Episode 200 - "Remember Jesus!" - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

1Cor. 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took 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.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

We began this section last week with Paul chastising the believers at Corinth who disregarded the Lord’s Supper and other believers in their church. To them, it was just a party where some indulged in food or wine, and others had nothing. Paul states they “despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing.” (v. 22) It was yet another example of pride and being self-absorbed.

This week's focus is specifically on what the Lord’s Supper is about. Paul says in verse 23 that he had received what he had taught them from the Lord Jesus. It’s possible that Paul was taught this by other apostles, and Paul is simply expressing how this originated with the Lord. One commentator I read argued for this. However, I take it as it reads that Jesus himself revealed this to Paul. Support for this comes from Paul’s (originally Saul) encounter with the Lord on his famous pre-conversion trip to Damascus in order to persecute Christians, as recorded in Acts 9. The Lord told Ananias to meet Paul and explained, “For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:16) Jesus was going to directly communicate and reveal things to Paul. Paul backs this up in his letter to the churches in Galatia. (See Galatians 1) If the Lord was going to show him things, I don’t think he would have left out something so important to the church as the Lord’s Supper.

Either way, Paul recounted what the Lord did on the night in which he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. First, he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it. He broke the bread in order to give the bread to each of them and explain that this bread “is my body, which is for you.” (v. 24) This was not the first time Jesus had told people that his body was the true bread from heaven which would provide eternal life. (See John 6:32-40) Jesus knew that his body was about to be broken on the cross. As with the bread, it’s available for us to receive. Jesus is offering us the life-giving power of his broken body. The purpose of this act of taking bread, giving thanks, and breaking it to distribute to eat is for those who are receiving Jesus' death, his broken body, to remember him. How easy it is for us to get busy with our lives and even with church or religious activities and yet forget about Jesus’ death on the cross.

Then Jesus did the same thing with a cup of wine. With that, Paul writes that Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” Paul qualifies this by saying Jesus did this after dinner. I suspect his point is that this event is not about a meal. It’s about remembering Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. He’s telling the Corinthians not to turn this event into a self-indulgent party but a sacred remembrance of Christ’s death on the cross.

Why does Jesus speak of wine as the “new covenant in my blood?” There are numerous references to a new covenant spoken of in the prophets. God had made covenants with Noah, Abraham, the people of Israel after God led them out of Egypt, and with David. Covenants were strong, binding promises enacted with a sacrifice. The one making the covenant or perhaps both parties are essentially staking their lives on fulfilling their part of the covenant. Covenants like the one God made with Abraham were entirely committed to by God. The new covenant communicated through the prophets was a promise of hope to people disciplined for their disobedience to God. God is offering hope that he would someday offer a new covenant to those who would follow the Lord. So, Jesus is saying that his blood is the blood sacrifice enacting the new covenant.

As with eating the bread, Jesus reiterated that drinking this cup is an act to remember him and his sacrifice on the cross for them. One is not to belittle this sacred act by using this as an opportunity for a party.

Verse 26 spells it out clearly. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Cor. 11:26) The idea here is that the act of remembering Jesus through eating the bread and drinking from the cup with other believers “proclaims” or communicates our faith in the Jesus’ death to others Why is this important? Our sin has not been atoned for without Jesus’ death on the cross. If our sin has not been atoned, we are still enemies of God and have no hope of the eternal, abundant life Jesus offers us. In light of this, we can see how it is important not to partake of this sacred act lightly. Together with other believers, we are to share in eating the bread and drinking from the cup to remember and proclaim Jesus’ death.

Finally, Paul’s explanation for why they remember him in this way has a condition of time upon it. He said, “you proclaim his (Jesus’) death until he comes.” This wasn’t just an act for the twelve disciples. It is to be practiced by Christians worldwide throughout time until Jesus returns. There is an element of confident hope that Jesus didn’t stay dead. We believe the gospel that he rose from the dead, later ascended to the Father, and will someday return to raise us up to be with God for eternity. What tremendous hope we have in Christ.