ITS NAMES. This sacrament is called: 1. The Sacrament of the Altar, because it is administered at the altar. 2. The Lord's Supper, because it was instituted by the Lord while the disciples were eating the Passover Supper. 3. The Table of the Lord, because the Lord here gives food and drink to our souls. 4. The Communion, because it is a communion of bread and wine with the body and blood of Christ, a communion of believers with Christ, and a communion of believers with one another. 5. The Eucharist—a name derived from a Greek word meaning to give thanks—because the administration of the Lord's Supper is attended with thanksgiving.
WHAT THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR IS.
The Lord's Supper was instituted by OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE SAME NIGHT IN WHICH HE WAS BETRAYED, while He and the disciples were eating the Passover Supper. [I Cor. 11:23-25, Matt. 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20] What the Lord's Supper is, we learn from the words of Christ Himself as given by the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and by St. Paul.
THE EARTHLY ELEMENTS. The Lord TOOK BREAD, AND WHEN HE HAD GIVEN THANKS, HE BROKE IT AND GAVE IT TO HIS DISCIPLES. AFTER THE SAME MANNER ALSO HE TOOK THE CUP containing the wine, WHEN HE HAD SUPPED, GAVE THANKS, AND GAVE IT TO THEM. The earthly elements used in this sacrament are, therefore, bread and wine. The wafers which are generally used in Lutheran Churches are unleavened bread—the kind which Christ used—because at the time of the Passover no other but unleavened bread dared be used by the Jews. The wine which Christ used was real wine, not unfermented grape juice. We are not permitted to substitute anything else in place of the earthly elements used by Christ in instituting this sacrament.
THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. When Christ gave His disciples the bread, HE SAID, TAKE, EAT; THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH IS GIVEN FOR YOU. When He gave them the wine, HE SAID, DRINK YE ALL OF IT; THIS CUP IS THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MY BLOOD, WHICH IS SHED FOR YOU FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS. Consequently, when we receive the bread in this sacrament, we receive also the body of Christ; and when we receive the wine, we receive also the blood of Christ. And we say of the Sacrament of the Altar, that
IT IS THE TRUE BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR LORD CHRIST, UNDER (along with) THE BREAD AND WINE, GIVES UNTO US CHRISTIANS TO EAT TO AS IT WAS INSTITUTED BY HIMSELF. The bread and wine do not simply represent the body and blood of Christ (Zwingli's view). The bread and wine are not changed into the body and blood of Christ (the Roman Catholic view, or transubstantiation). The bread and wine are not united with the body and blood of Christ into a third substance different from both (consubstantiation). The bread and wine remain real bread and wine throughout the administration of the Lord's Supper. [I Cor. 11:28] But there is a communion of the bread and wine with the body and blood of Christ, [I Cor. 10:16+] so that when the communicant receives the bread he receives also the body of Christ, and when he receives the wine, he receives also the blood of Christ. The bread and wine are the earthly vehicles through which the heavenly gift of Christ's body and blood, which were given, and shed for us for the remission of sins, are communicated to us. [I Cor. 10:28, 29]
DOCTRINES COMPARED. The Reformed, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic doctrines of the Lord's Supper may be compared and illustrated thus:—
Reformed. Lutheran. Roman Catholic.
Bread. Bread-Body. Body. Wine. Wine-Blood. Blood.