Among the many problems of the Corinthian church was division. Earlier in the letter he talked about division around choosing one leader over another. In the second half of chapter 11 he focuses on another type of division that was splitting the Corinthian church: the division of rich and poor and it pertained to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The flow here is that Paul has been talking about making sure that you don’t shine brighter or call attention to yourself—more than the gospel. Beginning in Chapter 11 he focuses on how this works in the body of Christ. Last time it was about making sure you are aware of cultural norms so as not to draw attention away from Jesus. Now he’s talking about forgetting the reason we come together and letting the values of the world infect how we treat each other during a very important time in body life: Communion.
Communion is an important thing which we’ll talk more about when we get into the section. It was celebrated early on in the church. In fact, we find a reference to it in Acts 2:42-43 where it is referred to as “breaking of bread.” The early church would often have a potluck before taking communion, and this would sometimes take place in one of the larger homes of the congregation, thus in one of the more well off member’s houses.
It is both the way this “love feast” as it was called, was done, as well as their attitudes about communion itself.
17
At the beginning of the chapter Paul praised the Corinthians for listening to what he said regarding the traditions, but here he pointedly does not praise them. In the earlier matter of head coverings, the Corinthians still had good hearts towards worship; they just needed some help in understanding how to put the gospel before newly found freedoms. But here they were actually causing serious harm to the body of Christ.
18 – 19
This section drips with sarcasm. He’s saying that the higher class members of the body needed to be recognized as such. He calls them “approved” which is a good translation which comes from a word that means “acceptable after currant assayal”. They were better than the others and wanted everyone to know it. Interestingly, the word “faction” is the Greek word heresy which means “sect”.
20 – 22
They were not coming to celebrate communion but celebrate their superiority and demonstrate it by how they treated the less fortunate among them. Apparently what was happening was that the rich would sit by themselves with their buddies eating the food they brought while the poor had to sit in the atrium or courtyard with the meager rations they could acquire. Even worse, the “approved” members of the congregation were turning the love feast into an excuse to gorge themselves on food and drink too much.
Paul tells them in verse 22 that if they want to do that sort of thing do it at home away from a church function. It is embarrassing to those without resources and is an insult to the church itself because we are all poor and needy when it comes to righteousness. And through the grace and cross of Jesus Christ we all come equally to Him and are equal in His sight. The consequences for this were pretty serious, which we’ll get to in verse 30, but first Paul has to lay the ground work for why communion is so important and why the needed an attitude adjustment when it came to celebrating it!
23 – 26
This, of course, is the Last Supper. We find it in Luke 22:14 – 20, Mark 14:22 – 26, and Matthew 26:26 – 29. It was part of the Passover feast where Jesus took the third piece of bread, broke it and had His disciples eat, then took the third cup and had them drink of it. What was symbolic of what Yahweh had done for the children of Israel in bringing them out of Egypt now became hugely significant of what Jesus was about to do to rescue everyone from the bondage to sin who would call on His name.
Paul here emphasizes two aspects of communion: that Jesus told us to do it “in remembrance” of Him. It literally means “to bring to recollection”. The second thing is that in doing this we “proclaim” the Lord’s death until He returns. In treating the love feast and communion with such disdain they were casting a huge negative attitude toward the sacrifice of Jesus.
Communion is nothing to be taken lightly. We need to recollect the painful death and horror of Jesus being separated from the Father so that we would never have to be. What were they teaching to others with their division and debauchery? Certainly nothing that reflected positively on the Lord and His sacrifice. In light of that Paul has the most serious consequences yet.
Jesus said this was a “new” covenant. We are new, with a new character and new life, so why act in the “old” way of competition and class?
27 – 28
If you treat communion as something not important you are treating the Lord’s sacrifice as if it were not important. It is a time of self-reflection and reflection on the cross, not an opportunity to show how important or “approved” you are. No one is really worthy of taking communion; of course, it is only by God’s command and Jesus’ death that we are able to.
29 – 32
Just how serious was this? God levied a serious discipline on the Corinthians that treated communion and the love feast so lightly. It actually led to physical sickness and even death. This is among the most serious disciplines brought by God against the church. It doesn’t mean that if you have a stray bad thought or not exactly the right attitude that God will strike you dead as you approach the communion table. God is using the egregious behavior of the Corinthians as an example for all of us. It doesn’t involve salvation—note here that Paul uses the word “discipline” in verse 32.
33 – 34
Paul sums up by laying it out pretty simple: it’s not a place to be separate by class, nor is it an excuse for overindulgence. Instead it is a time for introspection, humility, and togetherness. Apparently there were also some other matters that Paul saved to talk to them about in person.
Conclusions�
As humans we are naturally concerned about the pecking order. In Matthew 18 – 20 Jesus dealt with this human tendency.
In Matthew 18:1 His disciples wanted to know who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus pointed out a little child and said “unless you are converted and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Later in the chapter with the story about the servant who was forgiven a huge sum by his master who then went out and beat a fellow who owed him a pittance. In chapter 19 he talked about how difficult it is for the rich to come to faith because they are self-sufficient and do not see their need. Then in Chapter 20 is the story of the workers. The ones who came early expected to be paid more than the ones who came late.
In God’s kingdom, the values we have in this age are turned upside down. To be citizens we need to become less like adults and more like children who must rely on their parents for everything. We need to understand the full measure of our debt to God and that it cannot be compared to what we feel our position in this age is. We rely on material wealth for status and security and Jesus says this actually keeps us from seeing how poor we are. But even when offered salvation we want some kind of status over those who are less than us.
It’s all wrong.
Since Paul brought up the subject, let’s talk a minute about wealth.
Wealth in itself is not bad. It is the worship of wealth that is bad, and the dependence on wealth that leads people away from God. Wealth provides us security in this age and can blind us to our real need of security in the age to come.
Jesus said “you cannot be slaves of God and Mammon.” (Matthew 6:24 ). You can have lots of money and worship the god of money, or you can have no money and still worship Mammon because you long for him so much.
Jesus further said “I assure you: It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven! 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." 25 When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, "Then who can be saved?" 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matt 19:23-26 ).
The idea is that wealth here separated people into classes, just like it does today. In the world it’s expected, but in the church it is wrong. Salvation is the great equalizer. Now, not everyone that is rich should sell everything and become poor so there won’t be a class distinction, but everyone should become “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3 ) and realize we are all equally needy and equally fulfilled in Jesus.
So how would we apply this to the church and our lives today?
Leave worldly methods of comparison behind
Recognize the importance of communion in the life of a believer and the life of a church
Leave room for God’s corrective action for our weaknesses.
It doesn’t mean he hates us or we lose our salvation. But “the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and punishes every son whom He receives. “ (Hebrews 12:6
