Holy: The Bread and the Cup
Holiness as a people. We examine ourselves around the Bread and the Cup.
A Communion of Holy People
Now he explains, reminding them of the traditional story of the Last Supper, that when the meal is celebrated the Lord himself is there, not simply absent, away in the past, or longed for at his coming in the future, but present through this ‘memorial’. The eucharist is the moment at which the past event comes forward to live again in the present, and the future moment of the Lord’s return comes backwards in time to challenge us in the present. That’s the point of verses 27–32. Misbehaving in relation to this meal is misbehaving in relation to the Lord himself.
And because the eucharist is a moment in Christian living when the future comes to meet us in the present, this judgment and discipline is brought into focus there, giving us a choice. Either examine and ‘judge’ yourselves, making sure your behaviour is appropriate at this meal, or face the scrutiny and judgment of the Lord himself (verses 27–31).