This is My Body
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
This is my body. Those four words are the reason you are here tonight. If you believe the Word of Jesus, then under the bread and wine on the altar Christ’s body and blood are given to you.
This is my body. That’s why you’re here. That’s why we have the Lord’s Supper every Lord’s Day at Redeemer. This is my body. The same body that was carried in the womb of Mary. The same body adored by the Shepherds and worshipped by the wise men. The same body that was baptized by John in the Jordan. The same body that touched the lepers and ate with prostitutes and IRS agents. The same body that was nailed to the cross and speared in the side. The same body laid in the tomb.
But if that was all it was, well then it would be just like every other sacrificial meat in the Old Testament. Those animals were dead, and those sacrifices continued day after day and year after year. If Jesus’ body is dead or if Jesus’ body isn’t here, then this is just a memorial meal. You might as well have it four times a year with grape juice and crackers – although that’s not a very fitting memorial for someone who claimed to be the Son of God.
This is my body. The same body that was raised from the dead, that appeared alive to hundreds of eyewitnesses, the same body that is raised and sits at God’s right hand and rules all of human history for the sake of the Church.
So, if you want to get close to God then there is no place closer than this altar, because Jesus claimed to be God, the great “I am” that appeared to Moses in the burning bush and to Abraham near the Oaks of Mamre. Is it any wonder that you kneel at the railing after ascending these steps? You are meeting your God, in the flesh.
This is my body. It is also these words that admonish you to be here and not somewhere else.
Now, as Lutherans we confess some unique beliefs about God. Like many other Christians we believe that God is everywhere, in accordance with the Scriptures. With the Psalmist we confess, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed In Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me.” So God is at your cabin, on the lake, in the sunshine, and yes, God is even in the snow.
But unlike other Christians we also confess that Jesus, the Son of God rules everywhere. When we confess in the Creed that Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father, we are not confessing that Jesus is sitting on some throne beside his dad in heaven, like Prince Harry wishes he could be sitting next to King Charles at his coronation. God’s right hand is the Holy Spirit’s way of describing God’s might and power in the Bible. With His right hand God spread out the heavens. With His right hand He led the Israelites through the Red Sea and slammed the coffin door shut on Pharaoh’s army with the flood of water. With His right hand He delivers His pleasures and gifts to His people. The right hand of God isn’t a particular place, but it is wherever He exercises His power, delivers His gifts, and saves His people.
So we believe that God is everywhere. We also believe that God’s right hand is everywhere and therefore Jesus is everywhere. That begs the question. Why are you here tonight? If God is everywhere, if Jesus is everywhere, why are you here? The answer is those four little words, “This is my body.”
To paraphrase Dr. Luther, “If God is everywhere then He also nowhere that you can grasp Him.” If the right hand of God is everywhere, of what use is that to you when you yourself need salvation, forgiveness, and the mighty hand of God to rescue you from slavery to sin or raise your body from the dead.
God is everywhere, but He bound Himself to the body of Jesus of Nazareth so you could see Him, touch Him, know Him. The Son of God surrounded Himself with flesh and blood and chose to dwell in a particular human body, which He still occupies to this day. That God is everywhere doesn’t tell me if He loves me, cares for me, or even has me in mind. But that He is born of a poor virgin, walks the earth, performs miracles, unseats the self-righteous and forgives the repentant wicked, that He hangs on a cross, is forsaken by His Father, and crucified – now that tells me what God thinks of me. In Jesus I can get a hold of God because in the flesh of Jesus the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily.
It is the same with the Lord’s Supper. The right hand of God is everywhere, but unless God Himself binds His saving power and presence to a particular place, God’s right hand is nowhere useful to me.
This is my body. With those plain, straightforward words Christ Jesus has bound Himself to simple bread and wine. You want God’s forgiveness for your sins? Take and eat. You want to live forever? Take and drink. You want everything Jesus did. You want to rise from the dead. You want God to judge you worthy of eternal life. You want Jesus to cover you with His righteousness. Well, here He is, at the right hand of God, wielding His power over sin, death, and the devil and handing over to you all that He did for you.
This is my body. With those four words Christ Jesus has bound Himself to the bread and wine as surely as the Son of God is bound to the flesh and blood of Jesus. Jesus binds His body and blood to the bread and wine because God being everywhere is the same as God being nowhere helpful to you. This is my body means the Son of God is here for you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.