The Communion of the Lord's Table

Communion, one of the most important blessings that God has given to man, with the exception of Christ himself, is one of the most frequently abused ordinances of the Church.

Many pastors, preachers and teachers will often take this opportunity to brow-beat their congregations into sessions of guilt-based, self-centered, self-examination of one's worthiness to partake of the Lord's Table.

Much of this abuse comes from mis-reading the following King James rendering:

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.” Corinthians, 11:27

Notice that word underlined: “unworthily”? Grammatically, it's an adverb (in Greek as well). Adverbs modify the action, not the actor (that's what adjectives do). So, when the person on the platform starts ranting on and on about making yourself worthy before partaking, or you'll eat and drink damnation to yourself, you'll know he's mis-reading the text.

Even when the KJV text is not used, too often we are “encouraged” into self-examination through the guilt-trip. “This is a good time to recommit your life to the Lord”, or, “This would be a good time to forgive those with whom you have disagreements ...”, etc.

Now, I don't believe Paul would have us not consider these things, but there is a time and a place for everything, and the Lord's Table is not the time nor is it the place for that sort of self-examination.

Why?” You ask.

Because, when we read this verse in it's context, we discover that the issue of worthiness is concerned with our discerning the Lord's body.

Let's look at the context in I Corinthians 11:20-32, just so we get it right.

20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.

[Paul is pointing out to the Corinthians that he is aware of how their Agape feasts are conducted, and the Lord's supper is not the primary function of those feasts.]

21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

[Paul is making reference to selfishness and excess which was being manifested in the individual members of these assemblies in Corinth.]

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.

[This is a reference to the “well-to-do” showing off before and taking advantage of those of little means. They would arrive early to the feast (they didn't have to work all day), and eat most everything at the communal meal, leaving little, if anything, for those who, because of their low station in life, had to work the whole day. When these poor members arrived, there remained only scraps of food for them. Paul rebuked them for permitting this to occur.]

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.

[In the above three verses, Paul tells how he received the record of the Last Supper from the Lord Jesus Himself, and what the Lord said it was for and about. In other words, Paul is telling the Corinthians that what he is telling them should be regarded as coming directly from the Lord.]

26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

[Whenever we partake from the Lord's table, we “shew” the Lord's death until he comes back. That word “shew” translates the Greek word “kataggellete”(Gk: kataggellete), pronounced kat-ang-gel'-lete, which means to proclaim, promulgate, declare,preach, shew, speak of, teach. So, Paul is teaching that by partaking of the Lord's table, we are declaring that He died in our place, as a propitiation for our sins. The prefix “kata” tells that this is a permanent proclamation.]

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.

[Now, considering the seriousness of this matter, the last thing we should do is treat the Lord's table like dessert. It should not be rendered as something of anything less than the primary reason we have gathered together. Our motivation for this observance must be to “shew the Lord's death till he come.” We will soon discover how important this is.]

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

[Examine your MOTIVES before you eat and drink.]

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

[If you have wrong motives, you will be eating and drinking damnation to yourself. What constitutes wrong motives? Failing to discern the Lord's body. Okay, what does that mean? To discern the Lord's body is to come with gratitude and in humility, appreciating the magnitude of the Lord's sacrifice, having already understood the enormity or your own sin.]

30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

[Apparently, the Corinthian disrespectful approach to the Lord's table had brought them under God's judgement; some had died on account of it.]

31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

[ The first “judge” in verse 31 translates the Greek word “diekrinomen, pronounced diakrinomen, which in this context means to separate thoroughly. The second translates “ekrniomeqa, pronounced krinometha, which, in this context, means to punish (as in being ordered to pay a hefty fine in a court). So, we will avoid being punished, for showing disrespect at the Lord's table, if we would but separate ourselves from all other motivation; from all that would distract us, and set our hearts and minds upon comprehending to the best of our ability, the magnitude of the Lord's sacrifice on our behalf.]

32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

[The word “judged” above is another form of krinometha and carries the same meaning. “Condemned” , on the other hand translates “katakritwmen, katakriomen, which is like krinometha, but where krinometha is like having to pay a fine, katakriomen is like the passing of a sentence by a judge. In the first case you pay your fine and get back to your life, but in the second case, sentence is passed and you're fate is sealed. That latter case is the destiny of the Christ-rejecting world, and it is pretty clear evidence that God would rather kill a Christian's body (if that's what it takes) and save their soul, than permit them to suffer the same destiny as the world: lost for eternity because of sin.]



So, do we have to make ourselves worthy or right before the Lord in order to come to the Lord's table? Well, if you ever were worthy, then yes. The trouble is, none of us has ever been, neither shall we ever be, “worthy”, as long as we inhabit a physical body that is descended from Adam. If you see as clearly as you can, what the Lord Jesus' sacrifice means, then you could consider that your motives have been “judged” worthily, and that's what Paul is telling us where we need to be.

I hope that this little bit of study will help to set you free from the man-imposed bondage of self-examination at the Lord's table.