Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 30 (Questions 80-82)

Review previous lessons on the sacraments.

Ano ang kaibahan ng Roman Catholic mass at ng worship services natin?

Question 80. What difference is there between the Lord’s supper and the Roman Catholic mass?

This question has been criticized:

Not part of the original text but added later

Language sounds offensive

Question 80. What difference is there between the Lord’s supper and the Roman Catholic mass?

The Lord’s supper testifies to us, first, that we have complete forgiveness of all our sins through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself accomplished on the cross once for all; and, second, that through the Holy Spirit we are grafted into Christ, who with his true body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father, and this is where he wants to be worshipped...

Tanong 80. Ano ang pagkakaiba ng hapunan ng Panginoon sa misa ng mga Romano Katoliko?

Pinatototohanan ng hapunan ng Panginoon sa atin, una, na tayo ay may lubos na kapatawaran sa lahat ng ating mga kasalanan sa pamamagitan ng nag-iisang paghandog ni Jesu-Cristo na Siya mismong gumanap sa krus minsan para sa lahat; at, pangalawa, na sa pamamagitan ng Banal na Espiritu tayo ay inihugpong na kay Cristo, na sa Kanyang tunay na katawan ay ngayo’y nasa langit sa kanang kamay ng Ama, at dito Niya ninanais na Siya’y sambahin...

Hebrews 7:27 ESV

He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

Hebrews 9:12 ESV

he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

Hebrews 9:25–26 ESV

Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Hebrews 10:10–14 ESV

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

...But the mass teaches, first, that the living and the dead do not have forgiveness of sins through the suffering of Christ unless he is still offered for them daily by the priests; and, second, that Christ is bodily present in the form of bread and wine, and there is to be worshipped. Therefore the mass is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry.

...Subalit itinuturo ng misa, una, na ang mga buhay at ang mga patay ay walang kapatawaran ng mga kasalanan sa pamamagitan ng paghandog ni Cristo malibang Siya’y ialay muli araw-araw ng mga pari; at, pangalawa, na si Cristo sa Kanyang katawan ay nasa anyo ng tinapay at alak, at doon ay dapat sambahin. Samakatuwid ang misa ay walang iba kundi pagtanggi sa nag-iisang paghandog ni Jesu-Cristo at isang kasumpa-sumpang pagsamba sa mga diyos-diyosan.

Different Views on the Lord’s Supper

Transubstantiation (Roman Catholic)

Consubstantiation (Luther)

Memorial/Remembrance (Zwingli)

Spiritual Presence/Communion (Calvin)

John 4:23–24 ESV

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1366: “The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit: ‘…a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented...’” (Council of Trent).

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1367: “The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: ‘The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different.’ ‘In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner’” (Council of Trent).

G. I. Williamson (The Heidelberg Catechism: A Study Guide, p. 137-38): “…the purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to prevent the blasphemy of idolatrous worship. When we eat and drink in remembrance of him and what he did once for all for his people, we realize there is no room anymore for a sacrificing priesthood. The fact that the Roman Catholic Church has a priestly order advertises its idolatrous nature. It says by that very fact that the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross wasn’t sufficient...

...But it was sufficient. That is why Jesus said that we were to ‘proclaim [or show forth]’ his death until he comes (1 Cor. 11:26). We show it forth when we realize that it is perfect and completely sufficient. What we have, in other words, is union with Christ himself, who is now at the right hand of the Father. We participate in the benefits of that one perfect oblation which he offered to his Father.”

Kevin DeYoung (The Good News We Almost Forgot): “All of this means the Lord’s Supper is to be celebrated not on an altar, but around a table (1 Cor. 11:20). The only altar we have is the cross (Heb. 13:10; 7:27; 10:10), and the only ongoing sacrifices are the praises on our lips (13:15) and the obedience of our lives (Rom. 12:1).”

Question 81. Who are to come to the table of the Lord?

Ano ang practice n’yo ng “communion” sa church?

“Open Communion” - only a verbal warning is given that only true believers ought to come to the table

“Restricted Communion” - elders allow no one to come who is not certified beforehand to be a baptized Christian living a consistent Christian life (definitions from GI Williamson)

Question 81. Who are to come to the table of the Lord?

Those who are truly displeased with themselves because of their sins and yet trust that these are forgiven them and that their remaining weakness is covered by the suffering and death of Christ, and who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and amend their life. But hypocrites and those who do not repent eat and drink judgment upon themselves.

Tanong 81. Sino ang nararapat makisalo sa hapag kainan ng Panginoon?

Yun lamang mga tunay na di nasisiyahan sa kanilang sarili gawa ng kanilang mga kasalanan subalit nanampalataya rin namang ang mga ito’y pinatawad na at ang kanilang patuloy na kahinaan ay tinakpan na ng pagpapakasakit at kamatayan ni Cristo, at sila ring nagnanais na lubos-lubusang pagtibayin ang kanilang pananampalataya at magbagong-buhay. Samantalang ang mga hipokrito at lahat ng mga hindi nagsisisi ay kumakain at umiinom ng hatol sa kanilang sarili.

1 Corinthians 10:21–22 ESV

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

1 Corinthians 11:26–29 ESV

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Kevin DeYoung: “Communion is for the weak, but it is not for the hypocrite. Hypocrites are not those who live worse than they profess—that’s all of us. Hypocrites are those who cannot see, or are not honest about the gap between their talk and their walk. The Table is for those who hate their sins, not for those who coddle them or excuse them or make no effort to turn from them.”

Paano ito nagsisilbing parehong encouragement and warning sa atin?

Question 82. Are those also to be admitted to the Lord’s supper who by their confession and life show that they are unbelieving and ungodly?

No, for then the covenant of God would be profaned and his wrath kindled against the whole congregation. Therefore, according to the command of Christ and his apostles, the Christian church is duty-bound to exclude such persons by the keys of the kingdom of heaven, until they amend their lives.

Tanong 82. Tatanggapin din ba sa hapunan ng Panginoon ang mga taong nagpapahayag sa pamamagitan ng kanilang pananalita at pamumuhay na sila’y di nananampalataya at di maka-Diyos?

Hindi, sapagkat nilalapastangan nila ang tipan ng Diyos at ang Kanyang poot ay magniningas laban sa buong kongregasyon. Dahil dito, ayon sa utos ni Cristo at ng Kanyang mga apostol, ang iglesyang Cristiano ay obligadong itiwalag ang mga taong ito sa pamamagitan ng mga susi ng kaharian ng langit hanggang sila’y magbagong buhay.

GI Williamson (p. 142): “It is vital both that the individual examine himself and that the church insist upon a credible profession prior to admittance to the Lord’s Table. The neglect or denial of either of these will open the way to degeneration, while a faithful stress on both will bring us great blessing.”

Anu-anong hakbang o pagbabago ang dapat nating gawin sa pagsasagawa ng Lord’s Supper sa church if we will take this point seriously?