Free Bible Commentary
“1 Corinthians 11:23-34”
Categories: 1 Corinthians“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 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.’ In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
“Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”
“So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come.”
---End of Scripture verses---
Paul had criticized them for coming together, “not for the better but for the worse” and abusing the Lord’s Supper (verse 17). There were divisions among them (verse 18), and many were turning it into a drunken feast (verse 22). But in verse 23 he stops with the criticism and begins to tell them how to fix the problem. Most people know how to fuss and complain about the wrong ways that other people do things. The Lord’s people should be all about finding the solutions to help make the problem go away and the people better!
“For I received from the Lord that which I delivered to you…” (verse 23). What Paul imparts to us in these verses amounts to a direct revelation from Jesus Christ. When the Lord revealed to Paul that, “in the night He was betrayed” He “took bread” (verse 23); He was saying that Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper Himself during the final Passover meal that He shared with His Apostles. This also stresses the reverence and gravity of the occasion since it was the very night that He was betrayed by a close friend and handed over to be crucified for the sins of the world.
The Lord also revealed the nature of this sacred meal and the elements of it. The Lord’s Supper is a “memorial meal”. Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (verse 24). Even though the Lord’s Supper was instituted DURING the Passover meal (Matthew 26:26), it was still separate and different from it. Paul told the Corinthians to eat their meals at home and not when they were gathered together to worship the Creator (verse 34). The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of the Christ’s death which consists of unleavened bread (the only type of bread allowed during Passover), and fruit of the vine (grape juice – it is never referred to as wine in any Gospel account).
It is an occasion to memorialize with thankfulness (verse 24), Christ’s body and the blood which were sacrificed on the cross for our sins. The elements ARE the bread and the fruit of the vine. The elements ARE NOT the literal body and blood of Jesus. When Jesus said, “Take, eat; this is My body” (Matthew 26:26), and “Drink from it all of you, this is My blood (Matthew 26:27-28); He was saying that figuratively. Just think about it. He was sitting right there with them, alive in a body of flesh and blood. They could not possibly have literally eaten His body and drank His blood! That is gross to even think about! They were eating bread and drinking juice that REPRESENTED His body and blood!
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood” (verse 25). The death of Jesus instituted a new covenant between God and humanity (Hebrews 9:15-17). It is a covenant of newer and better quality than any other previous covenant. It was “enacted upon better promises” (Hebrews 8:6), and initiated with a better sacrifice (Hebrews 9:23). When we take the Lord’s Supper it is a reminder of the covenant that we willingly entered into with God through Jesus. It reminds us of the great things He has done for us, and the love, godliness and obedience that we owe Him. By the way, the “cup” is not an element of the Lord’s Supper either. The cup represents the contents (the grape juice which represents Christ’s blood). The containers we use are just expedients.
We must be careful to not take the Lord’s Supper “in an unworthy manner” (verse 27). Paul first told us what the Lord’s Supper is NOT, then he told us what it IS. Starting in verse 27 he shows us what we need to DO about it. First he talks about the appropriate “manner” to take the Lord’s Supper. Once again, it is not a common meal but a sacred memorial commemorating an extraordinary sacrifice. It is a time to gather as a church with brothers and sisters in Christ and prayerfully and thankfully “eat the bread” and “drink the cup” in a decent and orderly fashion (1 Corinthians 14:40).
He then addresses the appropriate “attitude”. A person first “must examine himself” (verse 28). Not to determine if he is WORTHY to take the Lord’s Supper, but to determine if he is THINKING RIGHT. No one is worthy of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. But if we can prepare ourselves mentally, and dismiss the worldly thoughts and behaviors, and get the right focus, then we can partake in a worthy MANNER. Many of the brethren in Corinth were spiritually “sick” and “asleep” (dead) because they did not judge themselves or “the body rightly” (verses 29-31).
It think the Lord’s Supper must be a very big deal! How about you? It is obvious that it means a lot to the Lord!
Please read 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 for tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day!!!
- Louie Taylor
