SSL 8 - 1 Cor. 11:17-29
Prayers & Announcements
Last Week: We studied the account of the resurrection of Christ in Jn. 20:3-9 and how Paul explained it to the Corinthian church in 1 Cor. 15:20-28. Those lessons give us two broad points of application: (1) The story of Peter and John reaching the empty tomb, then going inside and seeing the linen burial cloths lying there, where Jesus had been, established that both of them first believed in the resurrection based upon what they had seen in the tomb. Only later did they learn that Scripture foretold that the Messiah must be raised from the dead, which proved they could not have made up a story that was contrived to fit the circumstances of OT prophecy (Jn. 20:8-9). (2) Paul's statement to the Corinthians that the resurrected Christ is the "firstfruits of those who are asleep," means that His resurrection was just the beginning and foreshadows the resurrection of ALL those who have placed their faith in Christ. So in the planned sequence of events, Christ was the first to be raised after His First Coming, and the resurrection of those who belong to Him-us-will take place at His Second Coming (1 Cor. 15:20-23).
This Week: Moving on to 1 Cor. 11:17-29, we will see Paul deal with the Corinthian Church's improper observance of the Lord's Supper. These members were apparently celebrating the Lord's Supper in the manner of an everyday meal. Each person or family would bring their own food but did not share it pot-luck style. This resulted in some people-the poor who had little or nothing to bring-going hungry while others-the affluent crowd-had more than enough to eat and drink, and Paul even mentions that some were getting drunk (v. 21). The problem was made worse by the fact that there were no dedicated church buildings at that time, and only the well-to-do had houses large enough to accommodate large groups of people. It could have been a good thing if the wealthy people had shared their food and drink with the poorer members, but they did not, which naturally caused the poorer people to feel alienated. And this only added to the problem of divisions that Paul addressed in 1:10-17. Paul's objective was to teach the Corinthians to appreciate the true meaning and significance of the Lord's Supper, in two ways: (1) to observe the Supper as the sacred observance it was intended to be and (2) to be considerate of the needs of all those partaking in it.
Read 1 Cor. 11:17-22 [NASB] - Paul's Rebuke to the Church for Being Divided
17 But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
v. 17: "But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse" - By starting this verse with the conjunction "But," Paul contrasts the tone of 11:2-16, which began with praise, with a sharp rebuke, "I do not praise, you," on the topic of the next six verses-the Lord's Supper. Paul uses the verb "coming together" ironically, because the GR. (sunercomai) suggests a gathering together in unity, when, in fact, what they were doing had the opposite effect, causing more harm to the church than good.
v. 18: "For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it" - When Paul says, "I hear," he isn't responding to questions from the Corinthian church leaders (ref. 3-25 lesson) but speaking from information he had probably heard from Chloe's people. Paul had addressed the issue of divisions from a theological perspective earlier in Chap. 1, but, here he is referring to social divisions caused by their abuse of the Lord's Supper, divisions that had the effect of humiliating the poorer members of the church.
v. 19: "For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you" - This seems at odds with the previous verse, but the word "factions" used in this context refers to the church members who behaved in a Christian manner and took a stand against those who were causing the divisions in the church. Paul doesn't explain who these people were or what they did, but when a church is facing problems like this, mature Christians need to step up and play a positive role and set the example for others. By "mature," I don't mean chronological age, but someone who is mature in faith, regardless of age.
vv. 20-22: "Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper,21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you." - The way they were coming together created estrangement among the people participating, not unity. Instead of sharing their food, the well-to-do members gulp down their food and guzzled their drinks while the poor went without. Paul's criticism is not so about their gathering together for a meal but of their refusal to share food and drink with those less fortunate. This might have been socially acceptable in ancient Corinth, but in the context of a church gathering, Paul saw it as an affront to Jesus and the Gospel. The giving nature of Jesus was completely absent in their gatherings, and as a whole, contradicted everything the Lord's Supper was supposed to represent.
Read 1 Cor. 11:23-26 - On The Night He Was Betrayed
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.
v.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" - In the first phrase, Paul established two things: (1) he received his understanding of the Lord's Supper from Jesus Himself (either directly or through apostles like Peter) and (2) as the founding pastor of the Corinthian church, he passed this ordinance on to these people; therefore, they have no excuse for failing to understand the sacred nature of the Lord's Supper or the uncaring and insensitive way they have treated each other in the context of worship.
v.24-25: "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." - Paul isn't quoting a Gospel here, but his wording parallels Lk. 22:7-23, which, given all the time he and Luke spent together, isn't surprising. The phrase, "broken for you" points to Jesus' death on the cross and the atonement for our sins that He made possible. The words, "new covenant" remind us that God promised to make a new covenant with the house of Israel (Jer. 31:31) and "my blood" signifies Jesus' sacrifice in order to complete that covenant. The phrase, "Do this in remembrance of me," clearly indicates that Jesus intended the Lord's Supper to be something that would remind us that He gave His own life in order to save a lost world. These words tell us to keep the remembrance of Jesus in the forefront of our minds every time we observe the Lord's Supper. And Biblical remembrance should involve action in the form of obedience and faithfulness.
v. 26: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" - Using the conjunction "for" to connect this verse with vv. 24-25, Paul tells the Corinthian Christians that they must observe the Lord's Supper in remembrance of Jesus, and in doing this, they are "proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes." The term "proclaim" also describes the Lord's Supper as a preaching event-one that proclaims the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. With these words, Paul is solemnly reminding them that they (and us, too) are a new covenant/end-times people who are all waiting for the great day when Christ will come again.
Read 1 Cor. 11:27-29 - Examining Yourselves to Avoid God's Judgement
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.
v.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" - The word "therefore" indicates that Paul is now coming back to his main discussion from v. 22 and will draw a conclusion and give an explanation to his teaching. He starts by making it perfectly clear that the Lord's Supper is a proclamation of Christ's death, so that eating and drinking in an "unworthy manner" adds up to a morally reprehensible sin against God-"against the body and blood of the Lord"-basically an insult to everything Jesus did for us.
v. 28: "Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup" - Paul isn't telling them to examine whether or not they are Christians or even whether there is sin in their lives. He is telling them to honestly examine whether they correctly understand the "body" of the Lord. This has a double meaning: referring literally to Jesus' physical body and to the church as the Lord's corporate body, which in this instance was being divided during the observance of the Lord's Supper by the attitudes of the Corinthian believers.
v. 29: "For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself" - In connection with to his instruction to examine themselves in v. 28, Paul used the term "without discerning the body," to explain that a person who treats fellow believers dishonorably is failing to understand and recognize that those fellow believers are in fact members of Christ's body, His church. They are also failing to understand the significance of the sacrifice of Christ's physical body, since by His death, He created a people, who now form his corporate body, His Church. So, one who dishonors fellow believers at the Lord's Supper reveals that he or she has little understanding of why Christ died. In practical terms, this means that if a member is not in fellowship (i.e., brotherly friendship) with another believer, he or she must do their very best to heal any division in that relationship before they partake of the Lord's Supper. Paul declares that the consequence of failing to meet this standard will result in judgment. By "judgment," Paul did not mean a loss of salvation but the penalty of God's discipline, which in v. 30 is variously described as mental weakness, physical illness, or even premature death. Would you say Paul is serious about this issue, yes?
APPLICATION:
As Paul clearly indicates, there is nothing we do in church that is more solemn or serious than our observance of the Lord's Supper. Article VII of the Baptist Faith & Message, states: "The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming." Obedience means we are to observe it with (1) the remembrance that Jesus died for our sins by sacrificing his "body" and (2) with the understanding that, as believers, we are to do it in fellowship with members of Christ's corporate body--His church. This warns us that If we profane the Lord's Supper by holding sinful attitudes toward others in the body, we invite God's discipline.
