1 Corinthians 11:27-34

1 Corinthians 11:27-34

Therefore, whoever should eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner – he will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.  And let a man examine himself and in this way eat out of the bread and drink out of the cup.  For the one who eats and the one who drinks while not discerning the body eats and drinks judgment for himself.  Because of this many in you all are weak and sick and quite a number have died.  But if we were examining ourselves, we were not being examined.  But we are being disciplined while being judged by the Lord in order that we should not be condemned with the world.  Therefore, my brothers, while coming together in order to eat: wait for each other.  If someone is hungry, let him eat in the house in order that you all should not come together into judgment.  And I will give directions about the rest about the remaining things whenever I should come.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought

Notice something significant about this passage.  Paul talks about participating in communion in an unworthy manner – but he never once talks about the person themselves being worthy!  The truth is, none of us are ever worthy.  Communion is for the sinner!  Thus, always being unworthy, we must focus not on ensuring our worth but rather participating in a worthy manner.  What is a worthy manner?  Paul talks clearly here.  A person should examine themselves.  Note that Paul is also clear about who examines whom.  We don’t examine one another.  We don’t have other people in charge of examining us.  Rather, we are each responsible for examining ourselves.  When we come to the Lord’s Supper having taken the time to examine our hearts and to confess our flaws we demonstrate a worthy manner.

Do you examine yourself prior to partaking in the Lord’s Supper?  Have you ever taken communion and had it be out of rote behavior?  Do you agree with Paul that we are to examine ourselves rather than depend on other people to be in charge of examining us?

Second Thought:

During our examination of ourselves we can discover what it is that God desires us to change, work on, and improve.  When we examine ourselves we find the discipline of the Lord so that we can become more like Him and less like ourselves.  When we examine ourselves we find our weaknesses and our sicknesses and we have an opportunity to get better.  All of this is so that we should not fall into condemnation with the rest of the world.  What we can see here is that the Lord’s discipline is not for punishment but for our salvation.  We examine ourselves not so that we should beat ourselves up but so that we can receive the Lord’s salvation.  This is what Paul means when we says if we examine ourselves, we are not being examined.  If we do it ourselves, we can avoid being examined by the Lord into condemnation.

Do you like to examine yourself?  What makes this hard?  What makes it meaningful?

Third Thought:

As we get to the end of this section Paul returns to his overarching theme: division in the church.  Notice what he talks about with respect to coming together?  Come together in such a way as to not divide one another.  Come together in a way that does not allow you to bring judgment upon the other people.  Christ’s Church – and the Lord’s Supper above all else – should be a place of coming together and unity, not division.  When we divide ourselves – especially with respect to the Lord’s Supper – we grieve God terribly!

Have you ever experienced division in the church?  Have you ever experienced division regarding communion?  Why do we allow these things to happen in Christ’s church?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 12:1-3