Communion, or a Communion Service? - Feb. 13th, 2022

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 KJV 1900

23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

[February 13th, 2022, Sun. PM]

I. Introduction

A. We Could Have Just Another Communion Service

1. The first Communion with Jesus and His disciples

2. Our Lord's instruction for this to continue

The supper was for Paul primarily a memorial of the sacrificial death of the Lord (1 Corinthians 11:23–24); the observance of the ordinance involved a remembrance of love (11:24–25), a reiteration of the gospel (1 Cor. 11:26a),[5] and a renewal of hope (1 Cor. 11:26b). The observance must be preceded by a self-examination. Failure to do that had resulted in the sickness and death of some of the Corinthian believers.

For Paul the Lord’s supper also had other significances. He called it a koinonia, a sharing fellowship (1 Corinthians 10:16). Thus spiritual fellowship with Christ is also part of the supper. Too, the ordinance reminds all believers of their oneness in Christ (1 Corinthians 10:17). We are bound together because we are bound to Christ.

[(5) Whether this means that the elements of the supper silently announce the facts of the gospel or whether it refers to an oral explanation that accompanied the observance is difficult to decide.]

[Charles C. Ryrie, Biblical Theology of the New Testament (Dubuque, IA: ECS Ministries, 2005), 183–184.]

3. A Communion service can become formalistic, a [regular] ritual

B. Let's Have Communion

1. Definition of communion: a mutual sharing of thoughts, feelings: fellowship

The new community is called the ekklēsia, a term that we translate today as “church.” This is highly misleading because the term “church” invokes the image of a religious community and its identity and even a building used as a sanctuary or assembly hall. The term ekklēsia, however, is drawn from the political, not the religious, world. Words commonly used for religious societies in the ancient world (koinon, thiasos) never appear in Paul’s writings. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible ekklēsia designates the political assembly of all Israel, and in the Greco-Roman world it is the term for the political meeting of all free citizens of a city. The latter is the more likely background for Paul’s usage because he never uses the term for the church at large but always for the local assembly of believers: the ekklēsia that is in Corinth, or the ekklēsia in Christ that is in Philippi.

Hand in hand with this designation of the new community goes its description as “the body of Christ.” This body of Christ is present in the celebration of [Communion]. “Not discerning the [Lord’s body]t” (1 Cor. 11:29) . . . means not recognizing that the shared [unleavened] bread establishes and maintains a new community of equality and mutual care and respect; all its members are part of the body of Christ.

[Helmut Koester, Paul & His World: Interpreting the New Testament in Its Context (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007), 12.]

2. This dimension of communion is like many Bible experiences

a. Adam and Eve and the Lord before the fall

b. Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus listening

c. Moses at the burning bush and on Mt. Sinai

d. Jesus and "Emmaus disciples"

Here is what I imagine happened after the death of Jesus. The disciples . . . of Jesus would have gathered again after Jesus had died and had been buried. What did they do then? They certainly did not form a committee that was charged to collect and write down everything that they could remember and gather, with pencil in hand like good journalists, including further information from eyewitnesses. Note that all extant versions of the story tell that the disciples had fled and did not witness what happened! Rather, the friends and disciples of Jesus did what they had always done in the company of Jesus: they gathered together, read the Scriptures, sang psalms, and prayed as they broke the bread and blessed the cup. When they did this, they realized that Jesus was [somehow in their midst in a powerful demonstration of His presence among them].

This is told in a moving way in the story of the Emmaus disciples in Luke 24:13–31. Two disciples of Jesus are on the way to Emmaus after Jesus’ death. A stranger joins them and asks them about their grief. When they tell [Him] what has just happened in Jerusalem, the [Stranger]—it is Jesus but they do not recognize [Him]—explains to them beginning with Moses and all the prophets that this had to happen to the [One] they thought was the Messiah in order to save Israel. When they invite the [Stranger] to share supper with them, [He] blesses and breaks the bread, and they realize that it is Jesus—and [He] disappears before their eyes. [This account] captures the essence of the actual events after the death of Jesus.

[Koester, 100–101.]

C. Why the Lord's Table Is Called Communion

Sub-intro:

The term “Lord’s Supper” is used only in 1 Corinthians 11:20.

1 Corinthians 11:20 KJV 1900

20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.

The practice is also known as Communion (from 1 Cor. 10:16),

1 Corinthians 10:16 KJV 1900

16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

the Lord’s Table (from 1 Cor. 10:21). . . .

1 Corinthians 10:21 KJV 1900

21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

[Ronald F. Youngblood, F. F. Bruce, and R. K. Harrison, Thomas Nelson Publishers, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1995).]

II. Body

A. At the Cross: Communion with God Begins (vv. 23-25)

1 Corinthians 11:23–25 KJV 1900

23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

1. The Lord's Table more than a meal: it is a message

According to 1 Corinthians, Paul was sent not to baptize but to preach the gospel (εὐαγγελίζεσθαι) (1 Cor. 1:17), [declared/]proclaimed (καταγγέλλων) the [testimony/]mystery about God (1 Cor. 2:1), spoke (λαλοῦμεν) the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 2:6, 7), fed (ἐπότισα) them the milk of the Word (1 Cor. 3:2), planted (ἐφύτευσα) the seed of the Word (1 Cor. 3:6), blessed (εὐλογούμεν) in the face of persecution (1 Cor. 4:12), begat (ἐγέννησα) the Corinthians through the gospel (1 Cor. 4:15), sowed (ἐσπείραμεν) spiritual seed among them (1 Cor. 9:11), preached the gospel (εὐαγγελίζομαι) (1 Cor. 9:16), passed on (παρέδωκα) the [ordinances/]traditions he had received from the Lord (1 Cor. 11:2, 23), showed (δείκνυμι) them a more excellent way (1 Cor. 12:31), prophesied (προφητεύομεν) to them (1 Cor. 13:9), wanted to [teach/]instruct (κατηχήσω) others (1 Cor. 14:19, wrote (γράφω) the Lord’s command (1 Cor. 14:37), preached the gospel (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὃ εὐαγγελισάμην) (1 Cor. 15:1), passed on (παρέδωκα) (1 Cor. 15:3) and [preached/]proclaimed (κηρύσσομεν) the ‘tradition’ (1 Cor. 15:11), and testified (ἐμαρτυρήσαμεν) that God raised Jesus from the dead (1 Cor. 15:15).

[Robert L. Reymond, Paul, Missionary Theologian (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2000), 593.]

a. "This is my body"

b. "This is my blood"

2. The word of Isaiah and Zechariah to be fulfilled

a. He was to be wounded for us all (Isa. 53:5)

Isaiah 53:5 KJV 1900

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.

Note - LXX renders Isa. 53:6 as “And the Lord delivered him over to our sins.” Same word Paul used for “delivered” and “betrayed” in 1 Cor. 11:23 (from Paradidomi)

Paradidōmi generally means “to give something to someone.” It is translated in a number of ways in the New Testament, for example: “hand over, deliver up, be taken care of,” or “administered” (cf. Matthew 25:14); or “to deliver, bring on” a tradition, testimony, doctrine, or commandment (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:2; 15:3; Romans 6:17). It is also used with regard to handing someone over to the court (Matthew 10:17). In Matthew 4:12 it is translated “imprisoned” and can also mean hand over to death (Matthew 17:22). Furthermore, it can also mean “betray,” in the sense of “give over” (Matthew 10:4; John 6:64, 71).

In John 19:30 paradidōmi is translated as “Jesus gave up the ghost,” and in Ephesians 5:25 it is also said that Jesus “gave” himself. Paul wrote that it was the Father who gave, that is, handed over or delivered up, the Son “for us all” (Romans 8:32). Paul also wrote that Jesus “gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20), meaning that He handed over and delivered up himself to be scorned, tortured, and crucified. For a word that is often connected with cruelty, cowardice, and heartlessness, these uses by Paul give paradidōmi an indescribable luster.

[Thoralf Gilbrant, “Παραδίδωμι,” The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary, The Complete Biblical Library (WORDsearch, 1991).]

b. They would look upon the Pierced One (Zech. 12:10)

Zechariah 12:10 KJV 1900

10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, The spirit of grace and of supplications: And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, And shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

3. All believers begin at the cross

B. The Lord's Coming: Communion Will Be Complete (v. 26)

1 Corinthians 11:26 KJV 1900

26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

Eschatologically the bread (and cup) anticipate the messianic banquet (Luke 14:15; 22:16 with parallels)

Luke 14:15 KJV 1900

15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

Luke 22:16 KJV 1900

16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

because at the Lord’s table one of the primary symbols it represents is the return of the Lord: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come” (1 Corinthians 11:26; cf. Luke 22:18). Thus the eschatological significance of the “Bread of Heaven” (cf. the Jewish expectation to eat manna in the Age to Come) is expressed in the expectation of the return of Christ associated with the Last Supper. A new existence is lived out in the one Body—the fellowship of believers. Thus the Last Supper brings together the ideas of fellowship, participation, and expectation which were associated with “bread.”

[Thoralf Gilbrant, “Ἄρτος,” The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary, The Complete Biblical Library (WORDsearch, 1991).]

Moreover, the coming of Christ is eagerly expected because there is an existential contradiction between empirical existence in the world and the promise of the resurrection of Christ.

The cry of the martyrs under the altar in Revelation, “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10) echoes in many ways the one of the members of the Pauline churches—“Maranatha”—“Our Lord, come” (1 Cor. 16:22)—especially when they remember Paul’s interpretation of the Eucharist: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” (1 Cor. 11:26). And so Paul exhorts his Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” (Phil. 4:4–5) and “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Phil. 1:6).

The imminence motif in Paul’s letters, then, is even more intense than in Jewish apocalyptic: it is intensified by the death and resurrection of Christ because that event marks the incursion of the future into the present. Christ who has come in the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4) has inaugurated the end of time so that no eschatological timetable needs to be established, and in principle no other conditions need to be met before his glorious return in the triumph of God.

Revelation 22:17 KJV 1900

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Revelation 22:20 KJV 1900

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Indeed, at that time Paul’s hope will be actualized:

Romans 8:18 KJV 1900

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

[Beker, 47–48.]

1. Today, we walk by faith and not by sight

2. Then, faith will be lost in sight

3. Today, we look at these symbols and think of the cross

4. Then, we will look at our Savior and think of His love

5. Today, we take this bread in our hands

6. Then, we will take the hand of the Bread of Life

7. Today, we share this fruit of the vine

8. Then, we will share with the True Vine

C. At Confession of Sin, Communion Continues (vv. 28-32)

1 Corinthians 11:28–32 KJV 1900

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

1. We have considered the beginning and the hope of the Christian life

a. You look back to a day of salvation with assurance

b. You look forward to meeting Christ with great JOY

2. But what about the time in between-what about now?

a. You find yourself defeated by the Tempter

b. You have been overcome by some sin

c. You are not living on the mountaintop

d. Your devotional life is dull or nonexistent

e. You are discouraged by your failures

3. It is time now for self-examination, self-judgment

Here . . . it is the careless and profane who are warned. There is, therefore, nothing in these passages which should surround the Lord’s table with gloom. We are not called unto the mount covered with clouds and darkness, from which issue the signs of wrath, but unto Mount Zion, to the abode of mercy and grace, where all is love—the dying love of him who never breaks the bruised reed.

[Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1857), 233.]

If he discern not the body (μη διακρινων το σωμα [mē diakrinōn to sōma]). So-called conditional use of the participle, “not judging the body.” Thus he eats and drinks judgment (κριμα [krima]) on himself. The verb δια-κρινω [dia-krinō] is an old and common word, our dis-cri-minate, to distinguish. Eating the bread and drinking the wine as symbols of the Lord’s body and blood in death probes one’s heart to the very depths.

[A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), 1 Co 11:29.]

But how does one participate “unworthily” or “inappropriately”? What can one do to avoid letting the elements become a poison rather than a nourishment, a curse rather than a blessing? The answer comes in 1 Cor. 11:29 in the phrase “discerning the body.” Failure to “discern the body” has already brought judgment among the readers (1 Cor. 11:30). What does “discerning the body” involve? With the phrase Paul is certainly not advocating a sacramentalism in which the elements take on mysterious or even magical force and the proper observance demands either a deep spiritual perception on the part of the participants or a fastidious care with the elements themselves. There is nothing in the text to suggest this. We have to look elsewhere.

In our consideration of 1 Cor. 10:16–17 we observed how the term “body” could shift from denoting the crucified body of Jesus to denoting the ecclesial body, the congregation. This seems the best clue for our understanding of 1 Cor. 11:29. Since eating the one loaf unites the many into one body, participants cannot ignore the life within the ecclesial body when partaking of the crucified body. “Discerning the body” (as the context also confirms), then, has to do with how members of the community treat one another, whether they exercise patience and thoughtfulness at the meal, showing concern for the poor and the latecomers, or whether they let the prevailing social customs determine their conduct.[40] The Lord’s Supper at its heart carries a call to obedience, to the forsaking of practises by which participants “despise the church of God” (1 Cor. 11:22), to the loving ordering of life within the community where each member is honored, to an awareness that the crucified Jesus is also the exalted Lord and Judge, to a time of “grace in the midst of judgment and judgment in the midst of grace.”

[(40) Bornkamm, Early Christian Experience, 149, comments: “To discern the body, to esteem Christ’s body in its particularity, means to understand that the body of Christ given for us and received in the sacrament unites the recipients in the ‘body’ of the congregation and makes them responsible for one another in love.”]

[Charles B. Cousar, A Theology of the Cross: The Death of Jesus in the Pauline Letters, ed. Walter Brueggemann et al., Overtures to Biblical Theology (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1990), 125–126.]

4. Confession of sin restores communion (1 John 1:9)

As Ignatius of old reminds the Church:

[But] shun divisions, as the beginning of evils. Do ye all follow your [pastor], as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the [counsel of your pastors] as the Apostles; and to the deacons pay respect, as to God’s commandment. Let no man do aught of things pertaining to the Church apart from the [pastor]. . . . Wheresoever the [pastor] shall appear, there let the people be; even as where Jesus may be, there is the [local] Church.

[Joseph Barber Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer, The Apostolic Fathers (London: Macmillan and Co., 1891), 158.]

1 John 1:9 KJV 1900

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

III. Conclusion

A. What Will You Confess to Christ Before Partaking of Communion?

B. What Will You Do to Make This a Real Time of Communion?

[Source: Roger Campbell, Preach for a Year, #8; Kregel]