Christ completely separates the two matters, sacrament and remembrance, when he says: Do this in remembrance of me. The sacrament is one matter, the remembrance is another matter. He says that we should use and practice the sacrament and, in addition, remember him, that is, teach, believe, and give thanks. The remembrance is indeed supposed to be a sacrifice of thanksgiving; but the sacrament itself should not be a sacrifice but a gift of God which he has given to us and which we should take and receive with thanks. For this reason I think that the ancients called this office eucharistia or sacramentum eucharistie, that is, a thanksgiving. For in this sacrament we should thank God according to the command of Christ, and we should use and receive the sacrament with thanks. In the course of time, however, through misunderstanding, this word [Eucharist] came to be applied only to the sacrament. Even that would not have been a bad way of saying it if people had said, when going to mass or to the service, I want to go to the Eucharist, that is to say, I want to go to the thanksgiving, namely, to that office at which one thanks and praises God in his sacrament, as it appears the ancients intended that it should be done. Martin Luther Luthers Works, AE 38:122, Word and Sacrament IV, Admonition Concerning the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 10:56:32 +0000
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