(1 Corinthians 11:23-34)
Evangelical churches recognize two ordinances established by Jesus Christ for His people to observe: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Supper is also called The Communion as in 1 Corinthians 10:16. Jesus Christ took the cup and the loaf – the ingredients of a common meal in that day – and transformed them into a meaningful spiritual experience for believers. However, the value of the experience depends on the condition of the hearts of those who participate; and this was the problem at Corinth.
It is a serious thing to come to the Communion with an unprepared heart. It is also a serious thing to receive the Supper in a careless manner.
The Lord’s Supper gives us an opportunity for spiritual growth and blessings if we approach it in the right attitude. What, then, must we do if the Supper is to bring blessing and not chastening?
First, we should look back (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
“23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
The broken bread reminds us of Christ’s body, given for us; and the cup reminds us of His shed blood. It is a remarkable thing that Jesus wants His followers to remember His death. Most of us try to forget how those we love died, but Jesus wants us to remember how He died. Why? Because everything we have as Christians centers in Christ death and resurrection.
We must remember that He died, which is a part of the Gospel message: “Christ died .. and was buried” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). It is not the life of our Lord, or His teachings, that will save sinners – but His death. Therefore, we also remember why He died: Christ died for our sins; He was our substitute (1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness;”), paying the debt that we could not pay.
We should also remember how He died willingly, meekly, showing forth His love for us (Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”). He gave His body into the hands of wicked men, and He bore on His body the sins of the world.
However, this “remembering” is not simply the recalling of historical facts. It is a participation in spiritual realities. At the Lord’s Table, we do not walk around a monument and admire it. We have fellowship with a living Savior as our hearts reach out by faith.
Second, we should look ahead (1 Corinthians 11:26).
“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
We observe the Supper “until He comes.” The return of Jesus Christ is the blessed hope of the church and the individual Christian. Jesus not only died for us, but He arose again and ascended to heaven; and one day He shall return to take us to heaven. Today, we are not all that we should be; but when we see Him we will be like Him, 1 John 3:2, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
Third, we should look within (1 Corinthians 11:27-28, 31-32).
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. … 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
Paul did not say that we had to be worthy to partake of the Supper, but only that we should partake in a worthy manner. At a Communion service in Scotland, the pastor noted that a woman in the congregation did not accept the bread and cup from the elder, but instead sat weeping. The pastor left the table and went to her side and said, “Take it, my dear, it’s for sinners!” And, indeed, it is; but sinners saved by God’s grace must not treat the Supper in a sinful manner.
If we are to participate in a worthy manner, we must examine our own hearts, judge our sins, and confess them to the Lord. To come to the table with unconfessed sin in our lives is to be guilty of Christ’s body and blood, for it was sin that nailed Him to the cross. If we will not judge our own sins, then God will judge us and chasten us until we do confess and forsake our sins.
The Corinthians neglected to examine themselves and failed to acknowledge our own sins. If we eat and drink in an unworthy mariner, we eat and drink judgment (chastening) to ourselves, and that is nothing to take lightly.
Chastening is God’s loving way of dealing with His sons and daughters to encourage them to mature (Hebrews 12:1-11). It is not a judge condemning a criminal, but a loving Father punishing His disobedient (and perhaps stubborn) children. Chastening proves God’s love for us, and chastening can, if we cooperate, perfect Gods life in us.
Finally, we should look around (1 Corinthians 11:20-22, 33-34).
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not! … 33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
1 Corinthians 11:28, A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. This perhaps has a dual meaning we should discern His body in the loaf, but also in the church around us – for the church is the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:17, “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf..”
1 Corinthians 11:17-18, In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
The supper should be a demonstration of the unity of the church but there was not much unity in the Corinthian church. In fact, their celebration of the Lord’s Supper was only a demonstration of their disunity.
The Lord’s Supper is a family meal, and the Lord of the family desires that His children love one another and care for one another. It is impossible for a true Christian to get closer to his Lord while at the same time he is separated from his fellow believers. How can we remember the Lord’s death and not love one another? 1 John 4:11, Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one ought to come to the table who is not a true believer. Nor should a true believer come to the table if his heart is not right with God and with his fellow Christians. This is why many churches have a time of spiritual preparation before they observe the Lord’s Supper, lest any of the participants bring chastening on themselves. I recall one church member who approached me and shared with me a personal defeat that had not only hurt him spiritually, but had been “advertised” by others and was about to bring reproach on him and the church.
“What can I do to make this right?” he asked, convincing me that he had indeed judged the sin and confessed it. I reminded him that the next week we were going to observe the Lord’s Supper, and I suggested that he ask the Lord for direction. The evening of the Supper, I opened the service in a way I had not done before. “Is there anyone here who has anything to share with the church?” I asked, and my repentant friend stood to his feet and walked forward, meeting me at the table. In a quiet concise mariner, he admitted that he had sinned, and he asked the church’s forgiveness. We felt a wave of Spirit given love sweep over the congregation and people began to weep openly. At that observance of the Supper, we truly discerned the Lord’s body.
The Communion is not supposed to be a time of “spiritual autopsy” and grief, even though confession of sin is important. It should be a time of thanksgiving and joyful anticipation of seeing the Lord! Jesus gave thanks, even though He was about to suffer and die. Let us give thanks also.
1 Corinthians 10:16a, Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?
The Bible Exposition Commentary
