Tag Archives: Johann Gerhard

Gerhard on the Lord’s Supper

A few years ago I “discovered” Johann Gerhard through Meditations on Divine Mercy and got hooked on his writings. This past week I received a new addition for the bookshelf — “An Explanation of the History of the Suffering and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ” (5/3/11: No longer available from Repristination Press) — which I’m reading through this Lenten season.  Today’s reading had this to say about the Lord’s Supper.

In this holy body You will find life, for He was given into death for the life of the world. In this holy blood you will find forgiveness of sin, for it was shed for the forgiveness of sin.

Ponder especially here the wisdom of God. The Lord Christ took upon Himself flesh and blood from our nature. He exalted and embellished it in His personal union with divine, incomprehensible attributes.  He now gives that back to us again in the Holy Supper so that our nature no longer need be distanced from Him; but, on the contrary, through this eating and drinking of the Supper we again have restored to us that which Adam had lost with his forbidden eating. [40-41]

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Sailing with Christ

Lately I’ve been on a Johann Gerhard reading binge.  A few weeks back in Ft Wayne I picked up volume 2 of Gerhard’s “Postilla” and have been thoroughly enjoying his sermons.

Here’s a brief selection from Gerhard’s sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity on Luke 5:1-11 (Jesus preaching to the crowd from the boat and the large catch of fish).

Peter’s small boat is a picture of the Christian Church.  For just as God’s Word resounds from Peter’s small boat is also how one hears Christ’s word in the Christian Church.  This makes Peter’s little boat much dearer and nobler than a great transport ship laden with gold, silver, precious stones, and other such perishable goods.

Just as a great haul of fish is caught here by the power of Christ’s word is also how many different peoples are gathered together into the Church by Christ’s Word.

. . .

The boat begins to sink; but, of course, since Christ is on board, it cannot sink completely.  Likewise, in the sea of this world, the Lord God knows how to protect His little ship against all danger, just as the ark, or ship, of Noah was preserved in the towering water of the Great Flood. (p.63-64)

What great comfort it is to be reminded of the power of Christ’s words — for it gathers and enlightens, forgives and sanctifies, and where there is forgiveness there is life and salvation.