The Words of Our Lord

The Words of Our Lord are the high point of the Service of the Sacrament. They are drawn from the accounts of Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday according to the holy Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Saint Paul. Everything else in the Service of the Sacrament flows out from these words because they are the authoritative source of the teaching of what the Lord’s Supper is: “The true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink” (Small Catechism VI.1).

Previous hymnals have called these “The Words of Institution,” a title which emphasizes the historicity of the Sacrament as instituted by Christ. Our Lutheran Service Book has reinstated the ancient title, “The Words of Our Lord,” which is a translation of the Latin Verba domini (sometimes abbreviated to simply, “Verba”). This title emphasizes the present reality of the Sacrament. The Lord’s Supper is not only a historic event conducted by Jesus two thousand years ago, but these words are the means by which Christ effects the Sacrament in all times and places according to His command, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Without the Words of Our Lord, we have mere bread and wine and no assurance of blessing. Wherever the Lord’s Supper is celebrated according to Christ’s institution and with His Words, there Christ’s body and blood are truly present and given to us to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of sins. Christ Himself speaks the Verba through the pastor, and His Word is efficacious—it does what it says to bestow His gifts on us.

The Verba have always been used in the Eucharistic liturgy. In the Middle Ages, they were included in a longer set of prayers which turned the Sacrament into a sacrifice, as though the priest was offering up Christ’s body and blood to God. This part of the liturgy was spoken in Latin by the priest privately at the altar so the people could neither hear nor understand it. Luther removed these prayers from the liturgy and returned the Words of Our Lord to a standalone proclamation that was sung out loud for the congregation to hear. He also set the Verba to the same chant tone that was used for the reading of the holy Gospel. The effect of this was that the people, who had only rarely heard the Verba before, now heard the words of Christ clearly and, because of the music Luther used, now associated the Sacrament with the Gospel, rather than with a sacrifice that we offer to God. The Words of Our Lord are pure Gospel—Christ for us.

The Lord's Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer has been connected to the Lord’s Supper since the Early Church. Over time, it was expanded into the Canon of the Mass, an elaborate set of prayers which also contained the Words of Institution. By Luther’s time, the Canon was full of sacrificial language, as though the priest offered up Christ as a sacrifice to the Father. Luther called this an abomination and removed it from the liturgy, retaining only the Lord’s Prayer and the Words of Institution. Eucharistic Prayers have since returned to some settings of our liturgy and are beneficial as further preparation for the Sacrament. The Eucharistic Prayers we use today focus on the benefits received in the Sacrament and petitions that we receive it faithfully and worthily.

Each petition of the Lord’s Prayer is answered directly in the Words of Institution and reception of the Sacrament which follow. When we pray, “Our Father,” we acknowledge that our worthiness to approach the altar of God comes only by His grace given to us when He made us His children in Baptism. When our Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, He gave all the baptized a model for calling upon our heavenly Father who graciously hears our prayer and gives us all good things according to His Word (Matthew 6:9-13). In the Lord’s Prayer, we lay claim to our right as children of God to call upon Him as we prepare to receive the Sacrament. Our status as heirs with Christ is the confidence by which we enter into the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 10:19-25).

God’s name is hallowed when the Church faithfully celebrates the Lord’s Supper according to Christ’s institution. We pray, “Thy kingdom come,” and we receive it in the Sacrament which bestows life and salvation. We witness the will of God being done as heaven is joined to earth and salvation is given to us in Christ’s body and blood. “Give us this day our daily bread” is answered as we receive the bread of life from heaven. We ask, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Christ’s blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins, now given to us in the Sacrament, and we confess our fellowship and unity with our brothers and sisters as we commune as one body of Christ. We pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” and we receive Christ’s very body and blood for the strengthening of our faith and protection against the devil, the world, and our sinful nature. As a preparation for the Sacrament, the Lord’s Prayer gives voice to our true needs and points us to the place where God answers our prayer.

The Preface, Proper Preface, and Sanctus

The Service of the Sacrament begins with the same salutation that began the Service of the Word as the pastor announces that the Lord is present to bring blessings to His people. He calls on the people to “lift up your hearts,” that is, to set aside worldly matters and seek the things of Christ (Colossians 3:1). With cleansed hearts, the pastor invites us to give thanks, just as Christ Himself gave thanks over the bread and wine as He instituted the Lord’s Supper. One name for the Sacrament is “Eucharist,” from the Greek word eucharisteo, meaning, “to give thanks.”

The Proper Preface has three parts. The opening section expands on our thanksgiving with a threefold ascription of praise to the Father. “At all times and in all places,” in our entire life, our relationship with the Father is one of giving thanks for the mercy He has shown to us in His Son. The middle section is based on a particular facet of the person and work of Christ, through whom we have access to the Father. This section describes the implications of Christ’s work for us with rich theological language related to the focus of each season of the Church year. The conclusion of the Proper Preface is a transition to the Sanctus, reminding us that Christ’s work is not limited by time and space. We join together “with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven” in singing our hymn of praise to the Father.

The first part of the Sanctus (Latin for “holy”) comes from Isaiah’s vision of the heavenly throne room and the eternal song of praise (Isaiah 6:3), which is echoed in the book of Revelation. There is evidence that this song was part of the communion liturgy as early as the first century. Although we cannot see with our eyes, we confess with our voices that heaven and earth are full of the glory of God as heaven descends to earth in the Sacrament, a foretaste of the feast to come. The second half of the Sanctus is called the Benedictus (“blessed”) and comes from Psalm 118, the plea for salvation sung as the Ark of the Covenant was brought into Jerusalem, and later as the people ascended to the temple for worship. This was the same cry of the people as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9). This song is a confession of the bodily presence of Christ in the Sacrament as it calls to mind Christ’s work of salvation in the events of Holy Week. He comes to us now not on a donkey riding into Jerusalem, but under the bread and wine which is His very Body and Blood given for us to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of sins. This is the confidence by which we approach the throne and altar of God—only through Christ who comes to give Himself for us.