|
 Proclaim His Death
Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
(1 Corinthians 11:26)
Only one who is going to die need make a last will and testament. This is what our Lord does in the Upper Room. Beyond this room there is Gethsemane, then Golgotha. Our Lord goes to the cross for us. In the Sacrament of the Altar He gives us His body to eat and His blood to drink. Therefore Martin Luther advises the Christian, "When you are troubled by your sins do not go to Calvary. At Calvary sin was answered for. But come to the Lord’s Supper, for it is here that the forgiveness won at Calvary is bestowed."Our Lord is the host at His Supper. He invites sinners to be His guests because the content of His testament is the forgiveness of sins. It is not our pious actions, our prayers, our feelings of worthiness or unworthiness that make the Supper what it is but the faithful and effectual Word and work of the Lamb who was slain. That Lamb, without spot or blemish, has carried our sins to the cross. He drained dry the cup of suffering, the cup of God’s wrath. Now He gives us, along with His body, another cup to drink. This cup is the new testament in His blood. When we receive the Sacrament, we proclaim Christ’s death.
Faithful Lord Jesus, we give You thanks that You have established the Holy Supper for us. Amen.
Author: John T. Pless/Feb. 11, 1989
Devotions from A year in the Word © 1999 CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House.
For ordering information, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.
|
