350. Why do we take the words "This is My body" and "This is My blood" at face value?
Only our Lord's words establish the Sacrament. They are to be taken at face value (to mean what they say) because of the following:
A. These words are spoken by Christ, our Lord, the Word to whom all authority in Heaven and earth is given and through whom the universe came into existence.
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
B. These are the words of a special covenant, or testament, spoken on the eve of His death, and no person's last will and testament may be changed once that person has died.
1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way He took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
Galatians 3:15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.
Read Hebrews 9:15-22, about the importance of a testamentary covenant that takes effect at the time of the one who makes it dies (a "last will and testament").
C. These words of Jesus recall God's covenant with Israel in Exodus 24:1-11. Then, the blood of the covenant was thrown against the altar and on the people, giving access to God, so that the elders of the people of Israel beheld God and ate and drank in His presence. In the Lord's Supper, we receive Christ's true blood of the new covenant (or testament) and, in it, the forgiveness of sins and communion with our God.
Exodus 24:8 Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words."
D. God's Word clearly teaches that in the Sacrament, the bread and wine are a communion, or participation, in the body and blood of Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
E. God's Word clearly teaches that those who misuse the Sacrament sin not against bread and wine but against the body and blood of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:27, 29 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ... For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Eventual commentary
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