Episode Synopsis:

One of the saddest indicators of human sinfulness is found in the last half of 1 Corinthians 11. The sacrament of Christian unity (the Lord’s Supper) had instead become the occasion for further division in the Corinthian church. Paul laments that in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper the rich were exploiting the poor, the body of Christ was not properly being discerned, and the Supper was being celebrated in such an improper way that what was being done was not the Lord’s Supper and was actually doing more harm than good.

In this section of Paul’s Corinthian letter we find a description of how Christians in the apostolic age were to celebrate the Supper in Christian worship. Paul explains the words of institution given by Jesus just twenty years previously– “this is my body,” “this is my blood.” The Lords Supper is the new covenant fulfillment of the Passover meal centering upon eating the bread and drinking the wine wherein the signs (the bread and wine) are taken as though they were the thing signified, (Christ’s body and blood). And through faith what has been promised by Jesus, is actually received by his people.

Paul rebukes the Corinthians for the fiasco which the celebration of the Lord’s Supper had become, and he offers a number of common sense practical ways in which the Supper ought to be celebrated. Each member was to partake, they were to discern the body of Christ, and the service was to be conducted in an orderly manner when the church assembled on the Lord’s Day.

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