We started last week this section in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, where he is addressing the topic of the Lord’s Supper. If you’ll remember, the Corinthian church had been making a real hash of things.
Apparently there were some in the congregation who would come in and rush to the table meal, eating up all the good food, making themselves drunk on wine, and shaming the poorer people. They had turned the supper, which was principally a picture of self-sacrifice and unity and communion, and instead turned the meal into the occasion of all manner of self-serving, disunity, and of broken communion.
In fact, their actions were so detrimental to the life of the body that Paul tells them that it would be better for them not to meet at all, then to do what they had been doing. He rebukes their selfishness, their using of the Lord’s table as an occasion to harm the body, and for the particular sin of sinfully favoring the rich while also despising the poor.
Now, having addressed the wrong ways that the church was using the Lord’s table, today we will look at Paul’s next words where he summarized positively what exact ought to happen when we observe the Table. Let’s begin by reading our text, 1 Corinthians 11, starting in verse 23:
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[f] you. Do this in remembrance of me.”[g] 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.
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.[h] 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined[j] so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brothers,[k] when you come together to eat, wait for[l] 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.
We’ll cover our text this morning in three major sections. First, we’ll note in verses 23-26, the origin of the institution, then in 27-32 the necessity of examination, and close with 33-34 where we see the reminder of consideration. The Origin of the institution, the necessity of examination, and the reminder of consideration.
First let’s look at the first three verses and see Paul’s words about The Origin of the Institution. Paul begins with a defense of what he taught them previously about the Lord’s Supper:
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. It’s as if Paul is saying: I’m not making this stuff up, nor am I being nitpicky here. What I’ve taught you about this supper is what came from Jesus’s own words and example.
And what were Jesus’s words and example? Paul continues: that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed… Let pause there for a second. Isn’t that an interesting way for Paul to describe the timing of the event? He could have left that phrase out entirely, or he could have said, remember in the Upper Room, or remember on the evening before his trial and impending death, or on the Thursday night before the resurrection. But he didn’t. He brought up his betrayal, recalling in everyone’s minds the act of Judas. Why would he do that?
I don’t want to get too speculative here, but I think that Paul brought up the betrayal because the Corinthians believers, who fancied themselves so faithful and mature, were actually guilty of betrayal themselves when it came to the Lord’s Supper. They were undermining the whole point of the table observance in order to satisfy their own selfish desires.
They took a picture of the supper, which was a most tangible expression of self-less sacrifice for the blessing of another, the expression of the strong becoming weak so that the helpless might be nourished, and turned it on its head to instead proclaim the opposite. Their behavior was teaching that the weak and the needy exist to satisfy the rich and powerful. They were teaching that the first will be first and the last will be last, which we all know is the opposite of what Jesus teaches.
So I think Paul reminds them of the night in which Jesus was betrayed to subtly point out that they were behaving like Judas, seeking to indulge their desires at the cost of another. We’ll come back to that theme, but for now let’s move on to what Jesus did.
He took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for[f] you. Do this in remembrance of me.”[g]
We could go to the gospels to see the full accounts in Matthew 26 or Luke 22, but Jesus’s words here are sufficient for our purposes today. He takes the bread, and then it says, “when he had given thanks.” There is a world of theology in that statement. What do you imagine that Jesus prayed to God in that prayer?
- Father I thank you for this bread, the image of my coming death
- I thank you for this meal, which is likely the last piece of bread that I will eat in this life
- I thank you for allowing me to share this meal with one who will betray me
It’s amazing to ponder that Jesus could possibly be thankful, that he could pray in gratitude, knowing what was about to happen to him. And yet he did. And it’s worthy of our reflection too.
Are we grateful, even for the things that are trials for us? Do we possess the maturity of faith to be thankful, even for the things that weary us, that sift us like wheat, that press us? That’s a hard question.
But Jesus moves on, and after praying, takes the bread and breaks it. It wasn’t enough to hold it up, to keep it whole, but he breaks it. The symbolism is striking, isn’t it? Suffering was to happen to his body. Great and immeasurable pain. Blood, sweat, tears.
He broke the bread, and then said, “this is my body.” This is my body. He’s not saying here that the bread magically transforms into the DNA and substance of Jesus, like the Roman Catholics teach. Nor is he saying that his human nature mystically is present at each observance of the Lord’s supper. That’s what the Lutherans teach.
No, he is teaching through picture, like God has done throughout the bible. God sacrificed an animal in order to clothe a sinful Adam in the garden, picturing that Adam would need the body of another in order to avoid death.
God provided lambs to the Hebrews, the blood of which must cover the lintels of their houses in order to avoid the judgment of death on Passover night. Not only that, the flesh of the lamb was then eaten, sustaining the family during their journey.
And now Christ is saying that this picture, this bread, is a symbol of by body, which will be broken, in order that you might be nourished. My flesh will be torn, in order that you might be fed and sustained.
Holding it in his hand, he separates the bread, the emblem, the image, from the thing pictured, which is his body.
The implied rebuke for the Corinthians is clear as well. If Jesus was willing to give up his own body for sinners like us, how could you then indulge your body at the expense and humiliation of others? If our savior willingly gave up and sacrificed his body, how could we be guilty of sinfully indulging our own?
Application extends to us as well. How quick am I to sacrifice my body for the good of others? Do I like to work and sweat and sacrifice so that others might receive blessing? Or am I quick to selfishly guard my time, my energy, my leisure, my comfort?
I think Paul is reminding them of Jesus’s institution of the supper, in part, to confront them, and confront us. Selfishness among the church was not simply a problem isolated to Corinth, but is equally present today.
But less we despair, there is comfort here too. This is my body, which is for you, Jesus says. He didn’t die without cause. He didn’t just suffer for no purpose. He died FOR someone, for his bride, for his people, for the church which the Father had given to him. He suffered in the body that we might be forgiven. He bore the lashes and whips and the scourging, that we might be spared.
He bore the rod, that we might be relieved, and he suffered immeasurably that we might be forgiven eternally. That’s the good news of Christ, and it’s for all who trust in Jesus, even the selfish. Let that good news thaw any coldness and self-interest remaining in your heart.
Let his sacrifice free you to sacrifice for others. This is my body, which is for you.
He does something similar also with the cup. Verse 25:
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Harkening back to Old Testament imagery again, Jesus picks up the cup, which would have presumably contained wine, since that was what was used during the traditional Passover meal. We don’t know what kind of wine, but we can say that it wasn’t shelf stable grape juice, since that was invented until Mr. Welch came along and invented it in the 1860s.
So Jesus takes the cup of wine and says this is the new covenant in my blood. If you’ll remember back to the book of Exodus, Moses ratifies the Old Covenant with blood. He sprinkled blood on the people of Israel and said “this is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you” (Exodus 24:8).
God is doing something similar here, instituting a new covenant. However, this covenant was different. It wasn’t the blood of a spotless lamb from the herd that was to be used. Rather it was the blood of an altogether more fitting substitute. Christ himself, the spotless one, sinless in every way, bearing the fullness of human nature, he becomes the substitute, the sacrifice. He is our Passover lamb, and his blood is sprinkled on those who believe.
That’s the heart of the new covenant. This is God’s arrangement, wherein sinners are forgiven their sin and counted as righteous because a righteous lamb was slaughtered in their place. That’s the good news that we are so prone to forget, which is why the next phrase is such a blessing to us:
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
In remembrance of me. We’re so prone to forget this good news, aren’t we? I know I am. I forget that Christ is my righteousness, and instead think that my performance is my righteousness, and so either get arrogant when I think I’m doing well, or I despair when I see that I am not, or I get defensive when someone points out my shortcomings, or I get angry when I don’t see that I measure up. All sorts of problems happen when I forget the gospel.
I begin to forget that I need the blood of another, that I need forgiveness through cleansing.
In fact, in my pride I am tempted to proclaim to others: this is my Body, which will not be broken for you, and this is my blood, which I will never shed for you. That’s what our sinful flesh says.
Praise God that Christ wasn’t that way. He became the sacrifice that clothes us in our nakedness and shame. He embraced the role of spotless lamb, perfectly fulfilling all the righteousness that God’s law requires, and willingly enduring the consequences that our sins had earned. All because of love. That’s the message that we need to remember. And that’s the message that is pictured each time we celebrate the table. Verse 26:
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Each Lord’s Day we point back to that wonderful ratification of the New Covenant which was instituted on that night. Every time we lift the cup together, we’re proclaiming Christ’s atoning death. Every time we share bread in this way, we’re reminding ourselves and others that Christ was the sacrificial lamb.
But notice too: the Lord’s supper doesn’t merely look backwards; it also looks forward: you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Isn’t merely retrospective, but also prospective. Looking forward to what? To the Lord’s return. The New Covenant doesn’t simply address our sin and punishment, it also includes our future destiny. Christ has promised to return, to judge sin, to punish the wicked and ungodly, to separate the sheep from the goats, and throw the goats into eternal punishment for their unbelief.
And for the godly, Christ has promised an everlasting paradise, wherein we will dwell with him forever. A new heaven and a new earth, where sin is absent, pain is but a memory, and joy is our everlasting vocation.
And the book of Revelation points to the joy of that state in terms of a banquet. A feast. A marriage supper of the Lamb, which is Christ, who will finally and perfectly be united with his bride. That’s the Lord’s Supper for which we all long, and to which this dim picture points. That’s what we proclaim each time we partake.
And it is that reality, of looking backwards to the cross and forwards to the consummation, that the Holy Spirit uses to bless us in this moment in between. When we’re tempted to doubt, the Holy Spirit sustains us. When we’re tempted to forget, the picture helps us to remember. When we’re tempted to fear, the Supper reminds us of our communion. When we’re afraid we’ve failed, we’re shown again Christ’s indelible blood.
This is the institution of Christ’s supper. It’s more than a mere memory using crackers and juice. It’s an ongoing memorial of Christ’s finished work, and a perpetual reminder of our assured fate, which the Holy Spirit presses into our hearts by faith.
What a blessing we have to share, and that makes the Corinthian abuse of it so shameful, and likewise the necessity of examination so critical. That’s our second point, The Necessity of Examination. The Necessity of Examination. Verse 27:
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.
We know from earlier portions of 1 Corinthians that the Corinthian believers had had an inflated view of their own abilities. They had fancied themselves to be quite discerning, quite able to judge. In fact, the word for discern and the word for judge in Greek come from the same word group. They’re related.
And Paul is likely rebuking them here. They thought they were discerning, but they had failed to discern themselves. They thought they could judge rightly, but they couldn’t even judge themselves.
They were specifically failing to examine how their actions were harmful to others in the body. How unrepentant and willful sin was damaging the church and undermining the whole point of the table. By failing to examine their actions, they were continuing in a pattern that was harmful, both to themselves and others:
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.[h]
Some of them, apparently, were so stubborn in their sin and willful in their disobedience, that God disciplines them. Rather than God letting them continue down the path of their destructive behavior, coasting under the illusion that their sin wasn’t doing anybody any harm, God afflicts them with bodily suffering, up to and including death.
I don’t think this necessarily means that they were all unbelievers or had somehow gone from God’s loving care to God’s wrathful judgment. But I do think it reminds us that God disciplines the sons whom he loves, as Hebrews 12 teaches us. And God loves us enough to not let us barrel headlong down a destructive path, and will, if necessary, afflict us in order that we might be drawn back to him, the only cure for our souls.
That’s a warning for us to avoid. We ought to examine ourselves, let we tempt God toward loving discipline upon us. Lest we incur judgment, which is the next verse:
31 But if we judged[i] ourselves truly, we would not be judged.
If we rightly judged ourselves, we have no fear of judgment, which is a play on words. If we rightly discern the sin in our lives, we don’t have to fear consequences for that sin. If we seek to honor the lord, we need have no fear of the rod.
But, even when we feel the rod of discipline, it is held in the hand of love, as Paul says. Verse 32:
32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined[j] so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
We’re loved by a heavenly father who seeks to prevent us from following after the world into condemnation. And so, he disciplines us as necessary, according to his goodness and his sovereign wisdom.
His discipline is always just and good. It’s fitting to what we need. It’s aimed at our flourishing. It’s appropriate to our condition, and fit for our station. He never gives us more than necessary, but will always give us what we need. That’s the loving kindness of the Lord in his discipline of us when we fail to examine ourselves.
Before we move to the final verses, I have one more exhortation about this examination. Some think that this passage is teaching that we must be rigorously introspective, and sniff out every single sin in our heart and confess it to God prior to coming to the table. Or that we must achieve a certain measure of holiness prior to partaking.
However, I think that is misguided. This table is for sinners. It’s for those who aren’t able to be holy on their own. It’s for those who trust in God, not for those who fear God as a terrible taskmaster.
So, prior to partaking of the supper, do take time to reflect. If there is behavior within you which is sinful towards others in the body and harming fellowship, then you are more than free to let the plates pass so that you might be reconciled first. To borrow Jesus’s words, leave your offering at the altar and go be reconciled to your brother.
But if you’re simply aware of your sin that you’ve already confessed to God and are seeking to repent of, then know that this table is designed for you.
Christ came to seek and save the lost. And his table is designed to feed and hold the found.
If you’ve been found by Christ, and he is your savior, then you have met the requirements of the table. Simple faith is all that is required, not perfect holiness.
Moving on. Our final point is found in the last two verses. Paul closes with a Reminder of Consideration. A reminder of consideration. (33-34)
33 So then, my brothers,[k] when you come together to eat, wait for[l] 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.
Paul urges the Corinthians toward proper repentance for their sin of selfishness, which would look like due consideration for others, instead of prioritizing self. If you’re the kind of person that’s tempted to gobble up the food at the meal, then maybe you need to have a snack at home. The Lord’s supper and the surrounding fellowship meal is a time for sharing, for deference, for service, not a time for gratifying your flesh.
He’s assuming forethought and intentionality here, which I think is instructive for us. How many of us think ahead about the Lord’s Table, or really about worship in general? Do we pray for the upcoming service, for the preaching of the word, for the spiritual nourishment of our body and ourselves, for the prayers? Are we putting appropriate forethought into our schedules to prioritize the Lord’s Day gatherings, the worship of the saints?
Or am I selfishly unconcerned? Not giving any advanced thought, unconcerned about how my undue absence is harming the body of Christ, which is lacking my presence? You see the Holy Spirit has given us all specific spiritual gifts, as we’ll get to next time, and when you are absent unnecessarily, you’re robbing the body of the gifts that the Spirit intended it to have. When we’re distant, uninvolved, we’re limiting the functionality of the body from its proper operation.
Don’t be guilty of the same selfishness that the Corinthians were, making the worship of the body, and particularly the Lord’s Table, all about self. Rather, reflect upon what is pictured in the Table, which is how we get to close today.
LORD’S SUPPER
And that picture is this: that a spotless lamb self-less-ly laid down his life for the selfish like me and you. That his body was substituted in our place, for us he said, and his blood was shed to ratify our covenant of salvation. His is the cleansing spring, a fountain filled with blood , for all who believe, and as the hymnwriter put it: “sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.”
If you’re like the saints in Acts 2, devoted to the Apostles teaching, to fellowship, to breaking of Bread at the table, and to prayer, then we invite you to join us in celebration of this joyous meal.
If you haven’t yet confessed and believed in Christ as savior, then let the plates pass, lest you eat and drink judgment upon yourself. First come to Christ, united with his church, and then join us at Christ’s table.
As a means of encouraging us to the table, I’ll close with the words of a communion hymn, written by Charles Spurgeon:
AMIDST us our Belov’d stands,
And bids us view His pierc’d hands;
Points to His wounded feet and side,
Blest emblems of the Crucified.
What food luxurious loads the board,
When at His table sits the Lord!
The wine how rich, the bread how sweet,
When Jesus deigns the guests to meet!
If now with eyes defiled and dim,
We see the signs but see not Him,
Oh, may His love the scales displace,
And bid us see Him face to face!…
Thou glorious Bridegroom of our hearts,
Thy present smile a heaven imparts:
Oh, lift the veil, if veil there be,
Let every saint Thy beauties see![1]
[1] Charles Spurgeon, Jesu’s Presence Delightful, quoted in Michael A. G. Haykin, Amidst us our Beloved Stands (Lexham Press 2022), xiii.
