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Chapter 53GenevaCat.1.53

IV. Des sacrements — Le 52e dimanche

Communion Beyond the Table

The believer's union with Christ is established through the preaching of the Gospel.

345. Minister: Does this Communion take place only in the Lord's Supper? Student: Yes, it certainly does.1 For we have it through the preaching of the Gospel, as Saint Paul says (1 Corinthians 1:4-9), inasmuch as the Lord Jesus promises us there that we are bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh (Ephesians 5:30), that he is the bread of life who came down from heaven to nourish our souls (John 6:51), that we are one with him as he is one with his Father (John 17:21), and things of that kind.✦✦

The Sacrament as Confirmation

The Lord's Supper serves to ratify and confirm the grace already received through the Gospel.

346. Minister: What more do we have in the Sacrament, and what further good does it do us? Elder: This Communion is more fully confirmed in us, and as it were, ratified. For although Jesus Christ is truly given to us both by baptism and by the Gospel, it is still only in part, not fully.2

Signs of Grace: Bread and Wine

The bread and wine are signs that assure us of our participation in Christ's sacrifice and the benefits of his blood.

What we have by the sign of the bread 347. Minister: So what, in short, do we have by the sign of the bread? Student: It means that the body of the Lord Jesus—insofar as it was once offered as a sacrifice to reconcile us to God—is now given to us to assure us that we share in that reconciliation.✦3 What we have by the sign of the wine 348. Minister: What do we have by the sign of the wine? Elder: That the Lord Jesus gives us his blood to drink, just as he once poured it out as the price and satisfaction for our offenses, so that we don't have to doubt that we receive its fruit.✦

Reception, Not Sacrifice

The Supper is a feast for receiving Christ's finished work, not a sacrifice offered to God.

That the Lord's Supper is not a sacrifice. Minister: Based on your answers, the Lord's Supper points us back to the death and passion of Jesus Christ, so that we may share in its power.4 Student: Exactly. For the one perpetual sacrifice was made then for our redemption; nothing remains but for us to enjoy its fruit.✦5 Christ is the only eternal Priest. Minister: So, the Lord's Supper wasn't instituted so that we might offer the body of Jesus as a sacrifice to God his Father?6 Elder: No. That office belongs to him alone, as the eternal Priest (Hebrews 5:5).✦ But he only commands us to receive his body, and not to offer it (Matthew 26:26).✦

Read the original Latin

345. M : Cette communion ne se fait-elle sinon en la cène? E : Si fait bien. Car nous l'avons par la prédication de l'Évangile, comme dit saint Paul (1 Corinthiens 1:4-9), en tant que le Seigneur Jésus nous y promet que nous sommes os de ses os, chair de sa chair (Éphésiens 5:30), qu'il est le pain de vie qui est descendu du ciel pour nourrir nos âmes (Jean 6:51), que nous sommes un avec lui comme il est un avec son Père (Jean 17:21), et telles choses.

346. M : Qu'est-ce que nous avons au sacrement davantage, et de quoi nous sert- il plus? E : C'est que cette communion est plus amplement confirmée en nous, et comme ratifiée. Car combien que Jésus-Christ nous soit vraiment communiqué et par le baptême et par l'Évangile, toutefois ce n'est qu'en partie, non pas pleinement.

Que c'est que nous avons par le signe du pain 347. M : Qu'est-ce donc en somme que nous avons par le signe du pain? E : C'est que le corps du Seigneur Jésus, en tant qu'il a une fois été offert en sacrifice pour nous réconcilier à Dieu, nous est maintenant donné pour nous certifier que nous avons part en cette réconciliation. Que c'est qu'avons par le signe du vin

348. M : Qu'est-ce que nous avons au signe du vin? E : Que le Seigneur Jésus nous donne son sang à boire en tant qu'il l'a une fois épandu pour le prix et satisfaction de nos offenses, afin que nous ne doutions point d'en recevoir le fruit.

Que la cène n'est pas sacrifice 349. M : Selon tes réponses, la cène nous renvoie à la mort et passion de Jésus- Christ afin que nous communiquions à la vertu d'icelle. E : Voire. Car lors le sacrifice unique et perpétuel a été fait pour notre rédemption, pourquoi il ne reste plus, sinon que nous en ayons la jouissance.

Christ seul sacrificateur éternel 350. M : La cène donc n'est pas instituée pour faire une oblation du corps de Jésus à Dieu son Père? E : Non. Car il n'y a que lui seul à qui appartienne cet office, en tant qu'il est Sacrificateur éternel (Hébreux 5:5). Mais il nous commande seulement de recevoir son corps, et non pas l'offrir (Matthieu 26:26).

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Eph.5.30 — because we are members of his body.
  2. ↩Gen.2.23 — And the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for from man this one was taken."
  3. ↩Heb.10.10-Heb.10.14;Rom.5.10-Rom.5.11;2Cor.5.18-2Cor.5.19;1Cor.10.16 — By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Heb.10.11 — And every priest stands daily, ministering and offering the same sacrifices again and again—sacrifices that can never take away sins. Heb.10.12 — But this one, having offered a single sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. Heb.10.13 — from that time waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. Heb.10.14 — For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Rom.5.10 — For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Rom.5.11 — And not only this, but also boasting in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 2Cor.5.18 — All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 2Cor.5.19 — that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. 1Cor.10.16 — The cup of blessing that we bless — is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break — is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
  4. ↩Matt.26.27-Matt.26.28;Mark.14.23-Mark.14.24;Luke.22.20;1Cor.11.25;Heb.9.12 — And taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. Matt.26.28 — For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Mark.14.23 — And he took a cup, and having given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. Mark.14.24 — And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many." Luke.22.20 — In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." Heb.9.12 — Neither through the blood of goats and bulls, but through his own blood he entered once for all into the holy places, having obtained eternal redemption.
  5. ↩Heb.9.12 — Neither through the blood of goats and bulls, but through his own blood he entered once for all into the holy places, having obtained eternal redemption.
  6. ↩Heb.5.5 — So also Christ did not glorify himself to become a high priest, but the one who spoke to him: 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you.'
  7. ↩Matt.26.26 — While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Middle French « Si fait bien » is an emphatic affirmative (often countering a restrictive negative). Read with the following « Car… »: communion is not confined to the Supper, since it is also had through the preaching of the Gospel.
  2. 2 ↩French «communiqué» rendered as «given to us»; sacramental-theological sense is true sharing/imparting of Christ, not mere information.
  3. 3 ↩en tant qu'il: rendered 'insofar as' to keep Calvin's qualification that the body is given under the aspect of the once-for-all sacrificial offering, not as a repeated sacrifice.
  4. 4 ↩«communiquions à la vertu d'icelle»: older French for partaking of / sharing in the efficacy of Christ's death and passion; rendered as 'share in its power' rather than modern 'communicate'.
  5. 5 ↩«pourquoi» here functions as consequential ('for which reason' / 'so'), not interrogative 'why'. «jouissance» is the fruition or beneficial enjoyment of the finished sacrifice, not sensual pleasure.
  6. 6 ↩oblation rendered as 'offer … as a sacrifice' to keep the anti-Mass sacrificial sense plain in modern English; the French means a sacrificial offering of Christ's body.

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