Holy Thursday – This is My Body This is My Blood For YOU

Holy Thursday – This is My Body This is My Blood For YOU

Lutherans believe in the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, that the body and blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants actually eat and drink the holy body and blood of Christ.  We treat the consecrated bread and wine with reverence.  We meditate on this scripture:

Matthew 26:26-28 Revised Standard Version (RSV)

²⁶ Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” ²⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; ²⁸ for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 

If we eat and drink the holy body and blood of Jesus Christ, does this not mean that our bodies are living temples? Should we not treat our bodies then with the reverence due a temple of Christ?  This is a critical question for today because people with compromised immune systems are dying from Coronavirus, whereas those with healthy bodies are much less likely to die.  Are our bodies compromised or consecrated?  Again, meditate on this scripture:

Mark 14:22-26 Revised Standard Version (RSV)

²² And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” ²³ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. ²⁴ And he said to them, “This is my blood of the^[a]covenant, which is poured out for many. ²⁵ Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Here is short a list of things we can eliminate to treat our bodies as consecrated:

Smoking cigarettes and pot (which compromise lungs), 

Metabolic syndrome (a fatty liver cannot keep you healthy),

White sugar and white flour (neither are healthy choices),

High blood pressure (primarily caused by salt in processed foods),

And the list goes on and on, and we all have been told the entire list many times.

And there is a different list of healthy choices which we have also heard:

Fresh fruits and vegetables,

Whole grain products and oatmeal,

Beans, legumes, brown rice,

Fish, chicken, turkey,

And, of course, there is another scripture to meditate upon:

Luke 22:19-20 Revised Standard Version (RSV)

¹⁹ 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.” ²⁰ And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 

So, we can elect to hear the admonitions and make changes to treat our bodies with the reverence they deserve,

Or we can continue as usual and hope that our badly compromised immune systems will survive when we get the coronavirus.

This scripture was so important that it is repeated yet again:

1 Corinthians 11:23-25 Revised Standard Version (RSV)

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 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.”

The final meditation is a bit different:

Coronavirus IS a pandemic; it will return again and again until everyone has survived or died, or we treat our bodies with holy reverence.