefore, do not say that you do not want to go to the sacrament for the sake of such sins. For as long as you carry the old Adam by the neck, you will certainly encounter impatience, evil thoughts and other things that will challenge you and cause you to sin. If you do not want to receive the sacrament sooner, because you are freed from all sins, it must follow that you will never go to the sacrament.
35. but those who receive the holy sacrament unworthily, who knowingly lie in sins, such as murderous hatred against their neighbor, murder, fornication, adultery.
and other such public sins, and yet do not think to desist from them. For the sacrament was instituted by the Lord Christ, not that one should remain in sin, but that he should receive forgiveness of sins and become more devout. So Judas took the sacrament for death and judgment, because he had decided that he would betray and sell the Lord Jesus, and remained in such a forwardness and hardened evil will.
(36) Before such an example some are sometimes astonished, because they are in hatred and enmity or in other sins, and therefore do not want to go to the sacrament. They sin in two ways: first, that they do not want to fall from wrath, nor to cease from sin; second, that they remain so long from the Sacrament against the command of Christ. Therefore, such people should drop hatred and envy, stop sinning, and seek consolation and forgiveness of sins in the Holy Sacrament. But if there was still a glimmer of sin or temptation, they should cry out to God and ask: O Lord, give me a peaceful, kind, gentle heart toward everyone, and cleanse me from all sins for Christ's sake; and so go cheerfully to the reverend Sacrament and do not be afraid of this saying of Paul. For it is not said of those who would gladly be rid of sins, but of those who are in sins and yet do not want to let go of them, and even want to be praised for them. As can be seen in the Corinthians, when Paul writes to them, "I cannot praise you," this indicates that without all repentance they also want to be praised as fine Christians.
In those days the Lord's supper was in a different order than it is with us now. The Christians came together in the evening and ate with one another in the assembly, each with what he had. Some were found drinking to their fill, while others had nothing and were hungry and thirsty. This, says Paul, is wrong. It should not be that you deliberately sin, then go to the sacrament and pretend that you have not sinned; in this way you eat and drink the night meal unworthily, therefore God punishes you with sickness and other things.
(38) This is another sin, for if good hearts sometimes stumble and yet return, praying and wishing: O that God would forgive me my sin, for I have done wrong. Christ does not expel them from this supper, for the words testify that he does not want righteous and holy people at this table, but poor sinners who, because of their great sin, do not know what to do with. For thus he saith, His body is given for them, and His blood is shed for their sin. But these must not be bad, nor small sinners, for whom such an excellent sacrifice or payment has been made. Therefore it is only up to you to recognize yourself as a sinner from the bottom of your heart, then find yourself here and seek comfort and help there. But he who will not confess sin, nor amend himself, does not belong here.
39. But it is commonly contrary. Those who should not fear, and to whom God offers all grace and wants to adopt them as children, cannot get rid of fear. Again, those who should be afraid and are in the highest disgrace are the safest and do not fear their sins, but go through them like a can through a wooden wall, as can be seen in the Papists. They blaspheme and persecute God's word, strangle the pious Christians, drive people to idolatry against their conscience; yet they consider themselves pious and holy, and are therefore safe and in good spirits. On the other hand, the other group is stupid and frightened, but has no intention of sinning. But what sins there are, they are heartily sorry for, and wish they had never done them. So he who is to be comforted cannot grasp comfort, but he who is to be afraid is safe and without fear.
40 Therefore St. Paul says: "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup. Bread and drink of this cup." And "to test" means nothing else than to make sure that you are right, as you are right. If thou findest thyself hardened, that thou wilt not depart from sins, and careest nothing for them, thou hast cause that thou goest not thither: for thou art unworthy, and not a Christian. See
But if thou hast sinned, and art sorry, and wouldst be glad to be rid of thy sins, and believest that God will forgive thee the same by grace, for the sake of his Son Christ Jesus, go and get absolution, and say, O Lord, I am a great sinner, come therefore now to thy supper, and will eat with thee. Doubt not, for he saith unto thee again, Welcome, good man; thou shalt be a dear and honored guest unto me; I will not smite thee before the head.
(41) Therefore let them fear who do not feel their sin, but continue in sins with an insolent and proud heart, without all repentance and correction. But the others, who feel their sin and repent, should not fear. For the sake of such sorrowful, anxious hearts, this table is prepared, that they may find comfort and refreshment there.
(42) This word of Paul, "Let a man examine himself," also gave cause to the ancient teachers to say: Obvious sins, which the judge and executioner, not the preacher, punishes, such as fornication, murder, gluttony and the like, should prevent people from going to the Sacrament. But this is to be understood as said above: whoever persists in such sins and will not desist from them, that he should abstain from the Sacrament. For he only makes more of wrath, because he pretends to be a Christian with sacramental reception, and yet is not, as his life convinces him. But he who is in such sins, but ceases from them, and is reformed, and becomes more devout, shall also refrain from such sins.
He should not let himself be hindered, but reconcile with the church he had offended, ask for absolution and receive the reverend sacrament, and ask God that he may henceforth keep himself better.
(43) But whatever other daily afflictions we have, let them not hinder us, as the ancient teachers said. For we cannot get rid of them in this life. If we did not want to go to the sacrament sooner, because we are so pure, we would become cold and wean ourselves from it and never desire it again.
44 I know what it does when one abstains from the sacrament for a while. I have also been in such a fire of the devil that the reverend sacrament became so strange to me that the longer I went to it, the less I liked it. Beware of this, and be accustomed to go to it often, especially when you are fit to do so, that is, when you find that your heart is heavy and dull for sins, so that you do not forget our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and remember his sacrifice and death. This is what the Lord kindly desires of us; so it is also our great need, and that of all Christendom, that we do not wean ourselves from our dear Lord and bishop and even get into the devil's butt.
May our dear Lord God and Father in heaven with His Holy Spirit help us through Christ, His Son and our Redeemer, that we may give Him heartfelt thanks for this Supper and use it worthily for our salvation, Amen.