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1 Corinthians 11:17-34
17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,1 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for2 you. Do this in remembrance of me.”3 25 In the same way also he took the cup, 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.
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.4 31 But if we judged5 ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined6 so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brothers,7 when you come together to eat, wait for8 one another—34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.
[1] 11:18
[2] 11:24
[3] 11:24
[4] 11:30
[5] 11:31
[6] 11:32
[7] 11:33
[8] 11:33
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
If you have a Bible, I invite you to turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 11 as we continue our study in 1st Corinthians. 1st Corinthians chapter 11, and if you want to put a thumb or a pencil or whatever in Luke chapter 22, you could go ahead and do that. We'll be going back and forth between those two texts. 1st Corinthians 11 and Luke chapter 22. I'll begin reading in verse 17.
Joel Brooks:But in the following instructions, I do not commend you. Because when you come together, it is not for the better, but for the worse. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part. For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
Joel Brooks:When he come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. 1 goes hungry, another gets drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in?
Joel Brooks:Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread.
Joel Brooks:And when he had given thanks, he broke it. And he said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
Joel Brooks:For as often as you eat this bread and you drink the cup, you proclaim the lord's death until he comes. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and the blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then. And so, eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Joel Brooks:That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But, if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home.
Joel Brooks:So that when he come together, it will not be for judgment. About the other things, I will give directions when I come. This is the word of the Lord. It is to be done. If you would, pray with me.
Joel Brooks:Father, we ask that you would bless the very reading of your word, and through your spirit, you'd already begin speaking life to us. We need to hear from you. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But, Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:Amen. I have many strange memories, associated with the Lord's supper. I I grew up in a church, a tradition that they used to serve communion on those round silver trays that had all the little cups in it. And and my first memory of the Lord's supper is when that tray was being passed from my from my mom over me to my dad. And I wanted to get some, and my mom said, no, that's for Christians.
Joel Brooks:And, I was I was denied that. And it tells you some about my personality that my mom and dad made me sit in between them during church, when my brother and sister could sit wherever they wanted. But, but that's my first memory of being passed over me, and I couldn't take in it. And so, when the service was over, I would sneak back into the kitchen, where they would put it afterwards, and there would be all of those little juice cups, and I would drink them all. When I became a Christian, and I'm It's 9 years old, and I could legally, you know, take the Lord's supper.
Joel Brooks:I I remember when they were passing that, and I I took one of the little cups, and it this was the 1st Sunday they had switched from the glass cups to the little plastic ones that, you know, that we have right here. And, I remember they were just so bendable. And, I was just like, wow. These are so bendable. And, of course, I broke it right there.
Joel Brooks:And it was a quiet part of the service. Everybody hears the the crunch, the gasp, and then I have grape juice all over me. And then my my parents, of course, they're really angry at me that I would do this. And so, that's also what I associate with the Lord's Supper, is my parents being really angry at me. And there was also something about blood of Jesus and body, and somehow that was in there as well.
Joel Brooks:But, I don't really remember that. Fast forward even further, and I've graduated from college. And, I am, I work at a college ministry. And, I haven't been ordained yet. I haven't gone to seminary yet.
Joel Brooks:But, I was teaching a freshman. I was doing a Bible study, and we were at a retreat. And on this retreat, we were gonna take the Lord's supper together. And then somebody informed me that I was not allowed to serve communion to this group of people because I wasn't an ordained minister yet. And an ordained minister actually had to bless the elements.
Joel Brooks:I didn't know what to do about this because the entire service was structured around us having communion. And, so I called up, the the Methodist minister who was over this, and I said, what am I what am I supposed to do? And he goes, well, go into the kitchen where the elements are. I said, okay. He goes, now just just hold the phone over the bread and wine, and I'm gonna bless the elements for you.
Joel Brooks:And so I remember holding it over there, and then I just waited a while. I didn't know how long I was supposed to wait, and finally, I was like, are you done? Have you blessed them? It's like, okay. And I remember at the time thinking that this felt so hocus pocus, is what it really felt like.
Joel Brooks:And then I went to seminary, and I realized that hocus pocus actually has its origins in communion. It was the Latin slang for this is my body. And it was when the the elements magically got turned into the body of Christ in his blood. It was just a bunch of hocus pocus. And so, this is the baggage that I bring in, to communion.
Joel Brooks:And perhaps, you have similar baggage or perhaps, you're just confused, and you really don't know what the Lord's supper is all about. And so what I want us to do this morning is just remember. Let's just take time to remember the the words that Jesus said, and what this meal is about. What is the Lord's supper? There's lots of questions surrounding it.
Joel Brooks:How often should he take it? Do you have to be baptized to take it? Does an ordained minister or or elder have to be the one to serve it to you? Does there need to be a certain pronouncement or blessing over the elements to make it official? Are you allowed to take it using the little teeny cups, or do you have to use a really big cup?
Joel Brooks:And and it's a common cup. Those were actually some pretty big questions. Even even the the big common cup, if you even look at the architecture of churches over the years, back in the medieval ages, you had this huge cup that was central to the church because everybody had to drink from the same cup. They also died of the plague, you know, because they would all drink from the same thing. We do that as a church occasionally.
Joel Brooks:We'll we'll all drink from a common cup, and, I can always tell the people who beeline it there first, they're the germophobes. You know, just have to get there and take it first. But is that theologically necessary, or or can you use the little cups? These are the kind of questions that surround the Lord's Supper. Now, the reason we have so many questions about the Lord's Supper is because there's so little written about it in scripture.
Joel Brooks:Apart from the 4 times it's mentioned in the gospels, here in 1st Corinthians is the only other mention of the Lord's supper. And the gospel simply just described the event. This is And here in first Corinthians is the only teaching we have on the Lord's supper, which makes it pretty important for us. And we realize that this should be a meal that unites us, not divides us. This is a beautiful gift that the Lord has given us to remember him.
Joel Brooks:Now Paul begins this section by saying, in the following instructions, I do not commend you. Which, you know it's gonna be bad because it's not like Paul's been commending them up to this point. I mean, all he's been doing is is just kinda beating them down. There's there haven't been many thattaboys, or you're doing great. Pretty much the entire letter has been a rebuke, but here, right out of the gate, he just says, I will not commend you in this.
Joel Brooks:Now, at least in the rest of the letter, he he would try to find common ground. He would say things like, okay. You know, you don't believe that idols are real. I'm with you there. I've I've I've I've I've affirmed that.
Joel Brooks:But we still shouldn't, even though we know they're not real, we still shouldn't eat the food to sacrifice to them. And so, we'd find common ground and then he would instruct them to move forward. It's a lot of what I, the similarities are like the, have you heard the praise sandwich? Are y'all familiar with that? You don't have to do every email to somebody.
Joel Brooks:1st, you praise them for something that they've done. Then, you insert the criticism or correction, and then you you end it by saying, but you're really doing a great job. Do y'all get those? Boy, y'all been fooled. You have been getting those for many years.
Joel Brooks:It's it's how people they communicate. They they do the little praise sandwich there.
Speaker 2:And and Paul had kind of been doing that a little praise sandwich there. And and Paul had kind of
Joel Brooks:been doing that a little and Paul had kinda been doing that a little bit throughout the letter, but he doesn't hear. Here, it's just what you're doing is wrong. And he's ticked off at what they're doing. He says, you're not even eating the Lord's supper. In verse 21, he says, you're eating your own supper.
Joel Brooks:Don't even call it the Lord's supper. You're just going on and eating your own meal. Some of you are gorging. You're committing gluttony at this meal. Some of you are getting drunk at this meal while others are going hungry.
Joel Brooks:And, the reason that this was happening was that this meal was dividing people among their socioeconomic lines. So, it's the 1st century. You know, there were no church buildings like this. The church met in people's homes, and so that meant communion was celebrated in somebody's home. Likely a wealthy person's house who would, have a home large enough for people to meet in.
Joel Brooks:So, a wealthy man would have been used to eating this way. He would eat while servants waited on him. When he finished eating, then his servants were allowed to eat. But what happened if his servants became Christians? What does it look like now, when when they're having a meal?
Joel Brooks:Are they supposed to still wait on him? Or do they sit down now with him? Is this meal somehow different? And what about when poor people come to this meal? Are they supposed to do like they have always done, which is just kinda stand along the walls, watching the rich people eat?
Joel Brooks:And then, after they have eaten, then they are allowed to what's left. What is it supposed to look like? So these were the questions that were happening there. And in the Corinthians, they were treating this this special meal just like any other. And so the rich, they would they would set up the meal early because they could actually get there early.
Joel Brooks:Their jobs, because they were wealthy, they likely had flexible hours. Or at the maybe they didn't have jobs and they could just go and they could set up whenever they wanted, and they bring their own food, and they bring their own wine. And then, the poor people would come in late, because they had to work. There were no weekends here. There was no Sunday in which people didn't have to work.
Joel Brooks:Everyday people worked. And so, the poor could only come after a hard day of work. And then, they would show up at this person's house, and the food would be gone. The wealthy had already eaten the great food that they brought. They'd already drank the good wine that they have brought.
Joel Brooks:And so, the poor remained hungry. So that's the situation that Paul's addressing here. And he's furious. And he's absolutely furious that this this meal that's supposed to so unite people has now become so divisive. This meal that was supposed to be a way of remembering the sacrifice of Christ was now becoming a means in which you could be selfish.
Joel Brooks:And so Paul says, I need to just remind you of what this meal means. He says, let's remember. Let's remember. So let's take time as a church to remember this meal. Turn to Luke 22.
Joel Brooks:Luke chapter 22. Paul's account of the Lord's supper, the words that he uses most closely resemble the words we find in Luke. So we'll look there. We'll begin reading in verse 14. And when the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him.
Joel Brooks:And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup. And when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.
Joel Brooks:And he took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise, the cup after they had eaten saying, this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. And so, here we see Jesus's meal, this last supper that he has with his disciples.
Joel Brooks:Now, this is a Passover meal. And most of us in here are probably at least a little bit familiar with with the Passover and this Passover meal. It was the annual celebration, the annual meal in which the people of God, they got together to remember how he had delivered them out of slavery and brought them into freedom. How He had delivered them out of the bondage of Egypt. So in Exodus 11, you'll read about God saying he was gonna send the destroyer to the land of Egypt.
Joel Brooks:And this destroyer was gonna come and was going to kill every firstborn. It didn't matter if you were Egyptian or Israelite. The destroyer did not discriminate. Everybody was guilty. Judgment was coming in the form of the destroyer.
Joel Brooks:But then, God said, but here's how you can escape. I need you to take a lamb. Kill it. Paint the blood of this lamb over your doorposts. And then the destroyer will pass over you, and you you won't be harmed.
Joel Brooks:And so that's that's the Passover. That's the Passover meal. And and the Jewish people, they would celebrate this every year about how a defenseless little lamb would keep them safe. Which is extraordinary if you think about it, that the most powerful killing force ever is coming to the world. I mean, it could just cut right through Egypt, the most powerful force of the world at that time, like like it was nothing, like a a warm knife through butter.
Joel Brooks:And yet, what will protect the people? A a little fluffy lamb. The blood of a little fluffy lamb is gonna somehow protect the people. Now, the lord, he told the Jewish people that he was doing it this way as a sign. A sign.
Joel Brooks:He could've delivered them any number of ways. I mean, he could've just had a plague kill all the Egyptians. Pretty easy. Then they just kinda leave. He could've had an invading army come in and just kill all the Egyptians, then the Israelites leave.
Joel Brooks:I mean, he could've shot lightning bolts down and killed each Egyptian personally. I mean, he's not really limited. He's God. He could have delivered them any way he wanted, but he chose this, which is so strange. A white, little, fluffy, innocent lamb had to be killed.
Joel Brooks:And that night, you would either have a dead child or a dead lamb under your household. You got to choose. But he said it was a sign. We read this in Exodus 12. These are the words from the Lord.
Joel Brooks:He says, this blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. The Lord tells the people that this blood of the lamb is gonna be a sign. But he says, it's not a sign for the destroyer.
Joel Brooks:It's not a sign for me. This is a sign for you. It's a sign for you. People of Israel wondered for many, many years what that sign pointed to. What is the blood of the lamb?
Joel Brooks:How is it a sign? Who or what is it pointing us to? And for 1400 years, the question is raised. And then, Jesus comes and he says, I will tell you, it's a sign pointing to me. Jesus is celebrating this Passover meal 1400 years later.
Joel Brooks:And he explains it all and he says, I am the fulfillment of that Passover meal. So, just hours before Jesus was to be killed, he takes this Passover meal with his disciples, but then he changes it. It's been done the same way every single year, but then Jesus messes with it. He he changes it because he's bringing out the real meaning of it. And he changes it in order to teach them about the meaning of his death.
Joel Brooks:It might surprise you to know that although Jesus talked about his death a lot, when you read through the gospels, you'll, you'll hear him talking about his death over and over again. How he was gonna die. He was gonna be tortured. And 3 days later, he was gonna rise. And he talks a lot about that.
Joel Brooks:He never actually talks about the meaning of it. He doesn't ever explain to his disciples why he needed to die. But he waits until the night before his death to finally explain the why. And, he uses this meal to communicate the meaning of his death. Every Passover meal would begin the same way.
Joel Brooks:The youngest child, often the youngest child would would stand up as, after the, after the host got up and, would hold up a cup of wine and basically thank God for the food. A young child would say, why is this night different than all the other nights? And then, the host would say, I'm glad you asked. And he would begin to explain the Exodus, and how God had delivered them. Jesus likely began the same way, But then, he goes off script.
Joel Brooks:So, you get to this part in the meal where you you hold up the bread, And this was the bread of the affliction. It was a bread that, this unleavened bread, and it represented the affliction that the Israelite people had to go through. And Jesus says, this is not about their affliction. This is about my affliction. This bread is my body broken for you.
Joel Brooks:And then, he gets the cup. The cup that was the cup of redemption. The cup of forgiveness. He says, you wanna know about this cup? This cup is actually my blood that will be poured out to bringing forgiveness to many.
Joel Brooks:And so, he he tells about the bread, and he gives new meaning to the bread, and then he gives new meaning to the blood. But then notice, he never gives any reference to a lamb. Paul never makes reference to a lamb. None of the 4 gospels makes reference to a lamb, which is really unusual considering it's the Passover. And the lamb is the central element to a Passover meal.
Joel Brooks:But they're all very clear that they don't mention a lamb, and that would have been very intentional. And so either Jesus didn't have a lamb at a Passover meal, making it abundantly clear, I'm the lamb. Or he didn't even need to reference it. Because, by this point, it has become so clear who the lamb of God is. It's him.
Joel Brooks:And it's his death, his broken body, his blood that now will provide redemption for the people. He is the pure spotless lamb that is going to act as a substitute. So that's the Lord's supper. And there's a lot that we can pull from this. But I want us to just focus on 4 things.
Joel Brooks:We're gonna quickly look at 4 things that that Jesus does here in this meal, and I think Paul wants to bring to our attention. The first is this. At this meal, Jesus lays a new foundation for a new family. I mean, for over a millennia, this was a family meal. This is when family gathered together, and the head of the household, he he used this as the opportunity to teach his children about the Exodus, but then Jesus parts from this.
Joel Brooks:And he brings in the disciples. Now, all of the disciples, they would have had family. And he pulls them away from their blood family on this most special night, and he gathers them in a room. And then Jesus treats them as family. And, Jesus here, what he is saying is, it's not your blood that makes family, it's my blood that makes family.
Joel Brooks:And here, I am treating you as brothers and as sisters, and as sons and daughters. Second thing we see here is how not only does Jesus lay the foundation for that new family or that new community, but this is a family that serves, That serves one another. So, in Luke's account of this, which once again is the one that most closely matches Paul's. Luke describes an argument that breaks out right in the middle of the supper. I know it's hard to imagine an argument breaking out at a family meal, but it did.
Joel Brooks:And they didn't just argue about anything. I mean, get this. They argued over who was the greatest. Alright. So at the Lord's supper, the disciples are actually arguing over who is the greatest person here.
Joel Brooks:Because, as they're taking this meal, whoever would sit closest to Jesus was usually considered the greatest. So what you what seat you sat in really mattered. And so, they're probably fighting over which seats. Jockeying for power. When I read this, it reminds me of when I was younger.
Joel Brooks:And I think I was about 3 years old, so I was really young. And, there was some big family meal we were having. It might have been Thanksgiving. It might have been some kind of Christmas meal. I'm I'm a little unclear about that part.
Joel Brooks:But it was at my aunt's house. And I wanted to to sit at the table using one of her old, special antique chairs. And so, the the normal chairs are around the dining room table. And I went, and I got this old antique chair, and I pulled it up, and it had all this needlepoint fabric, you know, all over it. And, my mom said, you cannot sit in that chair.
Joel Brooks:And, I was like, oh, yes, I can. And, she goes, that that is that is your aunt's special chair. And I'm like, well, I'm a special person. And so, I I was just so arrogant. I was not like all those other people that were gonna sit around the table.
Joel Brooks:I wanted to sit in this, and my mom says, no. You will sit like everybody else. And I'm thinking I'm not like everybody else. Alright. I'm 3.
Joel Brooks:Okay? And at one point, and I'm not sure what was going through my head, but my mom had actually given me a a card that had some money in it, had had $2. And I remember I got the money out, and I just ripped it in front of her, in front of everybody, like that was gonna hurt her, you know? Let me rip my own money up. Take that.
Joel Brooks:But it was a way of me saying, nobody tells me what to do, and I'm not like you. Thankfully, I mostly grew out of that. Alright? And my mom just put me in another room. But at at at a table that was supposed to be this joyful family meal, because I thought I was different and better than everybody, I I just completely ruined it.
Joel Brooks:Here's Jesus, this special occasion. He's he's making them family, And they had the audacity in the middle of it to argue over who was the greatest. And so Jesus, he he says these words in Luke 22 verse 24. A dispute also rose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.
Joel Brooks:But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader as the one who serves. For who is greater, one who reclines at the table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I, I am among you as the one who serves.
Joel Brooks:Now, in this day, wealthy people were called benefactors. Much like the kings of that day were called benefactors, Because the the people depended on upon them to live. They they would give their money. They would share their wealth with the people. However, they didn't do this out of the kindness of their hearts.
Joel Brooks:It's not like they're just giving money away. They expected a return in their investment. So, if they gave you $10, they're expecting 15, $20 back. Alright? That that they would give, always expecting something in return.
Joel Brooks:That's how their relationships worked. Matter of fact, that's how all relationships typically work, In which, the relationships we pursue, we we typically want something back from the person. And so, it it could be something really simple. Like, you know, we we just we just kinda wanna share in the higher status that you have. We wanna be able to win your your circle of friends.
Joel Brooks:And so maybe we invest in that person so we could partake in a higher status, or maybe we want their business connections. If I could just get in with that person, then I can start making the deals with all of their friends. Or it could be something as mundane as, I just enjoy good meals and and and good conversation. And if I know if I If I'm friends with them, they'll probably have me over. I I could just see that as a good friendship working.
Joel Brooks:But, what you're really doing is you're pursuing that relationship because you want something from it. I mean, nobody just pursues a relationship in order to give, but Jesus says, you you should. Pursuing a relationship to get something from someone, that's how the world works, but not so with you. He's freeing us from that. He says, you no longer have to to try to get something in your relationships.
Joel Brooks:You know why? Because I'm giving you everything. I'm giving you my very body. I'm giving you my very blood. I'm giving you salvation, redemption.
Joel Brooks:I'm giving you all of that, so you no longer have to look to try to find those things in others. And this frees you up to serve. And if you wanna be great, you'll start serving. And so Jesus, he not only makes family, but then he makes us a family that serves one another. 3rd thing we see in communion is we see the centrality of the cross.
Joel Brooks:The centrality of the cross. Okay. Jesus, he he only set up one meal for us to remember something. Just one meal to remember one thing. And it was his atoning work on the cross.
Joel Brooks:He did not set up a meal to like, for us to remember when he fought the devil in the desert. Or, give us a meal so we could remember the transfiguration. He didn't give us a meal even to celebrate Pentecost, and the giving of his spirit. Instead, he gave us this one meal so that we would remember his death on a cross. This is immensely important.
Joel Brooks:It seems obvious, but it's not. Because what you see throughout church history is when the cross no longer becomes central. The central element of Christianity, things just get out of whack. And so for instance, if you make if you make Pentecost the center point for Christianity, when God gives his spirit, when you make it the center, you see what happens to the Corinthians. They become obsessed with spiritual gifts.
Joel Brooks:And they begin to think that that they're a better person if they are more gifted, and they could boast over the other people who don't have as good of gifts. And they're jockeying for power. They're saying who is the greatest? Which one of us is the greatest? What's the one with the greatest gifts?
Joel Brooks:And then gifts become a way of evaluating whether God loves you or not. He loves you. Why? Because he gives you gifts, and these could be spiritual or material. That's the evidence that He loves me.
Joel Brooks:It's because He gave me this. And so, it gets all out of whack. But when you bring the cross and you say, this is the central element. Well then, you're no longer jockeying for position because there is no pride before the cross. You realize who you are and that Jesus had to die for you.
Joel Brooks:And and there's no doubt as to, does he love me or not? All you have to do is look at the cross. He gave his very life for you. And so, the cross is to be the center of unto God. And there's a constant self serving, in order to live unto God.
Joel Brooks:And there's a constant self sacrifice and dying, in order that his resurrected power might live in us. So, the atoning work on the cross is central. Now, Paul wants to bring all of these things to mind to the Corinthians who were who were abusing this meal. He's saying, how can you be so divisive when Jesus made this meal to unite us? How dare you use this meal as a way to separate people among socioeconomic lines into the haves and the have nots when Jesus showed us that the greatest is to be the one who serves?
Joel Brooks:Jesus freely gave to us so we could freely give to others. Paul reminds them that Jesus literally gave his life for them. Then we come to verse 29, in which Paul says this. He goes, remember this. Whoever eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Joel Brooks:Whoever eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. Now, Jesus Or Paul is not talking about Jesus' body here. He's not talking about the bread here. He's talking about the body of Christ. That's that's the context of all of this here.
Joel Brooks:He's talking about your brothers and sisters in Christ. And you need to rightly discern your brothers and sisters in Christ. Rightly discern the family of God. So when you think of church, do you think of a service you go to? Or do you think of a people you belong to?
Joel Brooks:Which is it? Do you serve your brothers and sisters, or do you use them for your own gain? He's saying, your relationship with God is now demonstrated in how you relate to others at this meal. Alright. Let's look at the final thing.
Joel Brooks:Final thing we see as we look at this meal is that Jesus left this meal unfinished. Once again, look at Luke chapter 22 verse 14. And when the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him. And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
Joel Brooks:I mean, just stop right there and like, what are you talking about? Jesus says, I really want to eat this meal with you, and I'm not gonna eat it. And then you then you come to what's next. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.
Joel Brooks:And now it says, now it's time for us to all drink this wine, but I'm not going to. And so, so Jesus, he, at some point in the in the middle of the meal, he sets up this wonderful meal. He begins to eat with them, but then he stops at some point. He's like, I'm not gonna eat anymore, and I'm not gonna drink anymore Until. Until I drink it and I eat it with you in the kingdom.
Joel Brooks:He's leaving this meal unfinished. But he's saying that he will come again. And what we have here is, you know, when he has this cup, that would have been the cup of joy, the last cup of the meal. And it's likely here that Jesus, he's holding up this cup and that's when he says, I'm I'm I'm not gonna take of this cup. And and he puts it down, it's like, I'm not gonna take of this cup, because there's something I have to do first before I can take of this cup with you.
Joel Brooks:He's gotta go to the cross. But after he has done his atoning work and he ascends, and now he is waiting. And, I don't know why he's waiting or what he's waiting for, only God knows. But then, when he will come again, he will establish his kingdom, and we will continue this meal. We will eat with him.
Joel Brooks:We will drink that cup of joy. If you look all throughout scripture, you're gonna find over and over again that the kingdom of God is described as a feast. It's the wedding feast. And Jesus is saying when the kingdom of God comes, the feast continues. He gave them a taste of it here, but it comes in full when he comes again.
Joel Brooks:This is what we long for, and this is what he longs for. I want you to notice, just wanna read this one more verse one verse again really carefully. Every word matters here. Once again, verse 15. He said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Joel Brooks:For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Okay. That word desire or translated earnestly desire is the word epitheumia that we looked at last week. Y'all remember that word? Epithumia.
Joel Brooks:It's a word that's translated throughout the rest of the new testament as evil desire, as sinful desire. But we talked about it being an epi desire. It was an over desire. It was the central desire. And those were evil desires and sinful desires because they didn't have God's heart at the center.
Joel Brooks:They had idols at the center. Other things were pursuing. But here, Jesus actually uses that word, His over desire, His central overriding desire is this. It's not sinful here, because this is the desire that Jesus has had for all of eternity, that he would eat with us. Isn't that amazing?
Joel Brooks:The desire of all desires that Jesus has is simply to eat with us, and that we would receive joy. You get a a good picture of this in John 17, and that high priestly prayer when you really get the a glimpse into Jesus's heart, and he's praying, and and he prays for glory, but not just glory, because Jesus had glory. He already had glory before he ever came. What he prays is, Father, will you glorify me, and may these people here see me in my glory? That's his heart's desire, is not just to be glorified, but that we might behold him in his glory.
Joel Brooks:In other words, that we might sit at the table with him and bask in his glory. And in his presence is fullness of joy. And we will all raise a glass and drink of that final cup. So Jesus longs for, that's what we long for. Paul hints at this when he when he reminds people of this table, and he says, hey, for as often as you eat of this bread and you drink of this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Joel Brooks:And he will come again. Pray with me. Our Father, we pray as we partake in this meal, we would remember that you gave your body to create a body. This body here, you have made us family. And we thank you for your blood and your body broken for us.
Joel Brooks:And as we take this, may we indeed commune with you. And you have made us in a right relationship with you and may we have a right relationship with one another. May we rightly discern the body. And we pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.