The Lord’s Supper—Holy Communion—1 Corinthians 11.17-34

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. 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, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 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.

(vv. 17-22).

When the church comes together, it is not good. There are divisions or factions among the believers. These factions exist so that the genuine will be apparent. The word for genuine is dokimoi. It translates literally as ‘pleasing and acceptable.’ This is in reference to the two types of believers: those who are pleasing and acceptable because they are being sanctified and those who are carnal because they are not being sanctified.

When he says that they do not eat the Lord’s supper when they come together, he does not mean that they are not partaking in the practice of communion, but that what they are doing is not the Lord’s supper at all. They were certainly attempting to partake in the Lord’s supper, but were unable to do so properly because of the factions.

The ‘problem’ in the practice was that all the food and wine was gone before everyone could take communion. They were defiling the sacrament of communion and preventing others from taking place in it. The solution is simple. Communion is not about getting something to eat and drink. It is about far more, as addressed in the following passage.

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, 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 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.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

(vv. 23-26)

This is the practice of communion. Jesus gave us this practice on the night before He went to the cross. The bread represents the body or the flesh of Christ. When we break bread in the assembly, we are to remember the body of Christ and that it was broken for us, on account of our transgressions. The cup symbolizes the blood of Christ. It is the new covenant. No longer is atonement by sacrifice, but through the remembrance of the perfect sin payment made at the cross. As we partake in the cup in the assembly, we are to remember that Jesus’ sacrifice, the spilling of His blood, is what brought us atonement and ultimately salvation.

The last verse is interesting. We will not take communion in heaven. It is not that we won’t necessarily recall the former life and will not be grateful for the sacrifice that Jesus made; rather this practice is done in order that we would proclaim His death. As we will have been made righteous, there will be no point in proclaiming His death in heaven, we will only proclaim His life.

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. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

(vv. 27-32)

This section is simply challenging us to do some serious self reflection before we gather to partake in communion. I do believe that disobedience results in discipline, even unto death, if we refuse to repent. I don’t, however, see many getting sick and dying as a direct result of their sin—partaking in communion without repentance. But, God tends to discipline everyone a little different and in most cases differently than in biblical times, so the principle applies. Anyone who refuses to confess and repent before the Lord prior to taking communion, eats and drinks discipline upon themselves, even unto death.

So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— 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.

(vv. 33,34)

This is about preparation. Eat at home and then wait for your brothers to do communion together, so that there is no temptation for sin. This way we are free from judgment. It’s apparent that Paul has other concerns in their practices, but they are not, I guess important enough to be addressed in this context.

In the end, I think this whole passage, where it does provide us with a guideline for taking communion—The Lord’s Supper—it is more about dying to self. Isaac Watts put it beautifully, “O the wonderful cross! O the wonderful cross, bids me come and die and find that I may truly live. O the wonderful cross! All who gather here by grace draw near and bless your name” (The Wonderful Cross). The cross bids us to come to it and to die—to come to Christ and to let go of our old selfish, worldly ways. And all who gather there at the cross, all who gather under Christ are drawn to Him by Grace to praise Him. This is what communion is about. It is grace drawing those who follow Christ together to remember the cross and to praise God for what He has done for us at the cross.

Image Credits: nkzs, sxc.hu