11:17 ¶ Now in this that I declare unto you I
praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the
worse. 18 For first of all, when ye come
together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly
believe it. 19 For there must be also
heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among
you. 20 When ye come together therefore
into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. 21 For in eating every one taketh before other
his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink
in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I
say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
As was revealed in the evidence of Pliny’s letter in the beginning
of my comments on Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, the church would meet
before dawn on Sunday and then come back later for a meal together. In this
they commemorated Christ’s death and resurrection. Paul criticizes them for
making this an ordinary meal and not regarding the symbolic significance of it.
They come hungry and eat a lot and they come thirsty and get drunk
on the wine. This is unacceptable and not in keeping with the purpose of the
meal. It also sounds like a pagan feast in a pagan temple that Paul criticized
some of them for attending, a disorderly orgy of gluttony. They are missing the
point of the meal.
11:23 ¶ 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: 24
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat:
this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the
cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood:
this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink
this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 27 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. 28 But let a man
examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that
cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s
body. 30 For this cause many are
weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of
the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together
to eat, tarry one for another. 34 And if
any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto
condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
Paul explains the purpose and intent of the Lord’s Supper. He also considers that the reason that many of them
are sick or even have died is because they have perverted the purpose of this
meal, thus suggesting that God Himself has had a hand in their misfortune. Paul
tells them to examine their own motives. He commands order and civility when
they come together and eat, waiting for each other and not tearing into the
food like ravenous beasts. They are not to use this symbolic meal to satisfy
their hunger.
We have a misunderstanding today about polite behavior. We think
it is the way it has always been. But, until a couple of centuries ago it was
not uncommon for guests at a meal to dip their bread in the same soup bowl or
to share the same utensils or drinking cup, typically eating with their fingers
and using a piece of bread as we do a plate. Things went on at the table that
we would not tolerate today. COURTesy and civility and politeness were created
for kings and their COURTS and the ever refining of manners eventually worked
its way down to us at the bottom of the proverbial food chain. But, a public
meal in those days could be a raucous affair, not at all with the table manners
we require today to hold our thin fabric of civilization together.
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