"For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes." 1 Cor 11:26
Communion, or The Lord's Supper, isn't for the purpose of remembering our sins. It's for the purpose of remembering Christ, who took away our sins!
But you say, "Let a man examine himself!" Yes, Paul said that, but what was he referring to? He has just finished telling the Corinthians that when they come together for the Lord's Supper, some are eating ahead of others, letting others go hungry. And some are getting drunk. He tells them, "Don't you have your own houses to do that in?!?" This is the "unworthy manner" in which they were partaking of the Lord's Supper. This is what he was telling them to examine themselves about.
Again, the true meaning of Communion is to proclaim the Lord's death. The Lord's Supper is meant to be a celebration - or at the very least, a remembrance - of what was accomplished through the Lord's death. Jesus Himself said, "Remember ME." Not "Remember your sins." Through His death, our sins were taken away once and for all! In remembering Him, and proclaiming His death, we remember that through His blood our sins were cast into the sea of forgetfulness!
It certainly would be worth examining ourselves if while we were getting together to do this, certain people were eating all the food and others were getting drunk. That manner of remembering the Lord's death would certainly be unworthy of the majesty of all that we're gathered together to celebrate! But when we're eating a wafer or a tiny piece of bread, and a thimble-sized shot of wine or grape juice, how is it even possible for us to do what the Corinthians were doing? ;)
"God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:8). This is what we are remembering in celebrating the Lord's Supper.
Here's a video I did on this:
I agree with you however I belive that the unworthy manner was the lack of discerning the body seeing it separate from the blood and broken for healing (the blood being for forgiveness of sins). For the lack of this insight the communion which was supposed to be a channel of healing became an empty ritual and they remained sick n dying. Thats my two cents God bless
ReplyDeleteI understand that that's a somewhat common interpretation of what Paul is saying, but with the entire context I don't see him saying that, and I see him making a different point entirely.
DeleteHe starts off in verses 20-22 saying that rather than coming together to eat the Lord's Supper, some are eating and drinking ahead of others. One is left hungry. Another is drunk. They have houses to eat and drink in, so why should it be like this when they come together?
Paul goes on to tell them what He received from Jesus about how the eating of the bread and the drinking of the wine is in remembrance of Jesus, and he tells them about eating and drinking in an unworthy manner. He talks about not discerning the Lord's body, etc. Finally, in verse 33, he says, "Therefore..." The "therefore" is the key to understanding all of what he has just said. "Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment..."
This was all about how they were coming together in an unworthy manner. Some hungry, some drunk. That's how they weren't discerning the Lord's body. That kind of lifestyle leads to people being sick and dying. Paul said nothing about communion being a channel of healing. Jesus never said that either. All that Jesus said was "remember Me." And that's what Paul said that Jesus told him as well. And they were remembering Jesus in an unworthy manner, by eating and drinking out of place.