The Exam. This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep.

Transcription

1 The Exam What is the purpose of an exam? Depends on the exam right? o School exam To test knowledge. In school every Spring we had the Iowa Basic test. A series of test over a week or so to test us on what we know (I m assuming to compare us, and our school, with others.) o Doctor exam to figure out what s wrong (if anything). o Self-exam might step on a set of scales to see if we have made any progress toward our goals. Or run a race & examine our final time in hopes of it being a PR (personal record). Have you ever had a Spiritual Exam? Paul is writing to the Corinthians on a variety of topics but here in Chapter 11 he talks to them about a Spiritual Exam that they are failing! And if we are not careful, it is one that we too could fail also. Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 There must, indeed, be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 Therefore, when you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord s Supper. 21 For at the meal, each one eats his own supper ahead of others. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! 22 Don t you have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you look down on the church of God and embarrass those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you for this! 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 gave thanks, 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 also took the cup and said, This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord s death until He comes. Self-Examination 27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 So a man should examine himself; in this way he should eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31 If we were properly evaluating ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, so that we may not be condemned with the world.

2 33 Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. And I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come. 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 This series on 1 Corinthians is entitled BROKEN. We see it playing out here. From early on in church history (Acts 2) we see that the church would eat together regularly. o It was an opportunity for fellowship & for sharing with those less fortunate. o The grand finally of each meal was the partaking of the Lord s Supper. o These regular meals were called Love Feasts because it s main emphasis was the showing of love for the saints by sharing with one another. The problem was there wasn t a lot of Love for others going on at these feasts. They had digressed into Selfish Feasts. The wealthy eating & drinking lavishly while the poor in the congregation go hungry. o Certain groups of the church family were excluding other groups & refusing to associate with them. o Cliques or Elitism as formed. People getting drunk at church. (v.21) Glad I don t have to deal with that problem! What Paul was describing here was typical of a Pagan ceremony! Members where focused on their own selfish gain & desires rather than on unity, love, and sacrifice. Believers are to recognize that Jesus selflessly sacrificed His body for others and that this sacrifice was designed to make Christians a selfless corporate body. (HCSB Study Bible)

3 Communion is a time for Praise & Fellowship. Praise For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 gave thanks, 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 also took the cup and said, This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord s death until He comes. V Remember & Proclaim Christ s saving work! o Praise the Lord for His sacrifice! This is also the moment where we pause as individuals and evaluate if we are living for the Lord or for ourselves (sin). o Thankfulness Fellowship So a man should examine himself; in this way he should eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. V Examine our attitudes toward one another is I believe what Paul is really getting at. o Are we holding a grudge? o Angry o Jealous o Withholding fellowship? Toward anyone in the church? It s about serving & loving others. Remembering to love one another. (v.29.) It s about the body of Christ.

4 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35 The Lord s Supper gives us an opportunity for spiritual growth and blessings if we approach it in the right attitude. It Communion is a time for Praise & Fellowship. Application: Confession of sin is important! But it is not all about that. Fellowship & love toward your brothers & sisters in Christ. Look around. Sit with someone you don t know so well at lunch today. Expand your social circle. Enjoy the Love Feast. The Lord s Supper is not so much an opportunity for all the members of the church to engage in personal piety at the same time, but for all the members of the church to experience together their relationships with Christ and with one another and to proclaim the gospel. Before we partake of the Lord s Supper, we need first to ask, How am I treating my brothers and sisters right now? not, What sins have I committed since my last confession? To put it a bit differently, Christ says to us, Come be with your family, not, Go take a bath. (Pratt)

5 Selfishness at the Love Feasts (1 Cor. 11:17 22) Since the beginning of the church, it was customary for the believers to eat together (Acts 2:42, 46). It was an opportunity for fellowship and for sharing with those who were less privileged. No doubt they climaxed this meal by observing the Lord s Supper. They called this meal the love feast since its main emphasis was showing love for the saints by sharing with one another. The agape feast (from the Greek word for love ) was part of the worship at Corinth, but some serious abuses had crept in. As a result, the love feasts were doing more harm than good to the church. For one thing, there were various cliques in the church and people ate with their own crowd instead of fellowshipping with the whole church family. While Paul condemned this selfish practice, he did take a positive view of the results: at least God would use this to reveal those who were true believers. Another fault was selfishness: the rich people brought a great deal of food for themselves while the poorer members went hungry. The original idea of the agape feast was sharing, but that idea had been lost. Some of the members were even getting drunk. It is likely that the weekly agape feast was the only decent meal some of the poorer members regularly had; and to be treated so scornfully by the richer members not only hurt their stomachs, but also their pride. Of course, the divisions at the dinner were but evidence of the deeper problems in the church. The Corinthians thought they were advanced believers, when in reality they were but little children. Paul did not suggest that they abandon the feast, but rather that they restore its proper meaning. Let the rich eat at home if they are hungry. When you abuse believers who are less fortunate than you are, then you are actually despising the church! The agape feast should have been an opportunity for edification, but they were using it as a time for embarrassment. I recall an incident at a Sunday School picnic when I was just a teenager. The person in charge of the games set up a relay that involved various people throwing eggs to each other as they backed farther and farther apart. Of course, the farther the teams went from each other, the harder the participants had to throw the eggs, and the results were hilarious. However, some of us noticed two Sunday School children watching the eggs with great fascination. They came from a poor family that probably rarely ate eggs because they could not afford them. The little girl went to the lady leading the games and asked, If there are any eggs left over, can my brother and I take them home? Wisely, the lady stopped the game before it was really over, awarded the prizes, and gave all the eggs to the two children. She knew that it was wrong for some of the saints to have a good time at the expense of others. A drinking party is hardly the best way to prepare for the Lord s Supper. Scorning others is certainly not the way to remember the Saviour who died for all sinners, rich and poor. How important it is that we prepare our hearts when we come to the Lord s Table! Abuses at the Lord s Supper (1 Cor. 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, and The Eucharist which means the giving of thanks. ) 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. Because the Corinthians had been sinning in their

6 observing of the Lord s Supper, God had disciplined them. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [have died] (1 Cor. 11:30). 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 (vv a). 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 that death. We must remember that He died, because this is a part of the Gospel message: Christ died and was buried (1 Cor. 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 (Isa. 53:6; 1 Peter 2:24), paying the debt that we could not pay. We should also remember how He died: willingly, meekly, showing forth His love for us (Rom. 5:8). 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 Saviour as our hearts reach out by faith. Second, we should look ahead (v. 26b). We observe the Supper till 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 shall be like Him (1 John 3:2). Third, we should look within (vv , 31 32). 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, but they were experts at examining everybody else. When the church gathers together, we must be careful not to become religious detectives who watch others, but who fail to acknowledge our own sins. If we eat and drink in an unworthy manner, 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 (Heb. 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 God s life in us.

7 Finally, we should look around (vv ). We should not look around in order to criticize other believers, but in order to discern the Lord s body (1 Cor. 11:29). 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. For we being many are one bread, and one body (1 Cor. 10:17). 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? Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another (1 John 4:11). 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 manner, 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 A. Words of Rebuke (11:17) SUPPORTING IDEA: Paul criticized the Corinthians for their disrespectful worship practices. 11:17. In the preceding section, Paul had begun with words of praise. But here he said, I have no praise for you. Paul s disgust with the Corinthians focused on how their meetings, or public worship gatherings, did more harm than good. Paul did not condemn them absolutely and categorically he had already praised them for holding to many of his teachings on worship (11:2). Yet, his assessment was that the harm of their worship times outweighed the good. 1 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp ). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

8 What kinds of things would yield this kind of condemnation? The Corinthians had corrupted one of the most sacred events in Christian worship: the Lord s Supper. They had not given due regard to the honor of Christ, nor had they honored or edified one another in the celebration of the Lord s Supper. B. Divisions at the Table (11:18 22) SUPPORTING IDEA: In their observance of the Lord s Supper, the Corinthians discriminated against the poor. Paul condemned this perversion, stating that Christ would not accept their act of worship. 11:18. Paul began with in the first place, but never moved on to a second or third matter. His words should be understood to mean the most important way this is true is. He also added, I hear. Paul did not reveal his source, but elsewhere he said that Chloe s household had informed him of similar matters (1:10 12). Others from the church had also reported to him (16:17). Though he could not be sure, Paul knew the church well enough that he believed the reports were true at least to some extent. Paul s criticism was that there were divisions among the Corinthians, but he had already addressed this issue extensively in chapters 1 4. Here, he focused on the divisions that existed when the Corinthians came together as a church. Paul s chief concern was that divisions perverted public worship. 11:19. Two interpretations of this verse seem likely. On the one hand, it may concede that some divisions are necessary because the visible church contains both true believers and false professors. In this view, Paul affirmed that it is sometimes necessary for true believers to establish differences from the false teachings of others. Doing so makes clear who has God s approval. This view is supported by the fact that the word differences (hairesis) is not the same as divisions (schisma; 11:18). On the other hand, Paul did not actually say that he approved of these differences. He may have spoken facetiously, recognizing differences as a subset of the divisions. Divisions is clearly negative ( I have no praise for you, 11:17); therefore, differences may be also. Sinful differences might explain why the church allowed some of its members to go hungry. The poor may not have been considered approved, and perhaps may even have been counted as dispensable. 11:20. Paul returned abruptly to the issue at hand. When the Corinthian Christians came together to celebrate the Lord s Supper, divisions so corrupted it that it could not be called the Lord s Supper. Although this terminology is common in the church today, this passage contains the only expression of the phrase Lord s Supper in the New Testament. It may connote a number of ideas: the Supper belonging to or hosted by the Lord ; the Supper which the Lord ordained (Luke 22:19 20); or the Supper at which the Lord s body and blood are shared (Matt. 26:26 28). 11:21. Paul explained his remark by describing the report he had received. As the Corinthians ate, each of them went ahead without waiting for anybody else. This phrase each of you goes ahead may be translated as each one takes his own supper. Paul may have intended this identification of each person s own supper to explain why it was not the Lord s Supper. Some in the church had lost the corporate aspect of the ritual and had come to focus mainly on themselves.

9 The descriptions of hunger and intoxication in this passage may sound strange to modern readers. Churches today generally observe the Lord s Supper much differently from the way the first century church did. Now, Christians observe the ordinance with a pinch of bread and a modicum of drink, but the early church celebrated the Lord s Supper with great banquets. According to the Book of Acts, the early church often ate meals together (Acts 2:46). These meals came to be known as love feasts. They probably climaxed in an observance of the Lord s Supper. In their meals, the Corinthians favored the privileged and rich. If the Lord s Supper was observed in Corinthian homes, the rich and powerful may have been allowed to eat first. Since one remain[ed] hungry while another got drunk, they obviously ate and drank to excess. This would have been bad enough, but they magnified the harm by leaving nothing for the others. Such social practices were so common that it would have seemed natural for the church to do the same. The gospel, however, demanded a radical departure from custom. This is why the New Testament warns against giving special honor to the wealthy (Jas. 2:1 26). 11:22. Paul began his correction by asking several questions. First, he asked if they did not have houses in which to eat and drink ordinary meals. It may have been that Paul s question was an indirect way of saying, If this is what you do at the Lord s Supper, then stay home. Paul did not approve of discrimination against the poor, but it would have been less offensive for someone to disregard others in an ordinary meal than in the midst of Christian worship. Second, Paul expressed the evil of this practice by asking those who abused the poor if they despise[d] the church of God. The church consists of those people gathered out of the world because they belong to God. They are his special, prized people. When believers disregard the sanctity of the Lord s Supper by keeping the poor among God s people from partaking, they look down on God s people. Because the poor are an integral part of the church community, one cannot hate the poor without despising the church. Those who mistreat the people of God are destined for God s judgment (Deut. 32:43; Isa. 3:13 26; Ezek. 13:9 10; Rom. 12:19). In fact, Paul was about to address this issue directly. Third, Paul asked if the rich members of the Corinthian church actually wanted to humiliate those who had nothing. The poor of the ancient world were mocked and humiliated by the wealthy. According to the Old Testament and Jesus, however, this was not to be the situation of the poor in God s kingdom. In fact, Jesus blessed the poor (Luke 6:20 21) and warned the rich of the difficulties that accompanied their social status (Mark 10:25). The poor already had nothing in human, worldly terms. In Corinth they also had their sense of dignity stolen by fellow believers and this at the Lord s Supper. Sarcastically, Paul asked if they thought he should praise them for their behavior. He then answered his own questions with a determined Certainly not! C. The Central Focus of the Lord s Supper (11:23 26) SUPPORTING IDEA: Paul reminded the Corinthians that the central focus of the Lord s Supper is the remembrance and proclamation of Christ s saving work. Remembering this should lead the Corinthians to correct their misconduct. 11:23a. Paul explained that he could not praise the Corinthians for their behavior because they had failed to observe the teachings about the Lord s Supper he had passed on to them. The expression pass on was technical terminology among the rabbis of Paul s day for the official, sacred transmission of religious traditions. This passage stands in stark contrast to Paul s earlier praise of the Corinthians for holding the teachings he had passed on to them (11:2). Regarding the Lord s Supper, they already knew the proper way, but they had not carried out the teaching.

10 Their failure to hold Paul s teaching was all the more tragic since the apostle had not concocted the Lord s Supper himself. He had only passed on what he had received from the Lord. He did not specify the precise manner in which he received this teaching from the Lord, but it may have come supernaturally from Christ himself during Paul s early years in Arabia (Gal. 1:15 17). It is also possible that Paul received the teaching indirectly through other apostles (e.g., Gal. 1:18). 11:23b 24. Paul next described how to observe the Lord s Supper. These instructions are so simple and straightforward that they appear abbreviated. Yet, this simplicity was needed to correct the Corinthian situation. Paul revealed the proper way to observe the Lord s Supper by recounting how the Lord Jesus himself had observed it on the night he was betrayed. Four verbal ideas described the activities surrounding the bread: took bread; had given thanks; broke it; and said. Jesus took bread, that is, he picked it up. The term bread may also be translated loaf. It is likely that Jesus used a single loaf of bread to symbolize the unity of those who partook together. Then he gave thanks. Then Jesus broke the bread. Hosts customarily broke the bread for their guests (Mark 6:41; John 6:11). It is not likely, therefore, that the breaking of the loaf portrayed the breaking of Christ s body. In fact, John s Gospel comments on the fact that Christ s bones were not broken (John 19:33 36). Jesus then spoke to his disciples about the symbolism of the bread. Paul summarized Jesus as having said three things. First, This is my body. This expression has been the source of much controversy throughout church history. With the help of Aristotelian philosophy, Roman Catholic tradition has interpreted this passage in a literal fashion, arguing that the bread and wine actually change their physical substances to become the body and blood of Christ. Their view is called transubstantiation. The Lutheran tradition of consubstantiation contends that Christ s body and blood are present in, with, and under the bread and wine, but that the substances of the bread and wine do not change. Calvinism has purported that Christ himself is spiritually present in a mysterious way, but not that his physical body and blood are somehow present. Other groups have argued that the elements of the Lord s Supper are symbols that encourage a focus on Christ s body and blood. Neither this passage nor the Gospel records answer this question, but most Protestants hold one of the last two views. Second, which is for you. Christ suffered death on the cross on behalf of others. The atoning power of Christ s death is of infinite value and is offered to all. It is available to anyone in the world who turns to Christ in faith, confession, and repentance (1 John 1:9 2:2). Yet, in these words of the Lord s Supper, Christ said he laid down his life for a particular group of people: his followers. His suffering atoned only for the sins of those who believe in him. Third, do this in remembrance of me. The Lord s Supper was ordained as an event when God s people were to remember the death and resurrection of Christ. The last meal Jesus shared with the apostles was set within the context of Christ s betrayal, arrest, and eventual death. The Lord instituted this ritual at the Passover, which commemorated the Exodus (Exod. 12:14 27). By telling the disciples to perform the new ritual in his own remembrance, Jesus made a bold statement, appearing to claim significance at least equal to the Exodus. This third portion of Christ s words occurs again in association with the blood of Christ. The centrality of Christ in the Lord s Supper is the main point of this entire section. 11:25. Paul turned next to the cup. He noted the parallel between the distributions of the bread and of the cup by saying that the latter occurred in the same way. Whereas 11:23 24 mention talking, thanking, breaking, and speaking, 11:25 mentions taking and speaking. The expression in

11 the same way, however, indicates that Paul intentionally abbreviated his description of the procedures with regard to the cup. In 10:16 Paul called this cup the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks. This description makes clear that in the same way includes a separate blessing for the cup. Paul emphasized by repetition the one element that was absent from every Gospel account: Do this in remembrance of me. Paul saw the honor and remembrance of Christ as central to the Lord s Supper. The cup was taken after supper. In the ritual meals of Jews during the first century, it was customary to have several courses of food and drink. Matthew and Mark recorded that Jesus took the wine after bread (Matt. 26:26 28; Mark 14:22 24). Luke, however, mentioned that Jesus gave the cup to his disciples, broke bread, and then gave the cup (Luke 22:17 20). The Gospel writers relate different portions of a ritual involving drinking from four different cups. The third cup was known as the cup of thanksgiving. Paul had this cup in mind. Paul s record of Jesus words closely parallels Luke s account. The main point is that the wine represents the new covenant in Jesus blood. The expression new covenant derives from Jeremiah 31:31. In this passage the prophet Jeremiah described the covenant arrangement that God would make with the remnant of his people after they returned from exile. Ezekiel and Isaiah called the same restoration covenant the covenant of peace (Isa. 54:10; Ezek. 37:26). Other prophets described it as an everlasting covenant (Jer. 32:40), and a covenant of love (Dan. 9:4). The New Testament derives its name from this new covenant. It tells us that the covenant renewal that took place through Christ s ministry was the fulfillment of the promise for a great covenant after the restoration following Israel s exile. Paul also reported that Jesus defined the new covenant in terms of his blood. Christ s sacrificial death paid the debt for sin. His death made it possible for people to enjoy forgiveness and new life in him. The expression in my blood recalls the importance of blood rituals in covenant-making. Not every covenant in the Bible is connected to sacrificial blood, but blood sacrifice has been the way of good standing before God from the earliest times (Gen. 4:4; cf. Heb. 9:22). Perhaps the clearest expression of this principle appears in the institution of Moses covenant (Exod. 19:1 24:18). The whole ceremony of covenant ratification at that time revolved around the sprinkling of sacrificed blood (Exod. 24:6 8) and the celebration of a fellowship or peace meal after the covenant had been ratified (Exod. 24:11). In fact, Paul s terminology recalls Moses words in Exodus 24:8: This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you. The prophet Zechariah also announced that the remnant of God s people would be restored after the Exile because of the blood of my covenant (Zech. 9:11). The cup of the Lord s Supper symbolizes the centrality of Christ s blood as covenant sacrificial blood (cf. Heb. 10:29). Echoing what he said about the bread, Jesus exhorted his disciples, Drink it, in remembrance of me. The main purpose of the Lord s Supper is to draw the participants attention to the centrality of Christ s saving work on their behalf. The importance of this motif for Paul is evident from the fact that Paul repeated it three times. 11:26. Paul closed his account of the institution of the Lord s Supper with an explanation of his unique repetition of the remembrance of Christ. Why should eating and drinking in the Lord s Supper focus on the remembrance of Christ? It is because whenever the church participates in the Lord s Supper, Christians proclaim the Lord s death until he comes. The expression proclaim (katangello) occurs many times in the New Testament to describe the ministry of the church to the

12 unbelieving world. It is the prophetic announcement to those outside the church that Christ is the only way of salvation. When the world sees the church eating and drinking in order to remember the significance of Christ s body and blood, the word of the gospel is made visible. The expression the Lord s death represents the whole of Christ s saving ministry on behalf of the church: his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. 2 D. Take Great Care (11:27 34) SUPPORTING IDEA: To mistreat the brethren in the Lord s Supper is to show contempt for Christ s death, to malign the gospel, and to tempt the judgment of God. 11:27. Whenever people participate in the Lord s Supper in an unworthy manner, they are actually guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. To participate in the Lord s Supper in an unworthy manner has traditionally been interpreted broadly to mean to participate while having unconfessed sin. This may be due in part to a misinterpretation that understands unworthy as describing the sinner rather than the manner of partaking. To be sure, it is valuable for believers to confess their sins, and appropriate to prepare for worship by doing so. But Paul s focus in this passage was much narrower. The unworthiness he had in mind was participating in the Lord s Supper in a way that failed to exhibit the unity of the church in Christ. That this was his meaning can be seen quite clearly in his exhortation in 11: To prevent unworthy eating and subsequent judgment, he did not advise the Corinthians to confess their sin, or even to recognize Christ s presence in the elements, but to wait for one another and to eat at home. The Corinthians unworthy observance was no small matter. One can imagine them thinking that they had just been inconsiderate of their poor brothers and sisters in Christ. That much was true enough. Yet, Paul insisted that something much worse was happening. Because remembering and proclaiming Christ is the purpose of the Lord s Supper, violators actually sin against the body and blood of the Lord. That is to say, their offense violates the central, sacred purpose of the Lord s Supper: honoring Christ for his work of salvation. To sin against the body and blood is to sin against the very hope of salvation. They also sinned against the body and blood of the Lord by sinning against Christ s church, or more particularly against the poor Christians who were not granted admission to the Lord s Supper. To sin against those for whom Christ shed his blood and gave his body is to sin against Christ himself. 11: To avoid such serious offenses, every believer ought to examine himself. Christians must scrutinize their motives and actions to see that they match the significance of the Lord s Supper. This self-examination is to take place before eating and drinking. The reason for taking time for self-examination is evident: He who participates without recognizing the body of the Lord brings divine judgment on himself. This verse does not say that the Lord s Supper should be observed introspectively, with participants focusing mainly on their own hearts. Rather, Paul offered this instruction as a 2 Pratt, R. L., Jr. (2000). I & II Corinthians (Vol. 7, pp ). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

13 corrective for a specific problem. In general, the Lord s Supper should be a time of celebration in which Christians focus on Christ s honor, the church s unity, and the proclamation of the gospel. The focus should be on others, not on oneself. It is only in the preparation for the Lord s Supper that individuals must turn their attention inward. The meaning of recognizing the body of the Lord is difficult to discern. Most of the best manuscripts do not contain the expression of the Lord, but this has little bearing on the interpretation of the body. At least two outlooks seem reasonable. First, the body may refer to the church. If this is the proper reading, Paul warned participants to treat their fellow members in the body with proper regard while participating. This interpretation agrees with Paul s instructions that the Corinthians should treat one another well in the Lord s Supper in order to avoid judgment. Second, the body may also be an abbreviation for the body and blood. The proximity of 11:24 27, in which body and blood refers to Christ s physical body and blood, supports this reading. If Paul intended this, he was warning participants to give proper consideration to the sanctity of Christ s body and blood the focal points of the Lord s Supper. By implication he also would have meant that partakers should recognize and honor the church for whom Christ gave his body and shed his blood. In either case, Paul pointed once again to the seriousness of violating the Lord s Supper. Those who did so would not escape God s judgment. 11:30. Paul continued explaining the seriousness of violating the Lord s Supper by pointing out the judgment the Corinthians were experiencing as a result of their failure to observe the Lord s Supper properly. He wrote, Many among you are weak and sick. Paul probably received information about illnesses in the church from messengers sent to him. Second, he remarked, A number of you have fallen asleep. Some in the church had died as a result of God s judgment against them because of their sin against the body of Christ. Sickness and death do not always happen as a result of personal sin. They come to believers and unbelievers alike for many reasons (Job 2:1 7; John 9:2 3; Rom. 8:36). But in this situation, Paul had apostolic authority to support his pronouncement. 11: Paul added the comment that if the Corinthians judged themselves, they would not come under judgment. In other words, if the Corinthians took time to evaluate themselves before the Lord s Supper and changed their actions based on this evaluation, God would not judge them with sickness and death. God disciplines his church so the true believers will take notice and turn back to Christ in repentance, so that they will not be condemned with the world. 11: Paul closed this section with a general summation, giving some final instructions. He appealed to the Corinthians with familial affection by calling them his brothers. Paul yearned for them to turn from this serious sin. To avoid God s judgment, they needed to do two things. First, they needed to wait for each other. Instead of the rich eating first and the poor not eating at all, all participants in the feast were to eat at the same time. This would show proper honor to the poor, and thereby to Christ. Second, in order to eliminate any justification for not waiting for others, Paul added that anyone who was hungry should eat at home. He did not chide the poor for coming to the Lord s Supper hungry they could not avoid it. Those of means who were hungry were to eat at home so there would be enough food for the poor. The feast was a time when the gospel could be demonstrated not only in the elements of bread and wine, but also in the loving treatment of the poor. Why should this practical advice be followed? If the church would gather for the Lord s Supper in harmony and mutual consideration, then their meetings would not result in judgment. The

14 discipline that God was inflicting on the church would cease because the Corinthians would have begun to celebrate the Lord s Supper in a way that pleased God, honored Christ, respected the church s unity, and proclaimed the gospel. Paul had touched on the most vital aspects of his teaching on the Lord s Supper. Even so, he knew the Corinthians needed to learn much more about the matter. So he told them that when he came to visit, he would give further instructions. MAIN IDEA REVIEW: The Corinthians had so twisted the celebration of the Lord s Supper that it was hardly recognizable. To correct this problem, Paul applied the three principles which he employed in each subject related to worship. He appealed to: (1) the honor of God in worship, (2) proper regard from one believer to another, and (3) the testimony of the church to outsiders. Paul insisted that the Lord s Supper at Corinth no longer met these criteria. III. CONCLUSION Honoring Christ in the Lord s Supper In this passage Paul confronted the Corinthians with their serious violation of the Lord s Supper. They had failed to live up to the symbolism of the Lord s Supper by mistreating one another, especially the poor. He reminded them of the Christ-honoring way to proclaim the Lord s death in the Lord s Supper. PRINCIPLES The Lord s Supper is to focus on the church s unity in Christ. In the Lord s Supper we proclaim the gospel and honor Christ and his sacrifice. Dishonoring fellow believers during the Lord s Supper also dishonors Christ. APPLICATIONS We must get right with our fellow believers before we partake of the Lord s Supper. We should not focus so much on ourselves during the supper, but on Christ and what he has done for all believers and the church. IV. LIFE APPLICATION Bored to Tears I grew up in the church, and I remember those first Sundays of every month Lord s Supper week. I hated it. It meant that the worship service would last even longer than usual. When I think about it, I believe a lot of adults around me felt that way too. The looks on their faces told me they had lost sight of the wonder of the Lord s Supper. They were bored to tears. The Corinthian Christians had also lost sight of the wonder of the Lord s Supper. But they were not bored. They had turned the Lord s Supper into a drunken party. They had forgotten that the Lord s Supper was a celebration of Christ.

15 The Lord s Supper has been the subject of doctrinal dispute and division over the centuries. It is ironic that the one ceremony Christ gave us that symbolizes and builds our unity has been so abused that it has actually resulted in our disunity. By and large, Protestants have encouraged our churches to focus on confession of our individual sins, and thereby on our individual worthiness to partake of the Lord s Supper rather than on Christ. As a result, believers tend to approach the Lord s Supper timidly, tuning out the rest of the congregation so they may get themselves right with God. The Lord s Supper is not so much an opportunity for all the members of the church to engage in personal piety at the same time, but for all the members of the church to experience together their relationships with Christ and with one another and to proclaim the gospel. Before we partake of the Lord s Supper, we need first to ask, How am I treating my brothers and sisters right now? not, What sins have I committed since my last confession? To put it a bit differently, Christ says to us, Come be with your family, not, Go take a bath. The Lord s Supper signifies Christ s atonement for sin. We should come to the Lord s Supper, discerning the Lord s body in the company of others for whom he offered himself. When we do, we proclaim his death until he returns. V. PRAYER Lord Jesus, we take your body and blood so often without our hearts attuned to what we are doing. Grant us the power of your Spirit to approach this sacred, wonderful meal in a way that honors and pleases you. Amen. 3. Attitudes to the Lord s Supper (11:17 34) The next aspect of corporate worship to absorb Paul s attention clearly touched him on the raw. The Corinthians were making a mockery of the Eucharist and of the Agapē. So incensed was he by reports of what was going on that he wrote bluntly: When you meet together, it is not the Lord s supper that you eat (20). We need to investigate the reasons behind such a direct statement, in order to appreciate the situation at Corinth, the significance of the fellowship-meal, and the seriousness of any abuse. i. The situation at Corinth (17 22) Although he had been free to commend them for their observation of certain traditions he had passed on to them about public worship (11:2), he cannot commend them now (17, 22). The divisions (schismata) in the church at Corinth had reached schismatic proportions: there were now 3 Pratt, R. L., Jr. (2000). I & II Corinthians (Vol. 7, pp ). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

16 not merely personality-cults around certain figure-heads (1:12), nor were there differences of emphasis over food offered to idols; there were hints of a rather obnoxious kind of snobbishness (11:21) between the rich and the not-so-rich. The church was badly splintered, and these schisms made their times of worship and fellowship so negative, that Christians went away in a worse state spiritually than when they arrived (17). Now Paul was not naive; he expected any church to be full of different emphases on this or that matter. To that extent he was not surprised by the situation at Corinth: there must be factions (haireseis) among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized (19). Such selectivity in Christian convictions amongst those submitted to the Lordship of Jesus is inevitable. But there is absolutely no need, let alone any propriety, for Christians to sunder fellowship on the basis of such distinctives. When such schism actually penetrates the public worship of the congregation, the situation is scandalous. Paul expected schism, because he was a realist, but he deplored it and sought to remove it. One of the incidental results of heresy (selectivity) in a local Christian community is that it provides an acid test of genuine commitment to Christ and to the body of Christ, as distinct from religious bigotry or simply love of theological debate. Paul had constantly to warn young church leaders like Timothy and Titus about such professing Christians. When those who claim to be Christians love nothing better than empty and profitless arguments about theological niceties, that indicates their real spiritual condition. Such folk are not genuine (dokimoi), they have not passed the test, and their loud claims about theological soundness will not impress the Lord on that crucial day when our Christian service is scrutinized. 16 It is no wonder that Paul could not call the gatherings of the church at Corinth the Lord s Supper : they were not under the Lord s authority; there was hardly any awareness of the Lord s presence; the purpose behind them seemed to be scarcely directed towards remembering the Lord s death. How could such an occasion be the Lord s Supper? Each person was far more concerned with satisfying his own hunger and thirst (21). If the purpose of coming together was to satisfy physical appetites, why not stay at home? Do you not have houses to eat and to drink in? (22). There seems to have been a peculiarly callous insensitivity to the physical needs of those with very little, almost to the point of humiliating them. When they came together, there was no sense of being one family in the Lord. Each group kept to itself. The food brought was not shared in a common pool, but each enjoyed his/her own provisions. Some managed even to get drunk. The arrangements, in brief, emphasized the divisions in the church at Corinth, not their fellowship. ii. The significance of the meal (23 26) Paul then reminded the Corinthians what the Eucharist-plus-Agape was originally meant to be. He recalled the actual institution by the Lord Jesus himself on the night when he was betrayed. Paul s anonymous reference to Judas may have been an incidental challenge to the Corinthians in their own behaviour. He passed on to the Corinthians what he personally received from the Lord himself. We cannot be sure precisely how Paul received this revelation. He did not receive the gospel itself from man, nor was I taught it; but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. He could have been claiming the same direct revelation concerning these words of instituting the Lord s Supper. However, the word translated received (parelabon) is the technical word for oral transmission down the generations and across different groups. Perhaps the facts came from oral transmission, but their interpretation and application came directly from the Lord. Whatever the nature of their source, these words are to determine the whole meaning, atmosphere and behaviour in any celebration of

17 the Lord s Supper. It is pre-eminently the death of the Lord which must dominate the proceedings, and this was clearly not the case at Corinth. The head of any Jewish home would have performed such actions with bread and wine at any meal, and with special solemnity at the Passover-meal. It is, thus, the words which give the actions their unique significance, as well as the identity of the Person who uttered the words. He took bread He gave thanks He broke it He said, This is my body which is for you (23 24). And then he added the world-shaking statement/command: Do this in remembrance of me. He followed these actions with similar ones with the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me (25). The words over the cup would have evoked memories of key Old Testament passages, but Paul s own stress is on the way every such celebration is a public proclamation of the Lord s death, until he comes (26). There is an anticipatory element in every celebration of the Lord s Supper. It looks back to his death; it looks forward to his return. The main word Paul uses to describe what has happened is covenant. Through the shedding of the blood of Jesus, the paschal lamb (5:7), it is now possible for Jews and Greeks, rich and poor, libertine and rigorist, men and women to know the glorious freedom of forgiveness and to have personal knowledge of God. Those who enter into this personal relationship, this covenantrelationship, with the Lord naturally enter at the same time into a covenant-relationship with one another. Thus, the covenant community is established and that is precisely what the Corinthians were undermining by their behaviour. For them the death of Christ was not central; the return of Christ was not dominant; the love of Christ was not in control. It was, in a word, not the Lord s Supper. 4 FOR ONCE PAUL abandons his Yes, but logic. Whatever the Corinthians may have claimed in their letter about faithfully celebrating the Lord s Supper (vv. 2, 22c), Paul has heard additional news that horrifies him (v. 18 from Chloe s people or others). His comments are overwhelmingly critical, underlining the severity of their malpractice. Verse 17b reads literally, For you come together not for the better but for the worse. Verses explain what the problem involves. Verses appeal to foundational Christian tradition that teaches a quite different attitude to the Lord s Table. Verses explain the resulting implications for the church in Corinth. Once again Paul refers to divisions (Gk. schismata, as in 1:10). But here he is not thinking of the rival parties that possibly separate various congregations but of the gulf between the rich and poor within a given house-church. The minority of well-to-do believers (1:26), including the major financial supporters and owners of the homes in which the believers met, would have had the leisure-time and resources to arrive earlier and bring larger quantities and finer food than the rest of the congregation. Following the practice of hosting festive gatherings in ancient Corinth, they would have quickly filled the small private dining room. Latecomers (the majority, who 4 Prior, D. (1985). The message of 1 Corinthians: life in the local church (pp ). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.