Heidelberg Catechism: Lord's Day 30

Last week we lingered over the beauty of the Lord’s Supper: a meal of remembrance, communion, and nourishment. Not a ritual of repetition, but a sign and seal of Christ’s finished work. This week’s catechism question takes a sharper turn—a rare polemic (a strong argument against a position) that may feel jarring to modern readers, especially in an age that values unity over clarity.

Why such strong words? Because the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism believed the very heart of the gospel was at stake.

The Lord’s Table is not a neutral act. It either confirms the good news or confuses it. It either declares that Jesus has done everything necessary to reconcile us to God, or it unintentionally implies that something more is still needed.

That’s why the Catechism draws a careful and categorical line between the biblical celebration of the Lord’s Supper and the theology expressed in the Roman Catholic Mass. It does so not to stir needless division, but to preserve the sufficiency of Christ and the clarity of grace, truths that the Reformers believed had been obscured, even by well-intentioned theology.

Question 80

How does the Lord’s Supper differ from the Roman Catholic Mass?

The Lord’s Supper declares to us
that our sins have been completely forgiven
through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
which He Himself accomplished on the cross once for all.
It also declares to us
that the Holy Spirit grafts us into Christ,
who with His true body is now in heaven
at the right hand of the Father
where He wants to be worshiped.

But the Mass teaches
that the living and the dead
do not have their sins forgiven
through the suffering of Christ
unless Christ is still offered for them daily by the priests.
It also teaches
that Christ is bodily present
in the form of bread and wine
where Christ is therefore to be worshiped.

So the Mass is basically
nothing but a denial
of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ
and a condemnable idolatry.¹

¹ Hebrews 7:23–27; 9:24–28; 10:10–18; John 4:21–24

Not a New Sacrifice, but a Finished One

At the heart of the catechism’s concern is this: the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement. The Bible is clear: “by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). There is no need for repetition. No further sacrifice required. No altar to approach with new offerings in hand.

But in the Roman Catholic Mass, Christ is understood to be offered again, not as a new or bloody sacrifice, but as a sacramental re-presentation of the same one sacrifice of Calvary. The official Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:

“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.” (CCC §1367)

In other words, Roman Catholic teaching affirms the sufficiency of Christ’s death, but believes the Eucharist sacramentally makes that finished work present again to believers across time. Grace is distributed through the hands of the priest, and Christ is said to be present in the elements to be worshiped.

This is where the Catechism raises its concern, not out of hostility, but out of deep conviction and a longing to anchor the church more clearly in the finished work of Christ, as taught in Scripture. The Reformers saw this not as a harmless difference in emphasis, but as a distortion of the gospel’s core. Scripture doesn’t just declare that Christ’s sacrifice was once sufficient; it declares that it was once for all, never to be repeated, re-enacted, or re-presented (Hebrews 7:27; 9:24–28; 10:10–18).

From this perspective, even the idea of a sacrificial offering within the Mass—however spiritually explained—blurs the finality of the cross. It risks suggesting that something more is still needed, or that the benefits of Christ’s work are delivered through priestly mediation rather than by faith alone.

The Table That Tells the Truth

That’s why the Catechism speaks with such sharpness here: not to insult Catholic believers, so many of whom love Christ and long to honor Him, but to guard the gospel itself. The Catechism says, lovingly but clearly, that the Lord’s Supper is not a sacrifice offered, but a sacrifice remembered.

We do not come to an altar, but to a table. We do not repeat what Christ has done, but rest in it. And when the church gathers around the bread and the cup, we are not invited to re-offer Christ; we are invited to remember Him and to rejoice in what He has finished.

That is why this ordinance matters. It’s not just about how we do communion. It’s about what we believe happened on the cross.

A Controversial Answer with a Pastoral Aim

It’s worth noting that this is one of the most debated answers in the entire Catechism. Some modern editions even include a footnote explaining the historical context behind its strong language. And while our tone today may be gentler, the underlying conviction remains essential: any view of the Supper that obscures the sufficiency of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice is not a minor difference; it is a serious distortion of the gospel.

This remains one of the reasons Protestants and Roman Catholics are not yet reunited at the Table, something that should grieve us, and move us to prayerful longing for greater clarity and gospel-centered unity in Christ.

We do not rejoice in polemics. But we do rejoice in the gospel. And when the Table is used to suggest that Christ must be offered again, or that grace is dispensed mechanically through a priestly ritual, it becomes not a help to faith, but a hindrance.

Who Should Come—and Who Shouldn’t

So who belongs at the Table? The Catechism and Scripture make clear that this meal is for believers, followers of Jesus Christ. Not perfect believers, but genuine ones. Those who trust in Christ alone for salvation and who seek to live under His lordship.

But those who persist in unbelief, or who treat the Table as a mere religious ritual, should not come. Not because the church is harsh and exclusionary, but because Christ’s invitation is holy. The Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, warns gravely that to come without faith is to eat and drink judgment on oneself (1 Corinthians 11:27–29).

This is not meant to scare struggling Christians away. In fact, the opposite. It’s meant to guard the Table for the very people Christ gave it to: the weary, the humble, the forgiven.

The Table That Tells the Truth

Every time the church celebrates the Lord’s Supper, it says something. Either it says, “Christ is enough,” or it says, “Try harder, offer more, keep earning.” But the Table was never meant to be a place of performance. It is a place of proclamation.

So we come, not to make another offering, but to remember the One who was already offered. We come not because we have something to give, but because we have Someone to receive. And we guard this meal—not out of pride, but out of love for the gospel.

A Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus,
Thank You that You offered Yourself once for all.
There is nothing I could add, nothing left undone.
Guard my heart from trusting in rituals or relying on performance.
Let this Table always speak of grace, not guilt—
of mercy, not merit.
Help me to come in faith, not fear.
And when I’m tempted to doubt whether I’m enough,
remind me again:
You are.
Amen.

Daily Bible Readings

New Testament in a Year
July 27 – Acts 20:17–38
July 28 – Acts 21:1–16
July 29 – Acts 21:17–36
July 30 – Acts 21:37–22:29
July 31 – Acts 22:30–23:35
August 1 – Acts 24:1–27
August 2 – Acts 25:1–22

The Bible in a Year
July 27 – Psalms 37–38; Acts 20:17–38
July 28 – Psalms 39–40; Acts 21:1–16
July 29 – Psalms 41–43; Acts 21:17–36
July 30 – Psalms 44–45; Acts 21:37–22:29
July 31 – Psalms 46–47; Acts 22:30–23:35
August 1 – Psalms 48–49; Acts 24:1–27
August 2 – Psalms 50–51; Acts 25:1–22