# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1904_S6
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

6 Proceedings of the twentieth convention

have to say about Holy Communion. The passages that come into consideration here are those that deal with the giving and the eating and drinking of the Sacrament. We treat these without referring in any way to the lodge system. That we shall do in the third part of our paper, after we have, in the second part, let the lodge system pass before our eyes according to its own utterances. So in our three parts — and to reach our goal better we keep them apart — we have to work through exegesis, history, and practice.

I.
Communion Fellowship According to Scripture.

We begin with the biblical account of the institution of Holy Communion, since our LORD JESUS Christ is personally the one who distributes the Sacrament, the one from whom orthodox preachers, as ambassadors in Christ's stead and stewards of the mysteries of God, must learn how and to whom they are to give Holy Communion.

Thus the holy evangelists Matthew (26:26–28), Mark (14:22–24), Luke (22:19–20) and St. Paul (1 Cor. 11:23–25) write: "Our LORD JESUS Christ, in the night in which He was betrayed, took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples." On the basis of the accounts of the first three writers named, Luther adds the Pauline words: "and gave it to His disciples." Matthew writes, chapter 26:20: "And in the evening He sat down at table with the twelve." Mark says, chapter 14:17–18: "And in the evening He came with the twelve; and as they sat at table," etc. Luke reports, chapter 22:14: "And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him."

The LORD JESUS Christ therefore gives the Sacrament to His disciples, the Twelve. We need not go into the Catholic error that one is to see here that the undivided Sacrament is meant only for the successors of the disciples, the priesthood, in the Church; this is already judged for us, among much else, by the fact that Paul writes to the Corinthians what he received from the Lord concerning the institution of the Sacrament, when he wants to teach them the worthy use of Holy Communion.

The LORD Christ gives the Sacrament to His disciples, to those, such as these, for whom Peter once made the confession: "We believe and are sure that thou art Christ, the Son of the living God," who had left everything and followed Him. The question whether Judas was really also a guest at the Supper we leave undiscussed, and we keep to the view held by most interpreters, that Judas left the circle of the table company only after the celebration of the Supper. If the LORD did also give the Supper to Judas, there are two things to be borne in mind: first, that the plan of Judas was known neither to the disciples nor to the world