Perhaps, if they had looked more carefully at the Greek rather than the Latin, they might have seen that the Biblical position is much clearer than those two phrases might imply. Yet, Luther and Zwingli saw the two phrases leading them to two different views of the Lord’s Supper. Both were quoting the very words Jesus used in the institution of the Lord’s Supper. According to one person who was there in the room, at a particularly heated moment, Luther picked up a piece of chalk (some say a knife) and scrawled into the table: “ hoc est corpus meum” meaning “this is my body.” Zwingli took the chalk from Luther and wrote: “ hoc facite in meam commemorationem” meaning “do this in remembrance of me.” Both were quoting Jesus. Luther’s view has become known as “Real Presence,” (Jesus really shows up at the Table) whereas Zwingli’s view is known as the “Memorial View” (We remember what Jesus did at the cross when we take communion). Their views of the ascension had an enormous impact on their view of the Presence of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper. Zwingli, in contrast, believed that once Christ ascended and took his place at the right hand of the Father, He could not be “present” on earth. Therefore, he not only sits at the right hand of God in heaven, but he is also truly present at the Lord’s Supper, or whenever two or more are gathered in his name. Luther believed that when Christ ascended, he rose from “here to everywhere” meaning that when Christ arose, he re-assumed his eternal omnipresence. It must have been an electrifying moment! Here were the two great leaders of the Protestant Reformation gathering to resolve their differences regarding the Lord’s Supper. It was October, 1529 and Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli sat at opposite ends of a table with several guests gathered around listening. Most of us will recall the historic encounter between Luther and Zwingli in the 16 th century which took place in Marburg Castle in the little town of Hesse, Germany. However, do we know what it actually means? This line has also become the most common phrase to be found on communion tables in churches. It has become an almost universal line in the various liturgies of the Lord’s Supper or Communion celebrated by Christians around the world. It was, of course, spoken by Jesus on his final night on earth when he instituted the Eucharist in the Upper Room. One of the most important phrases in Scripture is the phrase, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19 1 Cor.
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