THE LAST SUPPER
1 COR. 11:17-34
Pastor Greg Mc Donald
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, in order that those who are approved may have 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. 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which 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 He took the cup also, 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 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world. 33 So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you may not come together for judgment. And the remaining matters I shall arrange when I come. 1 Cor 11:17-34
In these verses Paul is talking about a problem related to an abuse of the observance of the Lord’s Supper. This problem was so bad that he suggested the meetings were actually "not for the better but for the worse" (v.17).
Since Holy communion in the church today is usually in the context of a worship service in the sanctuary, it is hard for us to visualize the circumstances to which Paul was addressing himself.
The early church had developed a very lovely tradition in connection with the observance of the Lord’s Supper. They had a meal that was called a Love Feast to which each member brought what he or she was able to share.
The resources were then pulled, and the whole church sat down to a common meal which provided a beautiful picture of the oneness they shared in Christ. It was a way of creating and developing real Christian fellowship in the church.
Then, in connection with the meal, the Lord’s Supper was celebrated. This had a certain naturalness to it since Christ had instituted the practice at the close of the Jewish Passover meal.
But there were several things that had happened in the Corinthian church to take away from the Love Feast whatever love it had and to create a situation so bad that Paul rebuked them strongly.
When they met, instead of being one family, they tended to divide up into seperate groups. This could have been an extension of the divisions along social lines. This seemed to be the case, because Paul mentioned how the richer members seemed to keep themselves rather that share their food and have fellowship with those who were poor.
Also, there were some people who were having so much to drink that they were becoming drunk. In this atmosphere where sharing had been forgotten, the church tried to celebrate the sacrifice God made in sharing His Son for our sins, and it was a mockery.
To Paul it made no difference if the right words were spoken and the right actions were performed if the condition of the church’s fellowship and the spirit of its members stood as a contradiction to the true meaning of the Lord’s Supper.
But Paul had a method of correcting the abuse ( READ vv. 23-34 ).
Paul’s method for correcting the abuse is to go back to the very beginning and to remind his readers of the Last Supper’s institution and meaning. In four verses he reminds his readers how it all started and what its original purpose was.
In this brief account Paul makes several statements to remind them of the true meaning.
FIRST - the Lord’s Supper is rooted in history. it was a certain man, the Lord Jesus, and it was a certain night, "the same night in which He was betrayed"(v.23), and it was a certain event in which He took real bread and wine and instituted the sacred rite.
The Lord’s Supper at the time of its beginning looked forward to an event of deliverance for all mankind, Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection.
SECOND - the Lord’s Supper is about God’s gift. We catch the work of sacrifice in Christ’s word’s "this is My body which is broken for you." In this statement He is identifying Himself with the Paschal Lamb, the lamb that was sacrificed in connection with the Passover.
But we make a mistake if we interperet the words "do this in rememberance of Me" as a call to remember only His death. We are to remember that His death brings life. But we are also to remember His life and His teaching, His resurrection and the hope that it brings, and we are to remember His purpose in the world.
THIRD - the Lord’s Supper celebrates a new covenant. The history of Israel was the story of a covenant that God initiated with them. It was a relationship in which He acted on their behalf and asked from them obedience in return.
When Christ said, "This cup is the new covenant", He was announcing that He was entering into a relationship with those for whom He was to die upon the cross
We are more familiar in modern times with contracts than we are with covenants. Often when we buy a house or sell a house,borrow money,or take a job,we are asked to sign a contract.
This means that we enter into an agreement according to the terms of the contract. Paul’s reminder to his readers was that they had entered into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that had demands connected with it.
FOURTH - there is in the observing of the Lord’s Supper a proclamation. Christ had said to them that every time they took communion they "proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes". This is a word of evangelism and also a word of hope. In this Supper, Christ gave the church another way of preaching the gospel, a way for the eyes to see as well as for the ears to hear.
The message Paul’s gives in (vv. 27-34) is an effort to apply what he said about the institution of the Lord’s Supper to the abuses being practiced in the church. His main point was that the observance ought to cause everyone who participated to "STOP AND EXAMINE HIMSELF" by giving the warning not to drink of the cup "in an unworthy manner".
Ask yourself what does it mean to take the Supper "unworthily"? Does it mean that we are to be unworthy of such a sacrifice? Does it mean that those who do not have perfect lives should not participate? Does it mean that if we can think of any way in which we do not measure up that we should not participate?
The answer to all these questions is "NO". The Lord’s Supper is a continuing reminder that there is forgiveness for the sinner and strength for the weak and the weary.
But the warning is not to come to it when we are insensitive to His presence, unloving to our fellow church members, or regretful for His great sacrifice on our behalf.
If we truly enter into the spirit of the Supper we will have a heightened sense of our own unworthiness and of God’s grace. This awareness of God’s love for us ought to make it easier for us to love one another.
Communion is not merely a ritual. It is fellowship and involvement in the life of Christ and his body,"the Church".
