Christians sometimes call the Lord’s Supper the Eucharist. The name draws attention to thanksgiving, an action present in the accounts of its institution. To understand the name properly, however, we must keep together what Christ gives and the thanks his gift calls forth.
The Word
εὐχαριστία (eucharistia) means thanksgiving or giving of thanks. It is a noun. The related verb εὐχαριστέω (eucharisteō) means to give thanks.
Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:24 use a participle of the verb when describing Jesus giving thanks over the bread. They do not use the noun eucharistia as a name for the meal. The church’s familiar name is connected with that vocabulary and action.
Range of Meaning
The noun is not restricted to the Supper. First Timothy 2:1 includes thanksgiving among the prayers offered for all people. First Timothy 4:3–4 speaks of receiving God’s created food with thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:7 describes believers, rooted in Christ and established in faith, overflowing with thankfulness. In each setting, thanksgiving answers a gift received.
That wider range helps prevent a misunderstanding of the church’s terminology. Calling the Supper the Eucharist does not make every occurrence of the noun a reference to Holy Communion.
Where You’ll Meet It
Paul recounts that Jesus:
“after he had given thanks he broke it” (1 Corinthians 11:24, NET)
Jesus then identifies the bread as his body for the disciples and commands them to do this in remembrance of him. Paul follows with the cup and the proclamation of the Lord’s death until he comes.
Thanksgiving belongs within this account, but the gift’s identity comes from Christ’s words. The congregation does not make the meal his body and blood by achieving an adequate level of gratitude.
What Confessional Lutherans Hear
Apology XXIV distinguishes a sacrament, in which God offers his promised gift, from a sacrifice offered to honor him. It also distinguishes Christ’s atoning sacrifice from the sacrifices of thanksgiving offered by those already reconciled to God (XXIV.18–25).
This distinction makes room for genuine thanksgiving without making the church’s offering another payment for sin. Forgiveness is received for Christ’s sake. Praise, confession, prayer, and service answer what God has given.
The term Eucharist can therefore be used faithfully when it retains this order. Christians need not fear the word, nor make preference for it a measure of theological maturity. What matters is the teaching and administration of Christ’s gift.
Latreia considers the wider language of worship and service. Both entries ask us to distinguish the source of mercy from the response mercy produces.
So What
Receive the Supper as Christ’s gift for you. Your thanksgiving can be sincere without being the reason his promise is reliable.
Then give thanks in the life to which you return. Gratitude can take the form of praise spoken, forgiveness extended, or a neighbor served. Those acts honor the giver because his mercy has already come first.