CW: 312 - "Lord Jesus Christ, You Have Prepared"

This hymn was written by 17^th century court physician, Samuel Kinner. Its eight stanzas were published  in 1638 and the hymn was entitled, “A Beautiful Hymn on the Supper of the Lord.”

We are so blessed in the Lutheran church with hymnody that clearly explains our beliefs concerning the sacraments. In fact, this is one of the clearest reasons why it is so important for us to use Lutheran worship resources in our worship life. A common communion hymn that is sung by communicants as they are preparing to receive the Sacrament is “Lord Jesus Christ, You Have Prepared.”

1. Why is the Lord’s Supper called a “feast for our salvation?”

The sacrament of the altar is a little preview, or foretaste, of the heavenly banquet that is being prepared for us by Christ. The prayer after communion in the Divine Service states, “We give you thanks, O Lord, for the foretaste of the heavenly banquet that you have given us to eat and to drink in this sacrament.” Christ is our host, who invites us weary sinners to this meal to receive pardon for our sins and comfort for our souls. Christ is not only the host at this meal, He is also the meal itself. The bread and the wine are His true body and blood, shed for us for the forgiveness of sins.

2. Should a communicant approach the communion rail if she is bothered by her sin, her faith is weak or she is troubled and feeling guilty?

Of course! That’s what the Sacrament is for! “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). One of the Personal Prayers for Worship found on page 11 of Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal is to be prayed before communion: “Lord, I am not worthy to be a guest at your holy table. But you are a friend of sinners, and you will not cast me out. This bread is your body, which bore my sins upon the tree. This wine is your blood, which purifies me from all guilt. At your invitation, I come rejoicing. Receive me, my Savior.” As the hymn puts it, “As weary souls, with sin oppressed, We come to you for needed rest, For comfort, and for pardon.”

3. We confess in our creeds that Jesus has risen from the dead, ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty. If He is still there, seated at the right hand of God, how can Jesus also be present in the Lord’s Supper?

Jesus has promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28), and He has promised that where two or three are gathered together, there He is among them (Matthew 18).  The sacrament of the altar forms a concrete, specific, physical way in which Christ is present among us today, as the next stanza shows. The Formula of Concord quotes Martin Luther on this subject: “I do not want to deny in any that God’s power is able to make a body be simultaneously in many places, even in a corporeal and circumscribed manner. For who wants to try to prove that God is unable to do that? Who has seen the limits of His power? The fanatics may indeed think that God is unable to do it, but who will believe their speculations?” (Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article VII, paragraph 103). Stanza 3 puts it simply, “Yet, Savior, you are not confined to any habitation.” Then there is a little reference to those who deny Christ’s Real Presence in the Lord’s Supper, “Unmoved by any daring hand or subtle craft and cunning.”

4. What four things do we receive when we partake of the Lord’s Supper? Why do we believe this?

Stanza 4 summarizes, “We eat this bread and drink this cup, your precious Word believing that your true body and your blood our lips are here receiving.” We receive four things – bread and wine, body and blood. We believe this, as the fourth stanza continues, “This Word remains forever true, and there is naught you cannot do, for you, Lord, are almighty.” How is it possible that Christ can be seated at the right hand of God and also be present in bread and wine all over the world at the same time? We are not given the metaphysics to have an answer to that question, but we do trust that all things are possible for our Lord. The last line of stanza 5 recaps, “I trust its truth unfailing.”

5. Stanza 6 takes us back to where we started – as weary, oppressed sinners who struggle through our lives. This stanza is an earnest prayer to God for help when we are overcome with doubts. What are we praying in this sixth stanza?

When we pray in this stanza that we are but dust, we are admitting to God that we are so weak in our sinful state that we cannot possibly stand up to the attacks of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature. We then turn to our source of strength, the body and blood of our Lord, which refreshes us and is the most priceless treasure that we have.

6. How are the words of stanza 7 similar to the words your pastor speaks when he dismisses you from the communion table saying, “And now may this, the true body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, strengthen and preserve you unto life everlasting. Depart in peace. Amen.”?

We come to the communion table nothing but dust and sin, but we leave strengthened by this meal for a life of service. This life of service is lived purely out of thanksgiving to God for the life and grace that He freely gives to us. We pray that our holiness may always increase.

7. Why is the Lord’s Supper such a blessed comfort when living and when dying?

I won’t even attempt to go into all the different abuses that have come against the sacrament over the ages, but there have been many. Satan wants nothing more than to pull us away from this blessed, life-giving treasure. How terrible and terrifying! These false prophets and false doctrines deny the comfort and consolation the Lord wishes to grant His people in this sacrament. How blessed we are in the Lutheran Church to receive the Sacrament for forgiveness, new life and salvation! This sacrament is special to our new confirmands and it is special to those on their death-bed. How can it now be?! We pray that God may preserve us and keep us focused on His sacraments throughout our lifetime, so that we weak sinners may be comforted and forgiven unto life everlasting.