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The Doctrine of the Means of Grace - Page 8

© John L. Hoh, Jr.

The debate over the words "This is my body" has continued since the days of Luther and Zwingli. Luther approached these words from faith; Zwingli approached them from the point of Reason. This debate can be seen in the way that today's Evangelicals view the Lord's Supper. Senkbeil quotes Bruce Blackie's assessment of the new Evangelical approach to the Sacrament:

The sacrament, to most people, means nothing in itself or apart from the mood of sentiment that it creates. The dying and risen Christ, the concept of the universal church, and even a sense of dinner fellowship with other church members elude the parishioner as he partakes of diced Bond bread and a tiny sip of Welch's grape juice. 27

The fact that the Reformed do not accept at face value the words "This is my body, this is my blood" is evidenced in the Ryrie Study Bible which footnotes those words of Christ with, "This represents my body, this represents my blood." 28 With this mindset the Reformed, or today the Evangelical, disregards the Lord's Supper as a saving Means of Grace used by the Holy Spirit to strengthen faith and bestow forgiveness of sins. It has become nothing more than a memorial meal.

The Lutheran teaching follows the words of Christ. It is sound in its hermeneutics. Obviously in no language does the word is mean anything other than is. To say that Jesus was speaking in a figurative sense shows a failure to look closely at areas where Jesus is speaking figuratively. When speaking figuratively, Jesus says "is like." Also, the mood and the atmosphere on the night of institution are not the setting for another picture language speech on another aspect of the Kingdom of God. It is a time for a person facing his last night alive to be brutally honest and open with those closest to him - namely disciples.

C.F.W. Walther states that one must accept the Real Presence in the Lord's Supper as it is the Word of God: "For what good are the holy writings if we cannot rely on every word?" 29 Even if the use of Reason were employed, as the Reformed do, then the literal interpretation must be taken as it is part of a testament, which by its very nature calls for clarity of thought. 30 Thus the eyes of faith accept Jesus' words as true and that they mean what they say.

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