The lord's Supper

[Nebuchadnezzar II]

I still have 2 more years of communion, but why do we take the Lord's supper?

 

[Rechtgläubig]

Depends on your denomination.

 

[Rechtgläubig]

Sorry, maybe I should clarify. I can tell you why I go to the Lord's Table and receive the Sacrament, but you said "we" without listing your denomination. There are many different beliefs regarding communion and I suggest you state your affiliation so you can get the response that match your denom's beliefs.

 

[Nebuchadnezzar II]

Lutheran/christian

 

[Rechtgläubig]

Wow, well, maybe I can help then - lol.


Be back in a minute...

 

[Rechtgläubig]

I am at work so I apologise for the delay and if my answer seems jumbled. If you have further questions you can PM me or just respond here.

Christ commanded us to celebrate communion and we recieve spiritual blessings through the Sacrament.

In the Sacrament God attaches His Gospel promise to the elements (bread and wine). We can see, touch, and taste these elements and when we partake of them we know that as surely as we see, touch, taste, and receive the bread and wine, we also receive Christ's true Body, Blood, and forgiveness for our sins.

"But just as the Word enters the ear in order to strike our heart, so the rite itself the eye in order to move the heart. The effect of the Word and the rite is the same, as it has been well said by Augustine that a Sacrament is a visible word, because the rite is perceived by the eyes and is, as it were, a picture of the Word, signifying the same things as the Word" (Apology of the Augsburg Confession)

We take the Sacrament to receive forgiveness of sins and so that God may strengthen our faith.

http://bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.html#sacrament

http://bookofconcord.org/largecatechism/7_sacrament.html

Peace in Christ!

 

[Rafael]

To remember and honor Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our sins. He is the bread of life. He sustains us and keeps us, and we need to be reminded often or the world creeps in to replace Him in our hearts.

John 6:48 I am that bread of life.

John 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

 

[Rechtgläubig]

I am sorry to disagree raphe. John 6 is not speaking about the Lord's Supper.

If this is the case, lack of Communing results in damnation.

53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Jesus is speaking of belief. Lack of belief condems, not lack of communion...

36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)

35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6)

I am not denying Christ's presence with the Sacrament, I am just disagreeing that John 6 speaks of a Sacrament Christ hadn't instituted yet.

 

[Rising_Suns]

I believe Raphe is correct.

I believe that is when Christ DID institue the sacrament..notice in chapter 6, that Jesus's own disciples left Him because of this. They simply could not understand such a thing, saying; how could this man give us His flesh? Notice also, that Jesus never corrected them when they left. If Jesus was talking figuratively, He had an obligation as a savior and teacher to correct the disciples before they walked away. But He did not. Instead, He turned to the 12 and asked them; "are you going to leave me too?".

 

[Rafael]

I am sorry to disagree raphe. John 6 is not speaking about the Lord's Supper.

If this is the case, lack of Communing results in damnation.


Jesus is speaking of belief. Lack of belief condems, not lack of communion...








I am not denying Christ's presence with the Sacrament, I am just disagreeing that John 6 speaks of a Sacrament Christ hadn't instituted yet.

It would probably be better to discuss this in the appropriate forum. I had no doctrine in mind with my comment other than the Lord's supper being more important than a take it or leave it proposition. I'm not much of a sacrament or institution type person, but I do know I need to obey the Lord and commune with Him.

 

[SolomonVII]

Allow me to put this question in a broader anthropological perspective, if I may. The idea of regarding the nourishment that sustains us as sacred is common to many cultures. For example, when traditional North American pay homage to the Spirit of the Salmon, or the Spirit of the Buffalo, they are acknowledging the fact that their very lives are dependant upon these animals 'sacrificing' their flesh and blood in order to give their spirit of life to the men and woman that consume them. In a spiritual sense,because our lives depend upon the food that nourishes us, and not vice-versa, what nourishes us becomes sacred.
Similarily, whether Christians regard the wine and host as the actual physical Body and Blood of Christ, or as His symbolic Presence, what is being honored through Communion is our absolute dependence on the sacrifice of our Savior.