The Heidelberg Catechism in Questions and Answers (19)

Lord's Day 28

75. How art thou admonished and assured in the Lord's Supper that thou art a partaker of that one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross, and of all His benefits?

Thus: That Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and to drink of this cup in remembrance of Him, adding these promises: first, that His body was offered and broken on the cross for me, and His blood shed for me, as certainly as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup communicated to me; and further, that He feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life, with His crucified body and shed blood, as assuredly as I receive from the hands of the minister, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ.

1. What did the Lord's Supper replace?

The Passover.

2. What was the significance of it under the Old Testament?

Passover signified a passing over, that is, a people worthy of death were spared behind the blood of the paschal lamb.

3. What names are given in God's Word to the Lord's Supper?

The breaking of bread, the table of the Lord, the communion with the body and blood of Christ.

4. What is the difference between holy baptism and the Lord's Supper?

Holy baptism is the sacrament of the incorporation into the church of Christ, and the Lord's Supper is that of the continual nourishing.

5. What are the signs of the Lord's Supper?

There are two, namely, bread and wine.

6. What is the basis for the celebration of the Lord's Supper?

It is on the basis of the loving command of Christ to His church, “This do in remembrance of Me.”

7. What does Christ promise His people in the Lord's Supper?

1. That as certainly as the bread is broken and the wine poured out, Christ's body is broken and His blood shed for them.

2. That they are spiritually fed and nourished with His crucified body and shed blood as certainly as they physically receive the bread and wine.

76. What is it then to eat the crucified body, and drink the shed blood of Christ?

It is not only to embrace with a believing heart all the sufferings and death of Christ, and thereby to obtain the pardon of sin and life eternal; but also, besides that, to become more and more united to His sacred body, by the Holy Ghost, who dwells both in Christ and in us; so that we, though Christ is in heaven and we on earth, are notwithstanding “flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bone”; and that we live, and are governed forever by one spirit as members of the same body are by one soul.

1. Is it scriptural to say that His body is eaten and His blood drunk?

Yes, “Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life” (John 6:54).

2. Of what does this first of all consist?

The embracing with a believing heart all the sufferings and death of Christ.

3. What is next?

The obtaining of the pardon of sin and life eternal.

4. What more is there in eating His body and drinking His blood?

By the Holy Ghost to become more and more united to Christ.

5. What difference regarding this was there between Zwingli and Calvin?

Zwingli viewed the bread and wine only as signs by which faith is strengthened, whereas Calvin in the Lord's Supper also emphasized the spiritual union of Christ with His church.

77. Where has Christ promised that He will as certainly feed and nourish believers with His body and blood, as they eat of this broken bread, and drink of this cup?

In the institution of the supper, which is thus expressed: “The Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread: and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

This promise is repeated by the holy apostle Paul, where he says: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).

1. Is that which the catechism presents in the previous questions based upon God's Word?

Yes, see 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, where Paul writes of the institution of the Lord's Supper.

2. What is evident in this institution?

That Christ has promised His church:

1. To break His body for them and to shed His blood for them.

2. Under the signs of bread and wine to nourish them spiritually.

3. What communion is exercised in the Lord's Supper?

Two kinds:

1. Between Christ and His people.

2. Mutually between true believers.

— to be continued —

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