Hands That Consecrate
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our
Lord Jesus Christ does nothing by accident. Everything He does, He does with a
purpose. So when He takes bread into His hands and blesses it, and then does
the same with the cup of wine, it’s not just because that’s what’s handy as
they celebrate the Passover. Jesus has a purpose, and everything He says and
does is for that purpose. Everything He says and does is for the salvation of
His creation.
Since
our Lord always acts with purpose, it is important that we examine what our
Lord says and does. He began with the command: “Take and eat.” “Take and drink.” He does not call upon us to do
something miraculous. We do not have that ability. He tells us to something
natural—something, in fact, that we need to do to live. Eat. Drink. It’s no
coincidence that He connects His gifts with eating and drinking. Our earthly
lives are fed by what we take in with our mouths; the same is true for eternal
life.
And
that’s true because of the Word of Christ. Hear the Word of God, recorded by
the prophet Isaiah: “As the rain comes
down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth,
and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread
to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not
return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper
in the thing for which I sent it.” So when Jesus says, “This is my body;” “This is my blood;” “given” and “shed for you for
the forgiveness of sins;” His Word does exactly what He says it will do.
The bread is His body; the wine is His blood; in taking and eating and
drinking, we eat and drink His body and blood, and we receive the forgiveness
of our sins. The hands of our Lord consecrate this holy Meal, setting apart the
bread and wine for the purpose of our salvation.
This
is a stumbling block for many, including many who call themselves Christians.
They doubt the power of Christ’s Word to do what He says it will do. When Jesus
says of the bread, “This is my body,”
they can’t bring themselves to believe that Jesus means it’s actually His body.
Bread is bread, they think, and it certainly cannot contain anything that isn’t
bread. In their minds, when Jesus uses the word “is” when He says, “This is
my body,” the bread can only represent His body; it’s only a symbol. But
that raises the question: If Jesus cannot actually do what He says He will do,
then how can we really trust that He has the power to take away our sins?
My
brothers and sisters in Christ: Do you trust the power of the Word of God? Do
you trust that, when your pastor poured water on you and said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” you were made a child of God and
given faith to cling to what our Lord says? Do you trust that, when your pastor
makes the sign of the cross and says, “In
the stead of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins,” Jesus is
taking away your sins? It is not your pastor who is doing the work; he is only
acting as our Lord’s hands and mouth. Your pastor’s hands and mouth have been
set apart, consecrated to deliver the gifts which Christ has called him to
deliver.
Here
is the truth: Christ is truly present, body and blood, in the bread and wine of
the Lord’s Supper, just as He says He is. Your faith doesn’t put Him there, but
it recognizes Him in this holy gift. The ordinary bread and wine, combined with
the Word of God, deliver the crucified and resurrected Christ to you. These
ordinary, everyday things, combined with the Word of God, deliver the
forgiveness, life, and salvation Jesus died and rose to give you. Receive it
from His hand, the hand of Christ which set it apart for you, the hand that has
set you apart as one whom He has redeemed. In the name of the Father and
of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all
understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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