Episode 201 - "Do not eat the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner!" - 1 Corinthians 11:27-34

1Cor. 11:27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

1Cor. 11:33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— 34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.

There are times throughout the Bible when God judges someone for an offense in which the punishment appears harsh for the particular offense. One example that comes to mind is when David had the Ark of the Covenant moved to Jerusalem. The Ark was being transported on an oxen-pulled cart. When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah put his hand out to steady the Ark, and God struck him dead. ( 2 Samuel 6: 5-15) Wow! That seems a bit harsh. Even David was angry with the Lord for doing this. But the Ark of the Covenant was essentially God’s throne. When you start to examine the greater historical context of this, we discover that there had been somewhat of a casual attitude by the priests concerning the Ark. (See 1 Chronicles 15:13-15) Uzzah’s action of touching the Ark crossed a line, not too unlike what it might have been for anyone living in a kingdom and approaching the throne of the king or queen without permission. God is holy, and we must have a reverent attitude in our worship.

This is essentially what Paul is communicating to the Corinthians concerning the Lord’s Supper. He’s saying, don’t treat this as though it were a potluck. This is a sacred and holy event in which we remember Jesus’ death on the cross. Rather than turn this into some kind of party in which we are thinking only of our own pleasure, this is an event of the community of faith to remember Jesus together.

Paul suggests that there already has been and will be a judgment upon those who are partaking in the Lord’s Supper in an “unworthy” manner. In verse 30, he explains that some among them have gotten sick, and some have even died because they treated the Lord’s Supper as though it were no different than any other meal they might eat. They treated it as something common without regard for the Lord or other believers. Therefore, Paul warns, examine yourselves (their motivations) prior to partaking in the Lord’s Supper.

In verse 31, Paul writes, “But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.” We might express this in our day and culture as, “If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll know our real attitudes and get them in check.” (My paraphrase) In other words, Paul is saying they don’t have to be paranoid that God is going to strike them down on a whim. If they truly and humbly ask themselves where they are in their attitudes toward the Lord and their brothers and sisters in Christ, they will either abstain from partaking at that time or get their attitudes in the right way.

Paul adds in verse 32 that the Lord’s discipline is intended to correct and redeem us to the right way. God is not sadistically looking to strike people down.

Paul concludes by telling them that if they’re hungry, eat at home. Do not treat the Lord’s Supper as a meal in which they can indulge their appetites. The focus is entirely on remembering Jesus’ death on the cross and proclaiming this until he comes again.

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.

Episode 199 - "Do not despise the church or its members" - 1 Corinthians 11:17-22

1Cor. 11:17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses 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 commend you in this? No, I will not.

Verse 17 through the end of the chapter deals very specifically with the Lord’s Supper and how Christians should partake of it. We’ll examine Paul’s teaching about this over the course of a few episodes.

Notice that Paul begins this section by chastising the Corinthian believers. He’d already commended them for holding to a number of the traditions practiced by churches. But concerning the Lord’s Supper, they were off track. Paul says, “In the following instructions, I do not commend you, because when you come together, it is not for the better but for the worse.” (v. 17) It would be easy to jump ahead to find out what it is they are doing that is “for the worse.” But don’t miss the point that the purpose of Christians getting together is supposed to be “for the better.” Fellowship and congregational worship is to edify, encourage, and strengthen the church as a whole and each member of the body. From the beginning of this letter, Paul has emphasized the importance of setting aside things that divide brothers and sisters in Christ. In my opinion, if we get nothing else from 1 Corinthians 11, it would be that we need to value the church and conduct ourselves within the church for the specific purpose of growing in our faith and helping others grow in their faith.

Paul lays out the problem that there are “divisions among you.” (v. 18) That’s bad, right? Yes, but then Paul writes, “There must be must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.” (v. 19) I believe what Paul is saying is that while divisions within a church are not good, they will occur and need to occur in order to manifest those who are sincere about following the Lord and those who aren’t.

In verse 20, Paul gets more specific. He says, “It is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.” He explains that they’ve confused dinner with a sacred event of the Lord’s supper. Some eat their own meal, some drink their own wine and get drunk, and others don’t have anything. This is clearly not mutually edifying. It’s self-indulgence and disregard for others in the community of faith.

Look at his sharp indictment in the middle of verse 22 as he rhetorically asks, “do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?”

In our culture today, many people are leaving their churches and not continuing in a local community of believers. Perhaps the reason is they, too, see the divisions and hypocrisy within some churches. But we need to value coming together with others who sincerely want to follow Jesus and remember him in our worship. We cannot treat the Lord’s supper as a party opportunity. It’s not a time to fill our stomachs. It is a time for our souls to be filled with gratitude for the love of Christ and the forgiveness of sin we have through the cross. Let us share that experience with our brothers and sisters in Christ.