17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,1 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
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 for2 you. Do this in remembrance of me.”3 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.
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. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.4 31 But if we judged5 ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined6 so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brothers,7 when you come together to eat, wait for8 one another— 34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.
Section Overview
This section addresses the eighth of ten major issues in this letter: abusing the Lord’s Supper.187 This is another area in which the Corinthians have adopted the worldly values of their pagan culture. Once again the church copies the culture’s divide between the social elite and the common people by how they eat a meal.
The early church celebrated the Lord’s Supper in the context of an actual meal together. A common way to explain this passage is that wealthy Corinthian Christians start eating the meal before the poor and slaves arrive and thus leave little for the latecomers. So Paul commands the wealthy ones to wait for the rest to arrive before eating. But a need to wait for others does not sufficiently account for why Paul writes that each one eats “his own meal”—that is, each person brings and eats his own meal (1 Cor. 11:21).
A more plausible view is that the social elite consume their own special private dinners and do not share with the others. In other words, some bring their own food and do not share with those who have no food to bring. One could translate verses 21 and 33, “in eating, each one devours his own meal”; “when you come together to eat, share with one another” (cf. ESV mg.).188
When the Corinthian church gathers to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, they likely meet at someone’s home and eat an actual meal that begins with breaking bread, proceeds to a meal, and ends with drinking wine from “the cup”—symbolizing Jesus’ body and blood in his death. The church likely meets at the home of a relatively wealthy Christian because a larger home would accommodate more people. The architecture of Greco-Roman homes in Corinth suggests that the social elite would eat in a special dining room (the triclinium) while the lower class would eat in a larger courtyard outside (the atrium).189
Paul rebukes the Corinthians because the elite feast on their own food during the meal (in the triclinium) without sharing it with the rest (out in the atrium), thus leaving them hungry. Paul describes those people as “those who have nothing” (v. 22), that is, “the have-nots.” So the “haves” are not sharing with the “have-nots.” This happens when Corinth is experiencing a famine (cf. comment on 7:26.) Thus the way the rich church members celebrate the Lord’s Supper like it is a private dinner contradicts what the Lord’s Supper symbolizes, namely, that the church is a unified loaf because of the gospel (10:16–17). The way elite Corinthian Christians mistreat fellow church members denies the gospel because when they celebrate what is supposed to be a shared meal commemorating Jesus’ death, they selfishly refuse to share their food with fellow brothers and sisters for whom Jesus unselfishly died.
The passage’s structure includes four parts (cf. Section Outline below). Parts 1 and 4 correspond—problem and solution (11:17–22, 33–34)—and parts 2 and 3 correspond—doctrine and application (vv. 23–26, 27–32). The passage tightly coheres to argue that a church must celebrate the Lord’s Supper in the right way.
Section Outline
II.H. Abusing the Lord’s Supper (11:17–34)
1. Problem: the “haves” are not sharing their food with the “have-nots” (11:17–22)
2. Doctrine: Paul repeats the liturgy from the first Lord’s Supper (11:23–26)
3. Application: examine yourself before you celebrate the Lord’s Supper (11:27–32)
4. Solution: share with one another (11:33–34)
Response
The main way to apply this passage is for Christians to relate unselfishly and sacrificially to fellow church members when they celebrate the Lord’s Supper together. We do not want God to evaluate how our churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper and conclude, “When you come together it is not for the better but for the worse” (11:17)! We should desire our worship to do loads of good and no harm!
When a church celebrates the Lord’s Supper,202 a Christian should look in six directions, itemized below.203
1. Look Within: Examine whether you have sinful relational tensions with a fellow church member (11:27–32).
Are we guilty of selfishly dividing the church by mistreating a brother or sister in Christ? God commands, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18). Are we obeying that command? Are we sinfully mad at a fellow brother or sister and thus giving the Devil a foothold (Eph. 4:26–27)? Is a “root of bitterness” springing up among us and defiling both ourselves and others (Heb. 12:15)? If we celebrate the Lord’s Supper while bearing a grudge toward someone, our Father will discipline us (1 Cor. 11:27–34). This is why the early church prescribed, “On the Lord’s Day, after you have come together, break bread and offer the Eucharist, having first confessed your offences, so that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one who has a quarrel with his neighbor join you until he is reconciled, lest your sacrifice be defiled” (Did. 14:1–2).204
To examine oneself, however, does not mean that a celebrant should scrupulously detect whether he is guilty of any sin at all and then confess such sin in order to make himself worthy to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper presupposes that no one is worthy. This is the whole point of the gospel. And this is why the Lord’s Supper celebrates the good news. (See comment on 11:27.) Churches who focus on introspection may create a super-solemn funereal atmosphere that makes people dread observing the Lord’s Supper rather than eagerly look forward to it. Sin permeates us so deeply that it is impossible even to be aware of all our sins, let alone to confess each one. Suggesting that we not observe the Lord’s Supper if we have any unconfessed sin in our lives turns the Table from happy to sad. But the Lord’s Supper should be a happy occasion that celebrates the gospel: “The Supper is a victory lap—announcing the triumph of Christ over the powers of sin, death, and Satan.”205 There are at least three reasons to discourage someone from celebrating the Lord’s Supper: that person is (1) not a Christian; (2) not a (baptized) church member;206 or (3) unrepentantly persisting in sin, especially by mistreating a fellow church member.
2. Look Back: Remember Jesus’ cross-work, and exult in what he accomplished (11:23–26).
That is how we obey Jesus’ command, “Do this in remembrance of me” (vv. 24–25). Jesus secured the new covenant, with the result that God forgives our sins. Jesus fulfilled the Passover by accomplishing the ultimate exodus: delivering his people from bondage to sin. “We can become so engrossed in administration, praise choruses, expositions of the Psalms, seminars on marriage and on how to rear your children, and countless more good things, that Jesus’ death and resurrection become the presupposition of our faith, and no longer its center.”207
To remember Jesus’ cross-work does not mean, however, that one focuses on feeling sorry for Jesus for suffering so tragically. The Lord’s Supper celebrates Jesus’ victory. He chose to die to defeat death!
3. Look Up: Celebrate your union with Christ (10:16).
This is vertical Communion.208 We participate in Jesus’ death by fellowshipping with him (cf. comment on 10:16). Our hearts should overflow with thankfulness to God as we celebrate the Eucharist, a word that means thanksgiving.
4. Look Around: Celebrate your union with each other as one body (11:33–34).
This is horizontal Communion. This is why the Lord’s Supper is an essential element for a church to be a church.209 “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (10:17). We celebrate that blood-bought unity with all the believers in the church—not just some of them (cf. comment on 10:17; Section Overview of 11:17–34; comments on 11:17–22).
5. Look Outward: Proclaim the gospel to unbelievers who are present (11:26).
When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we “proclaim the Lord’s death” (v. 26). Heralding the gospel in this way not only builds up Christians; it also evangelizes non-Christians—including unregenerate children. The Lord’s Supper evangelizes people not by magically converting them but by emphasizing that they need to be converted and by depicting how. (The person leading the celebration should “fence the table” by explaining that only Christ’s followers may share the bread and cup.)
6. Look Forward: Anticipate that Jesus is coming back (11:26).
The Passover anticipated the Lord’s Supper, and the Lord’s Supper anticipates the marriage supper of the Lamb (Matt. 26:29; Rev. 19:6–10; cf. Matt. 22:1–14; 25:10; Luke 13:29). As the church feeds on Christ while he is spiritually present in a special way, the church should long for Christ to be fully present in the new heavens and new earth. “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).