There is no longer any serious historian who denies that Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. Indeed, there are hardly any scholars who seriously deny that Jesus wished this Supper to be repeated by His people. Where in early Christendom would there have been the commanding spirit who would have thought of bridging the time between the death and the return of the Lord with such a celebration, in which past and future again and again become present, and the distance between heaven and earth is bridged? The church has been able to survive the delay of the Lord’s return, for which it has been praying for nineteen centuries and for which it has been waiting so long, only because Sunday after Sunday is the “Day of the Lord,” the day of the anticipated parousia, the day on which He comes to His congregation under the lowly forms of bread and wine and “incorporates” Himself in it anew.

Sasse, Herman (2013-01-09). Letters to Lutheran Pastors – Volume 1 Concordia Publishing. Kindle Edition.