God gives his grace to us through the means of grace — the Gospel, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Absolution. The Lord’s Supper is unique in that it is known by several names. Each emphasizes a different aspect of this great gift to us.
The name the Lord’s Supper reminds us that this sacrament belongs to our Lord Jesus, who instituted it and whose Body and Blood we eat with its bread and wine. The Lord’s Supper is both very simple and yet completely beyond our understanding. We trust the Lord who gives it to us and so call it his supper.
When we call the Lord’s Supper the Sacrament of the Altar, we focus on the sacrifice of Jesus. Following his command, we remember that he offered up the body that we eat and the blood that we drink as a sacrifice for our sins. The blessings this sacrament gives — forgiveness of sins, life and salvation — are ours because of this sacrifice.
We speak of Holy Communion because the Lord unites us with himself and with our brothers and sister in Christ in this meal. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) The Lord’s Supper brings together bread with his body given for us and wine with his blood shed for us. When we eat it, we are united with him in the same way that Baptism unites us with his death and resurrection. We are also brought together as one body with Christians of all times and places and are united with them.
We call the service of worship in which the Lord’s Supper is offered the Eucharist, which is from the Greek word εὐχαριστήσας which means thanksgiving. It refers to our thankfulness for the gift of this precious sacrament. It is sometimes called the Mass (yes, even by Lutherans!), which comes from that Latin words that conclude the liturgy: “Ite, missa est” (“Go, you are sent”) It reminds us that we are sent by God into the world. Most frequently, however, Lutherans prefer the term Divine Service (from the German word Gottesdienst). This term reminds us that two things happen in worship. God serves us, giving us his gifts of his word and sacraments and we serve God, returning to him our thanks and praise for his mercy.
See also:
What is a Sacrament? | Means of Grace
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So lately, our church has included grape juice and gluten bread. Not sure what to think about the juice……
Most Lutheran pastors and confessional synods encourage the use of wine in communion and to avoid using grape juice instead, although none to my knowledge forbid it. The reason is Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper using bread and wine. Grape juice as we know it did not exist until the 1800s. The issue here is that Christians have no doubt in their minds that they are receiving the Body and Blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. That being said, early on (late 16th century) the Wittenberg faculty gave an opinion that the color (read variety) of grape used in sacramental wine was not important. No church I know of makes an issue of the color of the wine to this day. Many confessional Wisconsin Synod and Missouri Synod congregations have therefore made a small number of grape juice individual cups available for those plagued by alcoholism or an extreme medical reaction to wine. The kind of bread, as long as it is bread, is less of an issue, since the scripture used a general word for bread and bread made from a number of grains was available at the time of the last supper.
I attended Evangelical Boarding School in Kenya for three yrs. They routinely used grape juice for Holy Communion. Never knew their precise reasoning. After all, Christ, changed water into wine at the Wedding at Cana!
Thank you, Brother Robert. Shared this post to my Fb Timeline.