“This is My Body…This is My Blood”—Jesus.
Teaching confirmands can be a rewarding experience when they’re engaging the material and becoming passionate about the topic. Recently the topic was the 6th chief part of the Small Catechism, the “Sacrament of the Altar.” After laying some groundwork, going through definitions and even dabbling in grammar, I asked the question: “so, if a pagan takes the Lord’s Supper, does he receive the Body and Blood of Jesus?”
Boldness isn’t exactly lacking in junior high kids, and so I wasn’t surprised at the hands for the question. After going around the room, I took a tally of answers. The majority was a “no” to a couple who said “yes.” The chief reason behind the "no" answers could be summed up as this: the pagan has no faith and thus doesn’t receive the goods. But the first student to answer “yes” argued differently, making the case that since these are the words of Jesus, we get what He says. It’s dependent on His Word, not us. The blessed kids who said “no” are good to sense the problem of pagans receiving something holy and even the need for faith. There’s a right way to receive the sacrament, but the wrong way doesn’t invalidate it. Nadab and Abihu learned this the hard way when offering profane fire to the God of all holiness (Leviticus 10). God determines and makes holy objects by His Word, a tenet of the Old Testament that carries on into the New.
Confessional Lutheranism has always maintained the mandicatio indignorum, the doctrine that unbelievers eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ. This comes from the understanding of Jesus’ words in the Supper, that the bread and wine are what He says. Faith doesn’t determine reality but receives real gifts from God’s hands. Once again, we find objective comfort in Christ extra nos, “outside us.” We look outside ourselves to the things of God pertaining to His salvation which He gives through Christ alone.
When we feel the weight of our sin, the pains of despair, struggles with vice, and the threat of temptation, the heart is the last place for refuge. God calls us to Himself, eyes fixed on His Word, His gifts, His promise to take what He gives: “This is My Body…this is My Blood.” No fakery, no empty symbolism, but the real Christ and His saving merits—that’s what you get in that Meal for those baptized believers having exactly what He says: “the forgiveness of sins.”
By Rev. Ryan J. Ogrodowicz, “You Have a Place at Grace,” March 2, 2025
Rev. Ryan J. Ogrodowicz
Grace Lutheran Church - Brenham, Texas
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
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