According to the Reformed view, only bread and wine are present; according to the Roman Catholic[[14]] view, only the body and blood of Christ are present; according to the Lutheran and Scriptural doctrine, both the bread and wine and the body and blood of Christ are present in the Holy Supper, and are received by every communicant.
[Footnote 14: Because of its false doctrine concerning the Lord's Supper, the Roman Catholic Church has fallen into these additional errors: 1. The Sacrifice of the Mass, in which the priest, by blessing the bread and wine, is supposed to turn them into the body and blood of Christ, and thus to offer an unbloody sacrifice of Christ which is as effective as Christ's death on the cross. 2. The Withholding of the cup from the laity, lest a single drop of Christ's blood should be spilled. 3. The Elevation of the Host, in which the wafer or host is adored as the body of Christ.]
A GREAT MYSTERY. The Lord's Supper is a great mystery; but also a great comfort. We cannot understand how Christ can give us His body and blood in this sacrament. But it is the part of faith to take the Saviour at His word. This the Lutheran Church does in her doctrine.
QUESTIONS.—1. By what different names is this sacrament known and why? 2. From what do we learn what the Lord's Supper is? 3. What is to be said about the earthly elements? 4. When Christ gave His disciples the bread and the wine, what did He say? 5. What do we receive, therefore, in the Lord's Supper? 6. What is to be said about Zwingli's view? 7. What is to be said about the Roman Catholic view, and what is it called? 8. What other false doctrine besides these two is to be rejected? 9. How may the Reformed, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic doctrines of the Lord's Supper be compared? 10. Is the true doctrine to be rejected because we do not understand it?
SCRIPTURE VERSES.—I Cor. 10:16. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
READING.—The Institution of the Lord's Supper, Matt. 26:17-30.
II. What benefits are derived from such eating and drinking?
They are pointed out in these words: "given and shed for you, for the remission of sins"; namely, through these words, the remission of sins, life and salvation are granted unto us in the sacrament. For where there is remission of sins, there are also life and salvation.
THE BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE LORD'S SUPPER.