Ephesians 5:28-32
"So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church."
It’s helpful every now and then to review what we
believe about the presence of Jesus here at this Supper. Roman Catholics tells us the bread turns into
His physical body so that we actually eat the flesh of Jesus. Lutherans say He is present physically somehow
around the elements. But no, the risen
body of Jesus is in heaven, and doesn’t come down to us again. Other Protestants mostly say that Jesus is no
more present at this table than any other place and time. This is just a visual aid to help us remember
Jesus, they say. But no, the bread we
break is a communion, a sharing in, the body of Christ. So we say this Supper communicates Jesus to
us, it connects us with the real presence of Jesus by faith.
This is one of those God-appointed places where
there is a physical bridge for the grace of God to come to us. The bridge alone isn’t enough, of course. The flesh profits nothing without the
Spirit. We also need the vehicle of
faith to carry Christ to us across the bridge.
Yes, God can bring Jesus to us without the bridge, but He built the bridge
for us to use regularly.
Now
faith isn’t suspended in thin air. We
need something to believe, someone to trust.
So we need the Word of God, mainly, to know what to believe. And then we need a way to express our faith
and act on that faith. So the sacraments and fellowship of the church are
essential supports. God gives us
water, bread and wine to seal the Word to us by faith.
These are gifts of God for the people of God.
Receive Him, rest on Him alone today.
8/7/14
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