The Lord’s Supper is gratitude feast. “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Cor 11:24, 25). “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt 26:27-28).

The key issue in Corinth seems to have been community. “When you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you” (vv 18-19). “My brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment” (vv 33-34).

Remember vv 23-25

Paul received this revelation from the Lord. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper on the night He was betrayed. The bread represents Jesus’ body. Jesus’ bore our sins in His body (1 Pet 2:21). His body guarantees our resurrection. Jesus was raised bodily (Lk 24:39). “Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20). The cup is the new covenant in Jesus’ blood. The feast is a memorial to Jesus.

Report v 26

Did you realize that you preach every Sunday?

Why did the early church take the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week? “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight” (Acts 20:7). “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus” (Lk 24:1-3). All four Gospels mention that the women found the tomb empty “on the first day of the week.”

Research vv 27-32

We cannot take the feast in an unworthy manner. “Unworthy” is an adverb in Greek. Thus it modifies the eating of the Supper, not the person doing the eating. KJV: “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.” Eating & drinking unworthily has to do with community.

Therefore, we need to examine ourselves. Examination is no fun! We typically have no problem examining other people. Jesus talked about that attitude (Matt 7:1-5). What does it mean to examine ourselves? I think in context it has to do with our relationship with fellow believers. “He who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body” (v 29).

Danger in failing to examine ourselves. There is judgment. God is a God who judges. “Her plagues will come in one day--death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her” (Rev 18:8). 2 Pet 2:4-10a.

What do you see when you examine yourself?