As
Paul the apostle continued to share about the church members in
Corinth “assembling” for “the
Lord's supper”, he
repeated Jesus' words, “for as often
as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's
death till he comes”.
In
chapter eleven and verse twenty-six of First Corinthians, Paul
declared that whoever “eats or drinks”
of the Lord's supper, “unworthily,
shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord”,
where we read:
Wherefore
whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this
cup of the Lord,
unworthily,
shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
The verse begins,
“Wherefore
whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this
cup of the Lord, ...”. Paul
began with the word, “wherefore”
which means “so then, insomuch that and therefore” “whosoever”
or “the
person who” “shall eat”
which means “consumes or devours” “this
bread” which
means “the food composed of flour mixed with water and baked and
consecrated to the Lord”, “and
drink” or
“and imbibes” “this cup”
which refers to “the drinking vessel consecrated to the Lord” “of
the Lord” or
“of he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power
of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”. Paul
addressed his conclusion toward the church members who “eat
and drink”
of the elements of “the Lord's
supper”.
The
verse goes on to say, “...
unworthily, shall be guilty of the
body and blood of the Lord.” Paul
continued with the word, “unworthily”
which means
“in an unworthy and irreverent manner”, “shall
be guilty”
or “will be bound, under obligation, subject to and liable” “of
the body”
which means “for the corpse” “and
blood” or
“and bloodshed” “of the Lord”
which refers to “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which
he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the
Messiah”. Paul declared the person who “eats
and drinks”
of “the Lord's supper”
in an “irreverent manner” were “subject and liable” for the
“body and blood”
of Jesus.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we understand how important it was
for the church members to know the significance of “the Lord's
supper”. They were not to observe the assembling of themselves
together for this purpose lightly, and gathering for other reasons
would contribute toward participating in “communion” in an
“unworthy” manner. Paul adds additional teaching about
personal “examination” concerning “the Lord's supper”
in the next few verses, and meanwhile we should remember that Jesus
desires for His church to observe and recollect the sacrifice He made
on the cross our sins. Lest we be “guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord”, let us remember this “holy sacrament”, called
“the Lord's supper” is worthy of our greatest awe and
reverence.
Next
time Paul tells the church members, “let
a man examine himself”,
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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