I teach a university class on doctrine, and while it is a Lutheran university, the majority of the student body is not Lutheran.  This leads to some interesting challenges.  One

of the greatest challenges comes in teaching about the Lord’s Supper.  After all, I often have students from across the theological spectrum, including some non-Christians.  This means that there can be some nasty disagreements over the Lord’s Supper.  Some believe that the bread and wine are changed into Christ’s body and blood; some believe that the bread and wine are merely symbols; some are not even sure what the Lord’s Supper is.  So, the challenge I have is to bring this divergent group to understand the Lutheran doctrine of the Lord’s Supper.

My solution was really simple.  I give my students a worksheet with questions about the Lord’s Supper, have them divide into small groups and look at what the Bible says in order to answer the questions.  I have yet to find a single group out of any one class who came up with answers that were less than Lutheran!  When we look at Jesus’ words, and what the Bible says about the Lord’s Supper, it is amazingly clear.

Take Mark’s simple account of what Jesus did.  “And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body” (Mark 14:22 ESV).  Jesus’ clear words say that the bread is His body.  At no time does Jesus declare that this is a representation, or parable.  It is significant that most of Jesus’ parables are introduced to us as parables, but this clearly is not.  This is straight, direct discourse.  To interpret it as anything else is to import meaning into the text.  The same happens when we look at Jesus’ words over the cup “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many’” (Mark 14:23-24 ESV).  Again the clear words say that this is Jesus’ blood.  If you look at the accounts in Matthew 26, Luke 22, and 1 Corinthians 11 you will find the same, clear direct language.

But, you might say, “How can this bread be Jesus’ body and this wine be Jesus’ blood?  It doesn’t make sense to me.”  My answer is the simple, that’s OK, we don’t need to understand everything; rather it is an issue of trust.  Is Jesus truly God, as He claims?  As God, is Jesus limited in what He can do?  Then why should we argue that He cannot do what He says that He is doing here?

When Jesus gives you this wonderful gift, don’t argue with Him, but simply accept with joy the gift that He gives.

Jesus went up into heaven, so what is the big deal?  In fact, this is a very big deal, so big that for the first couple of centuries, Ascension was one of the most important festivals of the church year.  Ascension is not about Jesus having been done with His work and so He went to heaven to have a holy retirement.  Rather, Ascension is the celebration of how Jesus in the fullness of His glory as God, Ascended into heaven in order to sit at the right hand of God the Father to rule all creation.  This could be considered a Holy coronation of Jesus.  He was God the Son from all eternity, but at His conception within the womb of the Virgin Mary, He set aside the use of the fullness of His glory, power and honor.  Now the Ascension is Jesus taking it all back, now that He has won for Himself a people that He has redeemed.  Now He rules over all creation, for the benefit of His people and to lead all things according to God’s plans.

This is a wonderful thing to celebrate!

If your church doesn’t celebrate Ascension, please join us at Emmaus Lutheran Church on May 9, Ascension Day, for the Divine Service at 7:00 PM.

There is a problem with Genesis for many Christians, one that I like to call the Sunday School problem.  This problem is that we know the stories of Genesis, but we do not know the story of Genesis. My point is that we know many, if not all of the different stories that are contained in the book of Genesis, but we do not often look at them as a whole.  What does Abraham have to do with Noah or Joseph?  How does the account of Judah and Tamar relate to Cain and Able?  What does creation have to do with Isaac?  So often all these accounts are treated as if they were independent of one another, yet they are all recorded in the same book of the Bible.

The book of Genesis does contain a seemingly odd assortment of “Bible stories,” yet it does in fact present a whole message and unified book.  Genesis is more than just a collection of ancient historical narratives; it is a book with a message, with a point for Christians today.

Starting Wednesday, April 24 we will be having a Bible class looking at Genesis.  In this class we will be studying Genesis with an eye towards the primary themes that unify the book as well as major themes that Genesis introduces that are carried on throughout the whole of the Bible.  Please join us for this class.  No prior knowledge is assumed, but we will seek to grow in our understanding of the whole of this book.

When: Wednesday evenings at 7:00, starting April 24

Where: 2520 California Ave, St. Louis

Questions? Contact Pastor Hellwege at pastorhellwege@gmail.com

A curious thing has happened in recent history of the Church in America.  Holy Week and Easter has been eclipsed by Christmas.  What is Christmas?  It is the celebration of Jesus’ birth, in fact the celebration of the miracle of God becoming flesh.  However, this would do us no good if God in the flesh did not also suffer, die and rise again for our salvation.  If there would be Christmas, but no Easter, Christmas would only mean the coming of a visitor, but not a savior.

Throughout history, the primary festival of the Church has been Easter, but even here there is more to it than just Easter.  Rather, it is a celebration and remembrance of Jesus’ passion for our sakes.  Thus, the celebration is actually over a week long.  The celebration of Jesus’ passion starts with Palm Sunday.  This day is set aside in the Church to remember how Jesus entered into Jerusalem, hailed as a king, in order to ultimately take His crown of thorns and ascend his throne on the cross.  The next major celebration is Maundy or Holy Thursday.  The term “Maundy” comes from the Latin for mandate, as Jesus gave the mandate to love one another.  This day remembers also Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper, which was tied directly to His Passion.  It was after this, on what we would call Thursday night, but was part of Friday by the Jewish calendar, Jesus was then arrested.  Good Friday is then the time that we specifically commemorate Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross.  It was there that Jesus bore the guilt for all mankind and took God’s wrath for our sins that we might be forgiven.  Finally, Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.  Because Jesus rose from the dead, as God’s people, we are now promised eternal life with Him.

These events are the core of the Gospel, of God’s salvation being won for us through Jesus.  This is what Christianity is all about.  Let us reclaim these as the central celebrations of the Church year.

We encourage you to take time this Holy Week to celebrate Jesus’ passion, suffering, death, and resurrection.

Here at Emmaus Lutheran Church, our Holy Week Schedule is:

            Palm Sunday, March 24 – 10:30 a.m.

Maundy Thursday, March 28 – 7:00 p.m.

Good Friday, March 29 – 7:00 p.m.

Easter Sunday, March 31 – 10:30 a.m.

We invite you to join us during this most holy of times.

Feasting and the imagery of meals are common in the Bible.  These are used to show that the people are in relationship and fellowship with God.  This is why the Old Testament Covenants were concluded with meals.  This is why so many of the Old Testament sacrifices also included a meal.  Likewise, the New Testament is sealed with a meal – the Lord’s Supper.  But that is not the only meal the New Testament points to.  The New Testament also points us forward to a great feast to come.

This feast to come is alluded to in many places, including Matthew 8:10-12, Luke 13:22-30, and Luke 14:15-24.  These texts, as well as others, depict a coming feast in heaven when we will eat with all of the Saints who have ever lived.  It is a meal of celebration like no other.  Revelation 19:6-9 goes a step further and describes this as “the marriage supper of the Lamb.”  What a wonderful, beautiful image of heaven and the new creation, but as a huge feast with our God!

But what about now?  Are we left to just live in the hope of this feast to come?  What about a foretaste?  It would be nice to have something to give us a little bit of this feast and an assurance that the feast is truly coming.

You know, sometimes the best turkey you will ever taste is actually the little bits you snatch in the kitchen before the actual Thanksgiving meal; taken from the turkey as it is being carved.  There is something extra special because it not only gives you a taste, but it promises more to come.

Jesus, in His institution of the Lord’s Supper ties it directly with that feast to come.  Consider Luke 22:15-20:

And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (ESV)

Notice how Jesus’ next big meal will be the marriage feast in the kingdom of God.  Is this just Jesus’ way of saying that it will be a while before He gets to feast with His people?  No, Jesus is in fact tying these two meals together.  While we live in wait for the great marriage feast of the Lamb, we have the foretaste in the Lord’s Supper.

Granted, the little wafer of bread and the sip of wine hardly seem like a feast to us, or even a gourmet sampling, yet it is here that we receive the grandest of all possible fare: Jesus!  This supper is given to us to feed us now, but also to whet our appetites for the greater feast to come.