The Lord's Supper
In 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 Jesus says, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
In this section, Paul is very concerned with expressing clearly to the Corinthians, who were known for their corruption in the early church, that to come to the Lord's Supper (the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine) was to proclaim the new covenant of Jesus' blood - not something to be done lightly or without examining their state of heart.
Paul said in 1 Cor 11:30 that because many were coming to partake in the Lord's Supper without concern for the state of their own heart, "many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep." They sleep because of their unthoughtfulness. They sleep because they are not surrendering their minds and hearts to God and to what He has done for them...they sleep.
Paul explains a few verses earlier on in 1 Cor 11:27 that "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." Aka? If you come to partake in this confession of Christ's work without the...confession part of it...you are equivalent to those mocking Him as He hung on the cross - screaming for His blood. This is serious business! I'm glad Paul makes this known.
I am glad that Paul makes this known, too. I wonder how most people decipher the phrase "unworthy manner." I think that many people look at this in a surface way, thinking that if they haven't done anything that they consider really bad, then they aren't unworthy. This is how I thought about it before I really believed in God (when I visited Catholic church or the like.) I thought I was a "good person" and that I hadn't done anything to make me unworthy. But, we all have to look at ourselves and ask if we are unworthy in God's eyes, not our own. Now, when I take communion, realize I am unworthy in God's sight, but I know that he completely forgives us when we are truly repentant... how simple and awesome is that!
ReplyDeleteI think that Paul might mean unworthy in a more concrete sense- to address those who are committing blatant fruit sins- but this is what I get out of it nonetheless...