(2)
Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 11:17-34
In 11:17-34 Paul deals with the matter of the Lord’s supper. Let us consider the different points covered by Paul in these verses.
In 11:17-22 Paul rebukes the Corinthians because of the disorder among them with regard to the Lord’s supper. In verse 17 he says, “But in giving this charge, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.” The word “but” here indicates a contrast between “I do not praise you” and “I praise you” in verse 2. From this verse through the end of the chapter, the apostle deals with the eighth problem, the problem concerning the Lord’s supper.
Paul is honest and frank. When the believers should be praised, he praises them. But when they should not be praised, he does not praise them. Although Paul does not say in verse 17, “I rebuke you,” he nonetheless speaks to them in a rebuking tone.
The reason Paul did not praise them was that their coming together was not for the better, but for the worse (v. 17). This indicates that the meeting together of the believers may be a loss instead of a profit. The expression “not for the better but for the worse” means that the result of the Corinthians coming together was not profit but loss, that the result of their meeting was not gain but loss. Some Corinthians became weak, others became sick, and some even died. This proves that they lost a great deal.
In verse 18 Paul goes on to say, “For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that divisions exist among you, and some part I believe.” Paul spoke in a rather soft way. He does not say that he fully believed all he heard; on the contrary he says that he believed a certain part. This reveals his soft tone in rebuking the Corinthians. The expression “in the church” means in the assembly of the church (14:34-35).
Verse 19 continues, “For there must also be parties among you, that those who are approved may become manifest among you.” The Greek word rendered parties means sects, schools of different opinions, as in Galatians 5:20. The word approved means tested that the specifications have been met. According to this verse, even the parties, the sects, are useful to manifest the approved ones, those who are not sectarian.
In verse 20 Paul says, “When therefore you come together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper.” In 10:21 Paul speaks of the table of the Lord. As we have seen, the emphasis of the table of the Lord is the fellowship of His blood and of His body (10:16-17), the participation in the Lord, the enjoyment of the Lord in mutuality, in fellowship; whereas the emphasis of the Lord’s supper is the remembrance of the Lord (11:24-25). At the Lord’s table we receive His body and blood for our enjoyment; at the Lord’s supper we give Him our remembrance for His enjoyment.
In verse 21 Paul declares, “For in eating, each one takes his own supper first, and one is hungry, and another is drunk.” In the apostle’s time the believers used to come together for supper, the main meal of the day, with the rich bringing more and better food for the mutual enjoyment, and the poor, less food. This was called the feast of love (2 Pet. 2:13; Jude 1:12) and came from the background of the Passover feast (Luke 22:13-20). At the end of their love feast they ate the Lord’s supper with the bread and the cup to remember the Lord (1 Cor. 11:23-25). The Corinthians did not do this properly. They did not wait for one another (see v. 33). Each took his own supper first. The rich became drunken and the poor were hungry (v. 21). This caused divisions and parties among them (v. 18). Hence, they spoiled the Lord’s supper. Thus, their eating was not the eating of the Lord’s supper (v. 20). In verse 22 Paul said to them, “What! Do you not have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and disgrace those who have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you.”
Concerning a review of the definition of the Lord’s supper, Paul says in verse 23, “For I received from the Lord.”
What Paul received from the Lord he delivered to the Corinthian believers. In verse 23 he tells them “that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread.” Then “having given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, which is for you; this do for the remembrance of Me.” The breaking of the bread is that we may eat it (Matt. 26:26). To take the Lord’s supper is for the remembrance of the Lord Himself.
Verse 25 says, “Similarly also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood; this do, as often as you drink it, for the remembrance of Me.” The bread is of life (John 6:35), and the cup is of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16). This cup is the new covenant, made up of all the rich blessings of the New Testament, including God Himself. It was enacted by the Lord’s blood, which He shed on the cross for our redemption (Matt. 26:28).
The real remembrance of the Lord is to eat the bread and drink the cup (11:26), that is, to participate in, to enjoy, the Lord who has given Himself to us through His redeeming death. To eat the bread and drink the cup is to take in the redeeming Lord as our portion, as our life and blessing. This is to remember Him in a genuine way.
Verse 26 continues, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you declare the Lord’s death until He comes.” The word declare here means proclaim, announce, or display. To take the Lord’s supper is to declare and display the Lord’s death, rather than remember it. We remember the Lord Himself by declaring and displaying His death. Please notice that we remember the Person of the Lord, but we declare, proclaim, His death. We remember the Person by declaring His death to the entire universe: to the demons, to the angels, and to human beings.
According to verse 26, we are to declare the Lord’s death until He comes. We should take the Lord’s supper for the remembrance of Him by declaring His redeeming death without ceasing until He comes back.
In verse 27 Paul says, “So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.” To eat or drink in an unworthy manner is to fail to evaluate the significance of the bread and the cup of the Lord, which signify His body broken for us and His blood shed for our sins through His death for our redemption. To be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord is for a believer to bring judgment to himself (vv. 29-30).
In verse 28 Paul continues, “But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” For a man to prove himself means to examine himself, to put himself to the test and have himself approved, meeting the prescribed specifications.
Verse 29 says, “For he who is eating and drinking, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the body.” To eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner brings judgment to us. This judgment is not a condemnation, but the Lord’s temporary discipline (v.32).
Not to discern means not to distinguish, separate, discriminate, make a distinction. To fail to discern the Lord’s body is to fail to make a distinction between the bread, which signifies the Lord’s body, and common food. It is to fail to evaluate the significance of the bread we take at the Lord’s supper. This brings judgment, the Lord’s discipline, to us.
The thought of the apostle in using this expression, “the body,” not “the body of the Lord,” may include also the mystical Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4) in addition to the physical body of the Lord (1 Cor. 11:24). Therefore, when we participate in the Lord’s table, we must discern whether the bread on the table signifies the one Body of Christ or any division of man, any denomination. In discerning the Body of Christ we should not partake of the bread in any division or with any divisive spirit. Our participation in the Lord’s table must be the unique fellowship of His unique Body without any division either in practice or in spirit.
The apostle’s dealing with head covering is related to the Head (v. 3); his dealing with the Lord’s supper (the Lord’s table) is related to the Body. Regarding the headship of Christ, representing God and represented by man, we must keep the divine governmental order ordained by God without any disorder. Regarding the Body of Christ, we must be properly regulated by the apostle’s instruction without any confusion or division. The Head is Christ, and the Body is the church. Christ and the church — these two — are the controlling and directing factors of the apostle’s dealings with the confused and disorderly church. He deals with the church’s problems first by stressing Christ as God’s center and our portion in chapters one through ten. Following this, he emphasizes the church as God’s goal and our concern in chapters eleven through sixteen. In chapters one through ten he begins with Christ as the antibiotic to heal the diseases of the sick church. Then from chapter eleven he goes on to the church and uses the matter of the church, the Body, as an inoculation against the church’s disorder. Both Christ and the church are crucial to the carrying out of God’s administration in His New Testament economy.
In verses 30 and 31 Paul says, “Because of this many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged.” By “this” in verse 30 Paul means not discerning the body. Being weak and sick in this verse is the discipline, the temporary judgment of the Lord, on the unworthy participants in the Lord’s body. The Lord first disciplined them so that they were weak physically. Then, since they would not repent of their offense, they were further disciplined to be sick. Because they still would not repent, the Lord judged them by death. To die this way is equivalent to being strewn along in the wilderness in 10:5. The word sleep in verse 30 means die (1 Thes. 4:13-16).
In verse 31 Paul says that if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged. To discern ourselves is to distinguish matters that concern ourselves, to form an accurate estimate of ourselves. The purpose of being judged is that we may be brought back to God’s administration. Those who are astray need judgment from God to bring them back under His administration.
In verse 32 Paul says, “But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined that we may not be condemned with the world.” If we keep ourselves under God’s administration, we shall not be judged, corrected, disciplined, to be brought back to His administration. The discipline in verse 32 is also a matter in God’s administration. This discipline is temporary so that we may not be condemned with the world, that is, condemned forever.
In 33-34a, Paul says, “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, that you may not come together for judgment.” The charge to wait for one another is due to the condition described in verse 21. Waiting requires patience. Waiting for one another indicates that we are truly under God’s administration.
In verse 34b Paul concludes, “And the remaining matters I will set in order when I come.” This indicates that the apostle did not give instruction for everything concerning the practice of the church. For the “remaining matters” we need to seek the Lord’s leading, based upon the principles which have been set forth in the New Testament and governed by these principles.
