The Corinthian church is fragmenting and Paul calls them to unity in Christ. The central act of their life together is to be the shared meal to remember and participate in the benefits of Jesus’ death, the Lord’s Supper (vs 15–17). The thanksgiving cup and the one loaf that they share symbolise and enact their unity (v 17), which Paul will later call being ‘the body of Christ’ (12:27). In this meal they find unity, for as they worship together at the foot of the cross, they are all sinners, all brought to participate with God and each other by God’s forgiving love (see 11:26).

For some of the Corinthian believers, life in Corinth would have involved meals in idol temples (8:4). However, loyalty to Christ must be exclusive – they cannot join in the Lord’s Supper one day and participate in worship of idols the next (v 21). Paul calls them to run away from any kind of idolatry (v 14), taking the way out that God promises (v 13). They must not confuse the Lord’s Supper with pagan banquets (vs 20,21). How does our own participation in the Lord’s Supper today strengthen us in maintaining loyalty to Christ?

Thank God for some of the different ways he has graced your life. 

Most readers will be familiar with the words of verses 16 and 17, since they are often spoken when Communion or the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. The word rendered ‘participation’ in the NIV is koinonia. Elsewhere this word is translated ‘fellowship’.¹ This underlines the truth that remembering our Lord is a communal act: ‘communal participation’ is a good translation to use here. Both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of koinonia (that is, participation with God and with other Christians) are in view. No wonder sharing the Lord’s Supper is a significant event. That’s why celebrating it while continuing to participate in idol feasts as the Corinthians were doing was anathema (vs 14,21). 

The horizontal element of communal participation is vital and will be unpacked in a subsequent reflection. The vertical dimension – fellowship with God himself – is our theme today. What does it mean to know koinonia with our Lord as the bread is broken and the wine poured out? Many Protestants speak of the bread and wine as ‘mere symbols’, in reaction against the high church teaching which speaks of the real presence of Christ’s body and blood and calls the table an ‘altar’. There is an alternative view, however, articulated by John Calvin and propounded by later evangelical thinkers such as CH Spurgeon. They and others hold that Communion is a ‘means of grace’. Yes, the bread and the wine are symbols and no, Jesus is not physically present, for he is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven.² Yet, by the Holy Spirit he meets with us. Thus, Spurgeon spoke of the ‘real’ yet ‘spiritual’ presence of Christ at the table and wrote a Communion hymn entitled ‘Amidst us our Beloved stands’.³ Is this your experience? Next time you share Communion, reach out to him and know rich fellowship with your Lord.

How will it alter your attitude to Communion to see it as a ‘means of grace’? 

¹ Acts 2:42  ² Heb 8:1  ³ CH Spurgeon, Till He Come, Passmore and Alabaster, 1896