The Body in the Pews: A Table of Judgment and Grace Text: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Introduction: The Supper as a Social Battleground
We live in an age that is pathologically individualistic. Our modern evangelicalism has, for the most part, swallowed this poison whole. For many, Christianity is a private affair, a quiet transaction between "me and Jesus." The ordinances of the church, when they are observed at all, are often treated as personal, sentimental moments of private reflection. We are encouraged to close our eyes, look inward, and think about what Jesus means to "me." The Lord's Supper becomes a quiet, introspective cocoon.
But the apostle Paul would not recognize this religion. When he confronts the absolute train wreck of the Corinthian assembly, he doesn't chide them for failing to have a sufficiently private and mystical experience. He rebukes them for their public, social, and relational sins. The Lord's Supper, for Paul, is not a quiet retreat for individual souls. It is a covenant meal. It is a family meal. And because of this, it is a place of high drama. It is a table where unity is displayed and divisions are exposed. It is a place of winnowing. It is a place where we either build one another up in love or we call down the judgment of God upon our heads.
The problems in Corinth were not esoteric or abstract. They were brutally practical. The rich were humiliating the poor. Factions were turning the meal into a potluck for their own cliques. Some were getting drunk while others went hungry. The Supper, which was meant to be the pinnacle of their unity in Christ, had become the primary theater for displaying their disunity, their pride, and their contempt for one another. They were coming together, as Paul says, "not for the better but for the worse."
And we must not think we are above such things. Our divisions may be more subtle. Our pride may be more sophisticated. We may not have literal drunkards stumbling away from the table, but we have plenty of people who are drunk on their own self-importance, their own grievances, their own theological hobby-horses. We have cliques. We have resentments. We have people who will sing "In Christ Alone" with gusto and then walk right past a brother or sister in the lobby without a word. And Paul's message to us is the same as it was to the Corinthians: when you do this, you are not eating the Lord's Supper. You are eating and drinking judgment on yourself.
The Text
But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore when you meet together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first, and one is hungry and another is drunk. For do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was being betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must test himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will direct when I come.
(1 Corinthians 11:17-34 LSB)
A Gathering for the Worse (vv. 17-22)
Paul begins with a hammer blow. He cannot praise them. Their corporate worship, the very heart of their life together, has become a net negative.
"But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse." (1 Corinthians 11:17)
This is a staggering charge. It is possible to go to church and leave worse off than you were when you arrived. It is possible for worship to be an occasion for sin. How? By treating it as a performance, a social club, or a private ritual while ignoring the very people with whom you are supposed to be one body. The Corinthians were guilty of this because of their "divisions" and "factions." These were not principled, theological disagreements being debated in good faith. This was carnal, worldly factionalism, where people aligned with their preferred leaders or social groups, creating an atmosphere of rivalry and contempt.
Paul says something startling in verse 19: "For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident." This is not an endorsement of factions. It is a statement about God's sovereignty over sin. God, in His wisdom, permits these ugly divisions to arise so that a necessary separation can occur. These conflicts are a test. They reveal who is genuinely walking in faith and love, and who is just along for the ride. Like a fever that reveals an underlying infection, these divisions expose the spiritual health, or sickness, of the body.
The result of their behavior is a flat-out invalidation of the sacrament. "When you meet together... it is not to eat the Lord's Supper." They had the bread. They had the wine. They said the words. But it was a counterfeit. Why? "For in your eating each one takes his own supper first, and one is hungry and another is drunk." This was a class war at the communion table. The wealthy members, who could arrive early and bring ample food, were indulging themselves, while the poor, likely slaves who had to work late, arrived to find nothing left. This was a public shaming. It was a blatant despising of "the church of God." And notice the object of their contempt: not an abstract institution, but the people, specifically "those who have nothing."
The Divine Institution (vv. 23-26)
To correct their abuse, Paul takes them back to the source code. He doesn't offer his own opinion; he reminds them of the direct revelation he received from the Lord Jesus Himself.
"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was being betrayed took bread..." (1 Corinthians 11:23)
The setting is crucial: "the night in which He was being betrayed." As the ultimate act of division and treachery was unfolding, Jesus instituted the supreme sign of unity and covenant faithfulness. While His own disciple was selling Him out, Jesus was giving Himself away. This meal is saturated with the gospel. The bread is His body, given "for you." The cup is the "new covenant in My blood." This is not a mere memorial of a dead teacher. It is a proclamation. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes."
Every time we come to this table, we are preaching a sermon without words. We are declaring that the death of Jesus is the central, pivotal event of all human history. We are staking our lives on it. And we are proclaiming that He is not dead, but that He "comes." This meal is an eschatological statement. It looks back to the cross and forward to the consummation. It is a meal for the "in-between" times, a foretaste of the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Judgment at the Table (vv. 27-32)
Because this meal is so holy, to trifle with it is to play with fire. This brings us to the most misunderstood part of the passage.
"Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:27)
What does it mean to partake in an "unworthy manner"? This has been the source of endless, morbid introspection. Many believers, terrified of this verse, have abstained from the table because they had a bad week, or because they are acutely aware of their sin. But this is to misunderstand Paul completely. The issue is not your personal worthiness. If perfect worthiness were the standard, no one could ever come. Jesus did not die for the healthy, but for the sick. This meal is for sinners.
The "unworthy manner" is defined by the context. It is coming to the table with contempt for your brother. It is participating in the sign of unity while harboring division in your heart. It is despising the very people for whom Christ shed His blood. To do this is to be "guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord." It is to align yourself with the betrayers, with the mockers, with those who crucified Him. It is to treat His sacrifice with contempt.
So what is the remedy? "But a man must test himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup." Notice, the result of the examination is not to stay away, but to "so eat." The examination is not a hunt for any and every sin. If you are examining yourself, you are not looking for sin. You are looking for a love of sin, a devotion to it. Are you cherishing a grudge? Are you actively despising a brother? Are you involved in a faction that is tearing the church apart? If so, you must repent. But the goal of that repentance is to come to the table, not to flee from it. You don't have the authority to excommunicate yourself.
The central sin is identified in verse 29: "he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly." The King James says "not discerning the Lord's body." What is this "body" that must be discerned? Our first thought is to look at the bread and the wine. We think it means having the correct Eucharistic theology. But that is not Paul's primary concern here. The "body" we fail to discern is sitting in the pews all around us. It is the Church. Remember 1 Corinthians 10:17: "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." To fail to discern the Lord's body is to fail to see Christ in your brother, to fail to recognize that the person you are shaming is a member of the very body of Christ you claim to be honoring.
And the consequences are terrifyingly real. "For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep." This is not metaphorical. God takes the unity of His church so seriously that He will visit temporal judgments, sickness and even death, upon those who profane this meal. This is a form of divine discipline, intended to chasten His children "so that we will not be condemned along with the world." This is a severe mercy. God is willing to make His children sick to keep them from going to Hell.
The Simple, Practical Solution (vv. 33-34)
After such high theological and covenantal stakes, Paul's conclusion is beautifully, almost shockingly, simple and practical.
"So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment." (1 Corinthians 11:33-34)
What is the solution to their sacrilege? Wait for each other. Be considerate. Don't treat the Lord's Supper as your personal feeding trough. If your stomach is growling, have a sandwich at home before you come. The purpose of this gathering is not to satisfy physical hunger but to express and deepen spiritual unity. The command is profoundly simple because the sin was profoundly simple. They were being selfish. The solution is to stop being selfish and to start loving one another in a tangible, practical way.
This is the heart of the matter. The Lord's Supper is a covenant renewal meal. In it, we commune vertically with our Lord, and we commune horizontally with one another. The two are inseparable. You cannot claim to be in fellowship with the Head if you are at war with the hand or the foot. You cannot honor the blood that bought the church while you despise the church that the blood bought.
So when we come to this table, we must come with our eyes open. We must look up in faith to the ascended Christ. And we must look around in love at the brothers and sisters He has seated beside us. We must examine ourselves, yes. We must confess our sins, repent of our divisions, and forsake our pride. And having done so, we must come. We must come to receive the grace that is offered here. We must come to proclaim His death. And we must come to be knitted together, one loaf and one body, until He comes.