"Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face; Here would I touch and handle things unseen; Here grasp with firmer hand th' eternal grace, And all my weariness upon Thee lean.
"Feast after feast thus comes and passes by, Yet, passing, points to that glad feast above, Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy, The Lamb's great marriage feast of bliss and love."
We take pride in our God-given human reason and our ability—at least most of the time—to figure things out. Yet when it comes to grasping the many mysteries of our Christian faith, we fail completely in our ability to understand. Can we explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity, One God in Three Persons? We believe the world was created out of nothing by the Word of God. We believe that God became a Man in the Person of Jesus Christ, that He died and rose from death for us, although we cannot explain these wondrous mysteries. Jesus' disciples could not explain His resurrection and at first could not believe it. The crucified and risen Lord came to His disciples to prove that He was alive. He invited His disciples to touch and handle Him to prove He was flesh and blood, to see and touch the marks of the nails in His hands and feet.
In the mystery of the Sacrament of the Altar, we see the bread and wine as we also "touch and handle things unseen." We receive with the bread and wine the true body and blood of Jesus our Savior. We believe Jesus' words: "This is My body, which is given for you ... This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood" (Luke 22:19b, 20b). Here our human reason fails. We cannot understand this mystery, but at His Holy Supper, with faith in the words of our Lord, we "grasp with firmer hand th' eternal grace."
Speaking of the wondrous miracle of His resurrection, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29b). At the Lord's Supper we touch and handle things unseen, grasping with the firm hand of faith the gifts that our Lord has so graciously given to us. Do we doubt that our sins are forgiven? Do we worry about God's love for us? At the altar the gifts we touch and handle and taste remove those fears. Our sins are forgiven! These wondrous, unseen things point to "that glad feast above ... the Lamb's great marriage feast of bliss and love," where we will see our Lord face to face, where we will touch and handle what is no longer unseen.
WE PRAY: Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of Your Holy Supper. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, "Here, O My Lord, I See Thee Face to Face," which is number 631 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
1. In what ways does God come to us in Communion?
2. What do you think your reaction would have been to seeing the risen Christ?
3. How does taking Communion strengthen and preserve our faith?
Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 123-125 2 Thessalonians 3
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