Paul
the apostle asked the Corinthian church members whether they had
“houses to eat and to drink in”
and if they “despised the church of
God, and shame them that have not”.
He could not “praise”
them for this behavior, and in
chapter eleven and verse twenty-three of First Corinthians, Paul
shared how Jesus, “the
same night in which he was betrayed took bread”,
where we read:
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:
The verse begins, “For
I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto
you,...”. Paul
began with the word, “for”
which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and
therefore” “I have received”
which refers
to “Paul had accepted, obeyed and acknowledged with the mind to be
as he professed to be” “of the
Lord”
which refers to “from he to whom a person or thing belongs, about
which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the
Messiah” “that which also” which
means “what indeed and even” “I
delivered”
or “Paul committed, commended and gave” “unto
you” which
refers to “the church members in Corinth”. Paul first “received”
from Jesus what he declared and “committed” to the church members
in Corinth.
The
verse continues, “...That
the Lord Jesus the same
night in which he was betrayed took bread:”
Paul added
the words, “that the Lord” which
means “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has
power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”
“the same night”
or “the very evening or nighttime” “in
which”
which means “that” “he was
betrayed”
or “Jesus was given and delivered up to custody, to be judged,
condemned, punished, scourged, tormented and put to death” “took
bread”
which refers to “lay hold of, claimed and procured food composed of
flour mixed with water and baked”. Jesus “took
bread” on
what is commonly known as “the last supper” which was held in the
upper room on the very “night” that
He was “betrayed”
by Judas who was one of His disciples.
When
we think through these words from Paul, we see how he is reminding
those within the church of Corinth concerning “the eucharist,
communion or the Lord's supper” as the true reason for their
“gathering together”. He began his instruction by referring to
how Jesus took the “bread” on the “night of His
betrayal” by Judas and held it up before His disciples. (See
Matthew 26) The church in Corinth were “assembling” more for a
“social event” rather than for the purpose of remembering what
Jesus did for them and why they should continue to grow in their
faith. Paul shall address more of the Lord Jesus' actions concerning
“communion”, and as he does, perhaps we should examine our
reasons for “gathering together” with fellow believers.
Next
time Paul shares with the church members how Jesus said, “take,
eat: this is my body, which is broken for you”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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