The Lord’s Supper

At Corinth, the assembly gathered for the Lord’s Supper had become an occasion of division: the wealthier ate and drank their fill, while the poorer were left hungry. Paul recalls what this meal is and the reverence it demands.

One bread, one body

The bread broken and the cup shared are not mere signs: they make one commune in the body and blood of Christ. “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion in the body of Christ?” 1 Corinthians 10:16 It is this communion in the one body that makes the many one body. And because there is but one bread, those who receive it, however many, become one body. “Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share in the one bread.” 1 Corinthians 10:17 The Eucharist makes the unity of the Church: to divide at the Lord’s table contradicts what that table works.

What Paul received of the Lord

To set the Corinthians right, Paul recalls the origin of this meal, in words he himself received and handed on. It is the oldest written account of the institution of the Eucharist, earlier than the Gospels: “For here is what I received from the Lord, and what I handed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after giving thanks, he broke it and said: ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.’” 1 Corinthians 11:23-24 Over the cup, he adds the word that seals the new covenant: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this in memory of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:25 These words found no mere memory: they institute the memorial that makes present the one sacrifice of Christ, which the site sets out in the article on the Eucharist. This memorial looks at once to the Cross and to the Lord’s return: “whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:26 The Eucharist announces the death that saves and holds the Church in the awaiting of the one who will come again.

Discerning the body

From this comes the gravity Paul attaches to this meal. To approach the Supper without recognizing what is given there is to become guilty toward the body and blood of the Lord: “whoever eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks his own condemnation.” 1 Corinthians 11:29 To discern the body is to recognize that under the bread Christ himself is given, which the article on the real presence unfolds more fully. Paul draws from this the demand of a prior examination: “Let each one, then, examine himself before eating of this bread and drinking of this cup.” 1 Corinthians 11:28 The Church reads here the need to approach communion in a state of grace, grave sin calling first for reconciliation. The Lord’s table therefore calls for charity toward the brethren and reverence toward the gift.