Feasting as One People (LD 39; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17)
Introduction
The sacraments are visible signs and seals of God’s gospel promises. These signs do not point to our faithfulness, but to the certainty that God fulfills his promises. Baptism is the sign that the Lord sets apart his people. It assures and testifies that God is with his people. The Lord continues to sustain his community in his Spirit. Ultimately, baptism assures us that we have passed through death in Christ.
The Lord’s Supper calls us to see that Christ has really secured his people. Christ has endured a violent death so that unworthy people can draw near in Christ’s sacrifice.
The Apostle Paul uses baptism to exhort the congregation, and he also uses the Lord’s Supper to exhort the congregation. We see this in 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17, where Paul calls Corinth to see that they gather together as one body in the one Christ. They are eating the meal together as one body. They are joined together in one Spirit.
The Apostle is pushing back against the spiritual pride and division in the Corinthian church. They need to see that it is only in Christ that they are worthy to enter into the Lord’s presence. The blessings they receive are by God’s grace rather than their own ability to earn God’s favor. They are called to see and reflect on what it means to be grounded in one Redeemer.
Do the Elements Become the Body and Blood of Christ?
The bread and wine do not literally transform or change into the physical body and blood of Christ. The language that Christ uses is known as metonymy. This is simply using one thing in the place of the other. Simply stated, the bread represents or pictures Christ’s body. The wine represents or pictures Christ’s blood being poured out. The catechism reminds us that just as the water of baptism does not become the blood of Christ, neither do the elements at the Lord’s Table.
The visible breaking of bread and pouring of wine signify the violent death Christ endured once for all on our behalf. In the Lord’s Supper, Christ feeds his people spiritually: as physical bread and wine sustain our bodies, the Holy Spirit truly feeds and nourishes the mouth of our soul (HC 79; BC 35).
The Bread as Our Body: Shared Participation
Paul warns the Corinthians from the precedent of Israel’s wilderness wanderings (1 Corinthians 10:1–13). They could think that God was pleased with them because they were part of the community. However, Israel continued to grumble, test God, engage in idolatry, and the exodus generation ended up dying in the wilderness. Paul’s warning is that our experience does not guarantee we have Christ. Our assurance and righteousness are only by taking hold of Christ by faith.
Israel experienced deliverance from slavery. Israel passed through the sea. The baptism water pictures a passage through death and emerging unscathed, like Israel through the sea (1 Corinthians 10:1, 2). They passed through the sea, but not all of them were saved. The manifestations of the spirit in the midst of Corinth do not guarantee they are all saved.
This is why it is important to understand the true fellowship of believers. In verses 16–17, Paul highlights that partaking of the cup and bread is a true koinonia or fellowship. This is a participation and close fellowship in the body and blood of Christ. This is what identifies us in and with his sacrifice. We are saying that we are a people who have redemption in Christ. We live in Christ, and live for Christ.
Because the Lord’s Supper marks our shared communion with Christ and one another, believers cannot simultaneously commune at the Lord’s Table and participate in idolatry. Their self-promotion, self-righteousness, and dining in the pagan temple identify them with other gods. This is idolatry. Idolatry is trusting in something other than Christ. Paul is not saying that there is a competition of gods, but ultimately the Corinthians are communing with demons.
The problem: they are communing at the Lord’s Table, and the table of demons. The table of demons leads to death and removes someone from the Lord’s Table. The Lord’s Table is life because one is nourished in Christ. However, this is an exclusive relationship where we humble ourselves before the Lord, seeing that true life is only found in Christ.
Faith Receives Christ and Lives It Out
The sacraments do not work mechanically or automatically. By faith, believers embrace Christ. This means that Christ’s sacrifice is the believer’s sacrifice. Only Christ has endured the wrath of the living God, was smote as the righteous one, and emerged triumphant in his resurrection. It is only in Christ that the heavenly courts issue a declaration of righteousness. He is vindicated in his resurrection. It is only by taking hold of Christ in faith that one can receive that same declaration. There is a call for individuals to come to the feast to individually take hold of Christ by faith. Christ is the object, and each person needs to hold onto Christ by faith.
It is true that individually we are called to have faith in Christ, but the Lord’s Supper calls us to see that we live as a communion of saints. We are a covenant community gathered in equal need of grace. No amount of personal maturity or past faithfulness grants us worthiness in ourselves. It is humbling to realize that the new believer and the lifelong Christian stand in equal need of Christ. Receiving the sacrament in humility compels us to reject presumption, turn away from self-reliance, and live out the resurrected life.
Christ gathers his people together. Individually, we take hold of Christ. Corporately, as a body, we see that we are the community of believers who have our life in the one Christ.
Conclusion
The Lord’s Supper is a meal that our Lord gives to his people. It is a meal that assures us we are in communion with him. He has sacrificed himself once and for all. In this sacrament, Christ assures us that his life, death, and victory are truly ours. We receive Christ by faith. The elements feed our mouths, but the Spirit feeds the mouth of our souls.
As we approach the Table, let us come in deep humility and joyful confidence in Christ. We are sustained and nourished in him. We are bound together in his love, and we are empowered to live for his glory.