Remembering the True Meaning of The Lord's Supper
Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 11:17-26 (NASB)
17 But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
SUMMARY
Paul reprimands the Corinthians for how they come together at church for Lord’s Supper because they come together for worse not better. Paul heard that there is division among them. Paul says he will not praise them for their behavior at Lord’s Supper for they are interested in eating and drinking without consideration for others and not properly commemorating the meaning of Lord’s Supper, which is to remember Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. We are to announce Jesus' death until His second coming through Lord’s Supper.
MEDITATION & REFLECTION
We are all God's children and we should remember the Last Supper for what God has done for us. He has died for us all on the cross so we are cleansed of our sins to be accepted by our Heavenly Father. I shouldn't think of myself differently, but need to be reminded that I am just as acceptable to God as anyone else and He calls me to deny myself and just follow Him. My understanding from this passage is to not compare myself to others just because they have higher social status and or more spiritually mature than me.
This passage also shows that believers in church should be together as one because we are all God's children. We should treat each other with consideration in church and not have separation of groups based on our status or wealth. I also realized our purpose for attending church is to become good Christian not to satisfy our worldly desires such as eating, drinking, or to take comfort in our worldly status. True meaning of Christian is being humble, remembering, and honoring God for who He is and what He has done for us.
APPLICATION
This passage reminds me of how I feel about church right now. I relate to the people who did not get enough to eat at the Lord's Supper. I feel like I am not worthy to be part of the Lord’s Supper sometimes because I am not of certain status, and because I am not that spiritually mature. However, this way of thinking has prevented me from getting more involved at church. I am fully accepted by God and He is calling me to follow Him. I will no longer allow my self-consciousness to get in the way of participating in church activities.
Even writing this Blog is a breakthrough for me because I always thought highly of everyone who writes QT blogs, but I always felt like I am not as spiritually mature like the other women who write QT blogs and not worthy to write a blog. I had to overcome my feeling of unworthiness to write this blog. I realize that above all else, God wants me to go deeper in His word. It was amazing how this bible passage which seemed to me like a mystery I could not unlock, became clearer to me more I meditated on it and now I understand God and myself even more.
PRAYER
Dear God,
Thank you God for giving me this opportunity to open my eyes to realize again we should all love others no matter who they are in any given place especially in church .
I pray that I will not be judging myself even if I don’t feel I am particularly gifted or talented in any area. Regardless of what others think of me I would not judge myself either. Even though I don't have anything to be proud of or much knowledge, help me to have confidence to know that my family from church will love and accept me as who I am. Help me to be more open with others and show love and joy at any place, and continue to do that everywhere and with everyone.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Please share your personal meditations on this Scripture passage with the HolyWave community in the comments section below. (We reserve the right to moderate comments.)