Matthew 8:5-13 | The Lord’s Supper, Part 3: The Power of the Lord’s Supper
The Third Sunday in Lent | March 12, 2023
When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
We are continuing our series on the Lord’s Supper. We spent one week talking about what the Lord’s Supper is – that it really is Jesus’ body and blood, given to us under the bread and wine. And we talked about how this means that Jesus is still present with us even today. Last week we talked about the benefits of the Lord’s Supper – why we would want to eat Jesus and how that’s different from cannibalism. And we said that we eat Jesus because having Jesus’ living body in you is the way you get life, forgiveness and salvation.
Sometimes, it seems like too much to believe. “Yes pastor, I understand that Jesus said the bread was his body and he couldn’t have meant anything else – but how can that be?” It’s one thing for your pastor to say that Jesus is present in the Supper – it’s another thing for you to actually know that he is. It’s one thing for your pastor to say that taking the Lord’s Supper gives you life, it’s another thing for you to be certain of it. It’s one thing to eat and drink, it’s another to be convinced that it does such great things.
And so I want to take this week to address these doubts. How can all this happen? How can… eating and drinking do such great things?
And of course, it’s not just eating and drinking that does these things, but the words Jesus gives us: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: “forgiveness of sins.” [Luther’s Small Catechism].
The power that puts Jesus’ body and blood in the bread and wine is the word of God. Whenever you doubt that you are eating and drinking Jesus, or that your eating and drinking is giving you life and salvation, you can squash those doubts very easily by remembering that the Lord’s Supper is not just eating and drinking. The power of the Lord’s Supper are Jesus’ words. His words are powerful enough to make the body of Jesus present in the bread for your benefit, because God’s words change things. God’s words create reality.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to us. Even our words sometimes have the power to create reality. They can build others up, or destroy a relationship. When parents name a child, their word gives the child that name. When a judge declares a sentence, those words bring the sentence into reality. When a pastor marries a couple, the words and promises from all three bring the marriage into existence. When an officer commands his soldiers, they do what he says.
If you believe that your words can be creative, how much more should you believe that God’s words are creative? The truth is that God’s words are always creative. They always create what they say. They bring reality into existence.
We see this all throughout the Bible. At the beginning of time, God created the world by speaking. He said, “Let there be light” and there was light. He said, “Let us make man in our own image,” and the first man Adam came into existence. God’s words are creative.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us [John 1:14]. Jesus is true God, the one who created all things [Colossians 1:16]. Because he is true God, his words also create reality. His rebuke of the wind and the waves altered nature’s course, and stopped the storm the disciples were trapped in. His prayer of thanksgiving fed 5000 men with only five loaves and two fish. His promise, “Son, your sins are forgiven,” forgave a paralytic’s sins. His command to Lazarus, “Come out!” gave new life to a man dead for four days.
It should not surprise anyone that God’s words have power to create. They have been creating from the beginning. This is the power that is behind the Lord’s Supper. This is the power that gives you certainty that what you receive is actually the body and blood of Jesus, and that it gives you life and salvation. You can overcome your doubts about what you receive in the Lord’s Supper with the truth that Jesus’ words can do anything.
The centurion in our reading today had a great trust in what Jesus could do with simply a word. He came to Jesus asking for his servant to be healed, and he knew that all Jesus would have to do is speak. He could heal the servant, and he wouldn’t even need to step a foot in the house.
And look at how the centurion reasons it out. He figures that he is a man under authority. If his boss told him to do something, he would go: his boss’ word has power. Also, the centurion knew that he had men under his authority. If he told them to do something, they would do it. He figures this is just like Jesus. And he’s right.
Jesus is under authority from the Father. He is true God, equal with the Father, but he also carries out his Father’s will. The Father told him to go and die on a cross to save the world, and so Jesus went. And yet as true God, and creator of the entire world, every created thing is under his authority. And so he uses it all to accomplish the goal of saving the world. He commands everything in heaven and earth to work for your salvation. He used his mother’s body to form his own body. He used the wood of the cross as a place to pay for all of our sins. He used the stone in front of his tomb to show that he was no longer dead.
If Jesus said, “do this,” to any part of creation, it would do it, because it’s all under his authority. He simply commands that do his will, and it does. Nature, animals, weather, even unbelievers and death itself – it all jumps at the sound of his voice. The centurion’s words had some power to create reality in those under his authority. How much more can Jesus’ words create reality – they are the most powerful thing there is.
Do you think this Centurion would have had a problem with Jesus’ body and blood being present in bread and wine? Do you think he would sit there and say, “No, it’s impossible for Jesus’ body to be in the Lord’s Supper?” “No, it’s impossible for eating and drinking to give life and salvation?”
I can’t imagine him saying that. The bread is under Jesus’ authority. It must do what Jesus says. And Jesus told it to carry his body for our salvation. Likewise, Jesus’ body is under his authority, and he tells it to multiply just like the loaves to give all his Christians life and salvation. The centurion would have no problem believing this – because Jesus’ words have power.
The centurion used his reason to conclude that Jesus’ words had the power to do what they said. He didn’t use his reason to question Jesus’ words or promises. And so he had great faith. Likewise, we should not use our reason to question Jesus’ plain words. We should simply believe that they can do what they say.
And this is great news, because it makes the Lord’s Supper certain. If power of the Lord’s Supper is in Jesus’ words, then the Lord’s Supper depends on only two things: Jesus’ words, and our action of eating and drinking the bread and wine. It doesn’t depend on anything else. Think about how comforting this is.
The Lord’s Supper doesn’t depend on the faith of the person who gives it. If your pastor publicly confesses the truth of God’s word and the Lord’s Supper, you are getting the Lord’s Supper whether he means it or not. This is important because you can’t ever know for certain if your pastor is a Christian. It’s always possible he’s lying about his faith, or living secretly in some unrepentant sin. If the Lord’s Supper depended on your pastor being a Christian, you could never be certain that you were having the Lord’s Supper. You would always worry that he would be revealed as a closet unbeliever or something. That’s why God makes the Lord’s Supper dependent on his Word, and on the word alone. He can give you the Lord’s Supper even through a wicked pastor.
After all, it’s not like Jesus’ words are a spell that the pastor casts by his own authority. They’re Jesus’ words. Jesus’ body and blood are present not because of the “power of our speaking but because of His command, promise, and effecting.”1 The pastor is simply the one who distributes the Lord’s Supper, he’s not the power behind it.2 If Jesus chooses to give it to you through a wicked pastor, it is no less effective.
Likewise, the Lord’s Supper doesn’t even depend on the faith of everyone who takes it. Even if you see a wicked unbeliever take communion– that doesn’t change what you have. He receives it to his damnation, but he does not change what it is for you.
Likewise, the Lord’s Supper doesn’t depend on your feelings of unworthiness. Maybe you sinned bigtime since the time you were here. Maybe you don’t feel worthy to approach the Jesus’ altar and touch his body. Maybe you wonder if it will actually be there for as big a sinner as you. But guess what? Jesus gives his body here precisely for those who need life. He gives it for those who know their sin and desire to turn from it. He gives it for those who need to be strengthened in their faith and in their fight against the devil. The Lord’s Supper is specifically designed for people who know that they are unworthy – just like the centurion – and in faith trust Jesus’ word.
The power behind the Lord’s Supper is God’s word, not the pastor, nor the receivers, nor your feelings. It only depends on God’s word, and our action of eating and drinking the bread and wine.
So, yes, if you change Jesus’ words or if we all decided to reinterpret them, then we wouldn’t have the Lord’s Supper anymore. Likewise, if we change what Jesus did – if we celebrated with something other than bread and wine, or if we don’t celebrate at all – then we wouldn’t have the Lord’s Supper. I can’t drive by a bakery, say Jesus’ words, and have everyone unknowingly eat Jesus’ body. It’s not my power that makes the Lord’s Supper. It only depends on God’s word, and our action of eating and drinking the bread and wine.
The wonderful thing is that those things are easy for you to see. You can hear the words. You can taste what we are giving out. And so you can be certain that you have Jesus’ body and blood, and the forgiveness and life that comes with them.
The power of God’s word extends beyond the Lord’s Supper. After all, if God’s word can put Jesus’ body in some bread, it can certainly help you through your daily struggles. It is certainly worth carrying around with you and memorizing. It is certainly worth hearing at church even when we don’t offer the Lord’s Supper.
Of course, then someone might say, “Well, if God’s word is so powerful, why do I need the Lord’s Supper? Lots of Christians disagree about what it means… I have God’s word – that will be enough for me. The centurion didn’t need Jesus to come under his roof – neither do I.”
Of course, if you say that, you’re forgetting that Jesus tells us to take the Lord’s Supper. If you neglect the Lord’s Supper, you are breaking one of Jesus’ commands. And his command alone should be reason enough to take the Lord’s Supper frequently, but he doesn’t leave us with just a command! He tells us why he wants us to take it by giving us his promise – the word of God guaranteeing that you receive the body of Jesus – life itself in the Lord’s Supper.
And yes — if you were stuck on a desert island, you could survive as a Christian on only God’s word. But the reality is that Jesus wants to give you more than the centurion. He wants to come under your roof with his body and blood. He wants to give you life and salvation. He wants to strengthen your faith and give you a lively hope. He wants to give you something physical, tangible, something that you can go and tell your friends about.
Besides all of this, don’t you want to experience a miracle? Miracles happen every other Sunday in this building, by the power of God’s word. In the middle of all this power, how can you say, “well, Christians disagree about whether this is actually a miracle.” No! We do not have a symbolic remembrance, because God’s promise is attached to it, and that gives it power. Don’t downplay this promise. The centurion didn’t care if others thought less of Jesus’ word. He knew it had the power. And Jesus told him, Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
Imitate the faith of the centurion – simple faith in God’s word. “If God says this, then that’s the way it is. His word can do what it says.” Because God’s word is power, you can know that you have Jesus’ body – in your hands, on your lips, for your salvation.
The Lord’s Supper doesn’t give everyone salvation. And that’s where we need to go next week. The reality is that you can take the Lord’s Supper unworthily. Not everyone receives life and salvation in the supper – some receive judgement and some even receive physical death. Next week we’re going to talk about why that is – and how you can make sure it never happens to you.
Martin Luther, as quoted in Albrecht Peters, Commentary on Luther’s Catechisms, Baptism and Lord’s Supper, 167.
This insight is from Albrecht Peters, Commentary on Luther’s Catechisms, Baptism and Lord’s Supper.