What I Received from The Lord Himself

Meditations in First Corinthians

June 6, 2022

What I Received from The Lord Himself 

That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread

and drinking the cup.

1 Corinthians 11:28

Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-34

Paul’s letters were probably written before the Gospels were written. That means that Paul’s statements about Holy Communion are the one of the earliest records we have of how the church understood the significance and meaning of The Lord’s Supper.

For me, verse 23 is very insightful regarding Paul’s entire ministry: “For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself.” Paul reveals in Acts 26 that he had an extensive encounter with Jesus. In other places, Paul refers to God revealing to him the message he was to take to the nations. I remember that Jesus said that what he proclaimed to the world is what God the Father had told him to say. Paul says that what he teaches is what Jesus told him to teach.

In teaching about the Lord’s Supper, Paul reveals two insights about the body of Christ. The Body of Christ is the church, the people of God gathered for worship. The bread of the communion service is also the body of Christ, representing the very presence of Christ among the worshippers. In Corinth, the church incorporated the ‘Lord’s Supper” into a full meal as it was first observed by Jesus. In today’s text, Paul notes that the culture of his world was to divide people into classes and groups based on perceived social status and worth. To allow these ways of the world to divide the church is sin. To sin, in the context of the service of Holy Communion, is to sin against both the unity in the Body of Christ – the people of God - and to sin against the presence of Christ in the service.

My Takeaway: Most churches today do not openly allow cultural norms of status and worth to be practiced in the church. However, many churches have a rather casual and dismissive attitude about the sacrament of Holy Communion. It would be to our great benefit to have the Apostle Paul’s sense of reverence and awe for The Lord’s Supper.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.