Communion: Why 'Eat This Meal' Is Not Just a Word Choice

A simple word change in a worship bulletin sparked a deeper question: does it matter whether we say Jesus desires to eat this meal with you, or share this meal with you? For Lutherans, the answer is yes — and the reason goes back to a debate that divided Protestantism in 1529 and has never been fully resolved.

What Lutherans Believe About Communion

Lutheran communion is built on the doctrine of Real Presence: Christ’s body and blood are truly present in, with, and under the bread and wine. This is not a symbol or a memory. It is a sacrament — a physical means through which God delivers grace to us.

Jesus did not say “this represents my body.” He said, “Take and eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26). Paul echoes it: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16).

The word eat matters because it points to something received — a gift given to the body, not merely a thought held in the mind.

The 1529 Marburg Colloquy

In October 1529, Philip of Hesse gathered the leaders of the Protestant Reformation at Marburg Castle, hoping to unite them into a single political and theological front. Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli met face to face.

They agreed on fourteen of fifteen articles. The one they could not resolve: the Lord’s Supper.

Zwingli argued that est — “this is my body” — should be read as significat, “this signifies my body.” For Zwingli, communion was a memorial, a public declaration of faith. The elements point to Christ but do not carry him.

Luther reportedly wrote Hoc est corpus meum (“This is my body”) on the table in chalk and refused to move from it. He would not allegorize Jesus’ plain words. The two men left Marburg without agreement. The division between Lutheran and Reformed Protestantism was set.

John Calvin later proposed a middle position — Christ is spiritually present in the supper, truly received by faith — but Luther’s insistence on bodily presence remained the Lutheran distinctive.

Why the Words We Use Matter

When a bulletin says Jesus desires to eat this meal with you, it carries Real Presence: Christ comes to us, not merely to be remembered but to give himself. When the word becomes share, the emphasis shifts toward our action, our memory, our gathering.

Neither word is wrong on its surface. But for Lutherans, communion is not primarily something we do. It is something Christ does — for us, and to us.

At Triumphant Cross, we celebrate Lutheran communion in the tradition Luther defended at Marburg: Christ present, grace given, forgiveness real.