Teaching About the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians (Communion Meditation)

Mark Berrier
9/25/2005

In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul gives us five ways to look at the Lord’s Supper. Consider each of these “looks” as you meet around his table this week.

1. The Inward Look. Paul writes, “A man ought to examine himself” (11:28). When the Supper is before me, I contemplate the past week and confess my sins to God. If Christians forget to look closely at themselves, they become forgetful of their own sins. He forgives us; that is why we confess (1 John 1:9).

2. The Outward Look. Paul writes that we should participate, “recognizing the body of the Lord” (v. 29). By this, he means that “there is one loaf” (10:17), and so we are all members of the one body, the body of Christ. The context is speaking of unity.

The Corinthians were gathering haphazardly. Some of them would eat and others would get drunk; they were not even waiting until the whole church was gathered, and so some were left out. Paul told them to stop this; he told them to wait until all were gathered, and then eat and drink together, recognizing their unity with each other and with Christ. Doing it as they were, they were shaming themselves.

3. The Upward Look. Paul quotes the words of Jesus. He himself said, “This is my body” (11:24) and “this is my blood . . . poured out . . . for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Then he said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The word, “remembrance” indicates a “calling up to the present.” There is a sense in which Jesus is in the Supper in ways he is not in anything else. After all, it is his body and blood. So recognizing his presence in the Supper is a major part of Communion. He is with us.

4. The Backward Look. Paul says, “You proclaim the Lord’s death” (11:26). I always go back in my mind’s eye to the cross—to his public humiliation, beating, piercing. He took my load of guilt on himself and was nailed up for the world to see. This is the ultimate test of God’s love for us.

5. The Forward Look. Paul continues, “You proclaim the Lord’s death, until he comes” (v. 26). His coming will judge the world. And according to Isaiah 25, we will say, “This is our God!” We await his coming. He will take us out of here to our true home. And so we will always be with the Lord.

MB