Means of Grace
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. Luke 22:19-20
“Pics or it didn’t happen!” This phrase is probably outdated now, but it has been a part of social media parlance used to urge someone to back up what he said he did or saw with pictorial evidence. After all, no one wants to hear your story of meeting a famous celebrity if you don’t have a picture to show.
God tells us many amazing things in His Word, and the Word itself has the power to make us fully believe without physical proof. What physical proof of His Triune nature could God give our feeble senses? Yet sometimes, and especially with the sacraments, God backs His mighty Word with mighty miracles.
Every believer in Christ is called upon to remember His atoning sacrifice for our sins on the cross. That is done most simply through hearing and believing the gospel accounts of His sufferings and death. In the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, Jesus performs the miracle of actually giving His body and blood for us to eat and drink in and with the bread and wine. This aids our remembrance of Him.
When we eat the bread, we receive Jesus’ body, remembering that He gave it over to be broken for us. When we drink the wine, we receive Jesus’ blood, remembering it was shed to establish the new covenant of grace in which our sins were laid on Jesus and His righteousness was laid on us. What a blessing is this Supper which our Lord has given us to remember Him by! May the Holy Spirit preserve us in this true faith unto life everlasting!
In this memorial of Thy death, O Lord,
Thou dost Thy body and Thy blood afford:
Oh, may our souls forever feed on Thee,
And Thou, O Christ, forever precious be.
Lutheran Service Book 640:2