Remembering Christ: Why Communion Matters More Than We Think
Is communion just a ritual, or a sacred encounter with Christ that brings grace, unity, and renewal? Paul’s words to Corinth challenge us to rediscover the Lord’s Supper for what it truly is.
-
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,[a] 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 for[b] you. Do this in remembrance of me.”[c] 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.[d] 31 But if we judged[e] ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined[f] so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brothers,[g] when you come together to eat, wait for[h] 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.
Holy Communion: A Sacred Meal of Grace and Unity
The Lord’s Supper holds profound significance in Christian worship, yet the Corinthian church had turned this sacred meal into a source of division and shame. In 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, the Apostle Paul addressed their corruption of communion with some of his strongest language in the entire letter, revealing both the gravity of their error and the transformative power of properly understanding this means of grace.
Paul’s correction wasn’t merely about table manners but about recognizing communion as a sacred encounter with Christ that transforms both our relationship with God and our unity with fellow believers. His teaching reveals that the Lord’s Supper serves as a vital means of God’s grace when approached with proper understanding and preparation.
The Biblical Foundation of Communion
The pattern of bread and wine as symbols of God’s covenant relationship with his people traces back through Scripture long before Christ’s institution of the Lord’s Supper. When Abraham met Melchizedek, scholars note they shared bread and wine in worship (Melchizedek serving as a type of Christ, pointing to future reality). The tabernacle and temple contained tables of showbread with bread and wine, foreshadowing the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus’ pierced body and shed blood.
This biblical foundation established what theologians call “Deuteronomic theory,” the principle that obedience brings blessing. This pattern appears throughout Scripture: “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me” (John 14:21), followed by the promise that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will manifest themselves to that person. Similarly, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8) and “Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37) demonstrate how following God’s commands attracts his blessing.
When Jesus commanded, “Do this in remembrance of me,” He wasn’t suggesting casual mental reflection. The Greek word for “remembrance” (anamnesis) carries the nuance of recalling an event so thoroughly that it becomes a present reality. God’s intent in the Lord’s Supper is that Jesus and his redemptive work become present realities in believers’ lives, that in Christ, sins are forgiven and hearts are renewed.
John Wesley understood this transformative power, teaching that communion serves as a means of grace that confirms the pardon of sins by enabling believers to leave them behind. He wrote:
“As our bodies are strengthened by bread and wine, so are our souls by these tokens of the body and blood of Christ. This is the food of our souls. This gives strength to perform our duty and leads us on to perfection.”
The Corinthian Corruption
The Corinthian church celebrated communion in conjunction with a love feast, a large communal meal followed by the Lord’s Supper. However, they had so corrupted this practice that Paul declared their gathering was “not for the better but for the worse” (verse 18).
Several serious problems plagued their communion practice:
Selfishness and Excess: Wealthy members arrived early, consumed the best food, and drank to excess while poorer members, for whom this might be their only decent meal of the week, went hungry. Paul expressed outrage: “In eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry while another gets drunk” (verse 21).
Divisions and Factions: The same divisions Paul addressed earlier in the letter now infected their communion practice. Rather than fostering unity, their meal reinforced social stratification and church politics.
Spiritual Blindness: Most seriously, they had lost sight of communion’s sacred significance. They couldn’t discern the spiritual importance of the bread and cup representing Christ’s shed blood and pierced body for their sins.
Paul reminded them that he had received this instruction directly from the Lord, not from human tradition. The words of institution, ”This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me,” came with divine authority and demanded reverent response.
The Danger of Unworthy Participation
The Apostle Paul’s warning in verse 27 often gets misunderstood:
“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.”
Some pastors have incorrectly taught that only “worthy” people should take communion, but Paul distinguished between worthiness and an unworthy manner. No one is worthy—that’s precisely why Christ died and why communion is a grace-filled meal for the unworthy. The problem wasn’t unworthiness but approaching the table in an unworthy manner through drunkenness, selfishness, and neglect of fellow believers.
Worthy participation involves approaching the table not in dependence on our own merit but in dependence on Christ’s merit. Paul instructed, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (verse 28).
This examination involves two dimensions:
Vertical Examination: Recognizing areas where we’ve missed God’s mark, repenting of sin in word, thought, and deed, and approaching the table with humble hearts looking to Jesus by faith.
Horizontal Examination: Preparing our relationships with fellow believers, since communion represents not only our relationship with Christ but our unity as his body.
Paul emphasized this horizontal dimension when he referenced “discerning the body” (verse 29). In 1 Corinthians 10:17, he wrote, “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” The “body” represents the church, which includes our relationships with one another.
Many Methodist churches historically included a “passing of the peace” before communion, based on this scriptural principle that coming to the Lord’s table requires being right not only with God but with one another.
The Consequences of Negligence
Paul’s warning about physical consequences for improper communion participation often sounds shocking to modern ears: “That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (verse 30).
While this might seem extreme, Paul wasn’t suggesting that all illness results from sin; Jesus clearly corrected that misunderstanding when His disciples asked about the man born blind (John 9:1-3). However, Paul was addressing a specific context where the Corinthians’ treatment of communion reflected deeper spiritual problems.
Modern research actually supports connections between unforgiveness, bitterness, and physical health. Studies show that harboring unforgiveness causes the pituitary gland to secrete hormones that produce depression and weaken the immune system, making people more susceptible to illness.
More significantly, sin always has negative effects on spiritual life. When someone becomes a Christian, a battle begins between the desire to honor God and the pull of sinful patterns. Sin blinds us, suppresses truth (Romans 1:18), weakens our will (Psalm 51:12), and deadens the joy we once had in our relationship with God.
The theologian John Owen captured this reality: “One of the great duties of a Christian is to be killing your sin or your sin will be killing you.” The Lord’s Supper serves as a means of grace precisely to help believers experience God’s forgiveness and renewing presence.
The Call to Unity
The Apostle Paul concluded his correction with practical instruction: “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another” (verse 33). This principle of honoring one another applies beyond the specific context of love feasts to all aspects of church life.
Paul used the phrase “when you come together” five times in this passage, emphasizing that Christian gathering has unique significance. Believers don’t come together based on temporary earthly associations, personal preferences, political perspectives, neighborhoods, economic status, club memberships, or racial identity.
Christians come together because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. They gather as people of eternal value to the sovereign God of the universe, united by Christ’s sacrifice rather than human categories. This unity transcends all temporary divisions and creates fellowship based on eternal realities.
In coming together, believers make much of Christ rather than themselves. They honor the one who bled and died so they could share deep fellowship based on something far greater than personal preferences or social connections.
How to Prepare for Communion
Proper preparation for communion involves both vertical and horizontal dimensions:
Preparing Your Heart Toward God: Examine your life in light of Scripture, confess areas where you’ve fallen short of God’s standards, and approach the table in humble dependence on Christ’s merit rather than your own worthiness.
Preparing Your Relationships: Consider whether unresolved conflicts, unforgiveness, or broken relationships need attention before approaching the table. The horizontal dimension of communion requires being right with fellow believers as much as possible.
Understanding the Significance: Recognize that communion isn’t merely symbolic but serves as a means of grace where Christ’s presence becomes real and transformative in believers’ lives. Approach with the expectation that God will work through this ordinance.
Community Context: Remember that communion celebrates not only individual salvation but unity as the body of Christ. The meal demonstrates that believers belong to one another through their shared relationship with Jesus.
The Means of Grace
Wesley’s understanding of communion as a means of grace reflects biblical teaching about how God works in believers’ lives. Just as God commands believers to draw near to Him with the promise that He will draw near to them, participation in communion creates opportunities for divine encounter and transformation.
This doesn’t mean communion works automatically or magically, but that God has appointed this ordinance as a regular means through which he strengthens, forgives, and renews His people. When believers approach the table with proper understanding and preparation, they create space for God’s grace to work powerfully in their hearts and relationships.
The Lord’s Supper serves as spiritual food that strengthens souls just as bread and wine strengthen bodies. It provides resources for obeying God, builds faith and love, and leads believers toward spiritual maturity. For this reason, Wesley encouraged frequent participation in communion whenever opportunities arose.
Looking Forward
Communion also serves as a foretaste of future reality. Jesus promised not to drink wine again “until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). Every celebration of the Lord’s Supper points forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb when Christ returns and all believers gather for eternal celebration.
This forward-looking dimension should fill communion with hope and anticipation rather than mere solemn reflection. While believers remember Christ’s death, they also proclaim His death “until He comes” (verse 26), celebrating both accomplished redemption and promised consummation.
The Lord’s Supper thus encompasses past, present, and future by remembering Christ’s historical sacrifice, experiencing his present grace, and anticipating future glory. This comprehensive scope makes communion one of the most significant acts of Christian worship.
The Apostle Paul’s correction of the Corinthian church reveals both the dangers of treating communion lightly and the blessings available through proper participation. The Lord’s Supper isn’t merely a religious ritual but a sacred meal where God meets His people in transformative ways.
When approached with proper examination, humble dependence on Christ, and commitment to unity with fellow believers, communion becomes a vital means of grace that strengthens faith, confirms forgiveness, and builds church unity. The bread and cup serve as tangible reminders that believers belong both to Christ and to one another through His shed blood.
Paul’s teaching challenges contemporary churches to recover a high view of communion while ensuring that practice matches theology. The Lord’s Supper deserves careful preparation, reverent participation, and expectant faith that God will use this means of grace to accomplish His purposes in believers’ hearts and relationships.
As believers prepare for communion, they should examine both their relationship with God and their relationships with fellow believers, approaching the table not in their own worthiness but in humble dependence on Christ’s perfect sacrifice. In doing so, they open themselves to experience the grace, forgiveness, and unity that Christ intends to provide through this sacred meal.
TL;DR
The Lord’s Supper is not a casual meal but a holy encounter with Christ that strengthens faith and proclaims His death until He comes.
The Corinthians’ selfishness, divisions, and neglect of one another corrupted communion and turned it into judgment.
The warning is about how we approach the table—repentant toward God and reconciled with fellow believers—not about being “worthy” people.
When received with humility and faith, communion nourishes the soul, unites the body of Christ, and points forward to the eternal feast with Him.
