“Do this in remembrance of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:24

The Corinthians were not observing communion in the proper manner, choosing instead to treat it as a common meal in which they ate and drank as much as each of them wanted without giving consideration to the hunger of any of their brethren (11:17-22).  As part of his rebuke, Paul now reminds them of what this act of worship is truly about.

He starts by reminding them that the teaching he was about to share with them was information he had “received from the Lord” – either directly (Gal. 1:12) or via Holy Spirit inspiration (2:9-16; Eph. 3:3-5; cf. John 16:12-15) –  and had “also delivered to you” (11:23a), meaning that he had already taught them this and thus they should know better.  On the night of his betrayal, “the Lord Jesus…took bread” (11:23b).  The gospel accounts show that this took place after Christ and his disciples had eaten the Passover Meal (Matt. 26:19-28; Mk. 14:16-24; Lk. 22:14-20), which means that the “bread” in question would have been unleavened (Ex. 12:8, 14-20), serving as a copy and shadow of the sinlessness of Christ himself  and the sinlessness of his body, the church, which comes about due to our continual penitent obedience (1 Cor. 5:1-8; Heb. 4:15; 1 John 1:6-10; cf. Eph. 1:22-23; Heb. 10:1a).

Paul then reminds the Corinthians that after giving thanks for the bread, Jesus broke it and gave it to the disciples to partake, saying, “This is my body, which is for you.  Do this in remembrance of me” (11:24).  After also giving thanks for “the cup” – i.e., “the fruit of the vine” (Matt. 26:29; Mk. 14:29; Lk. 22:18) which was freshly squeezed grape juice (Is. 16:10) rather than an alcoholic beverage (Hab. 2:15; Prov. 20:1; 23:29-35) – and giving it to the disciples to divide amongst themselves (“in the same way” – 11:25a; cf. Lk. 22:17), he said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (11:25b).

In answer to the Catholic error of transubstantiation, it is clear that ingesting the bread and the fruit of the vine does not miraculously transform them into the literal body and blood of Christ once they enter our stomachs; in like manner, Joseph’s statement to Pharaoh “The seven good cows are seven years” did not mean that cows literally became years (Gen. 41:26), nor did Jesus’ statement “I am the true vine” mean that our Lord turned into a literal plant (John 15:1).

Rather, as Paul explains to the Corinthians, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (11:26).  When we partake of communion and do so while remembering how the cross drained his body of life and the nails and scourge wounds caused his blood to fall to the ground, we announce our faith in the ability of the Lord’s death to save us from our sins.  Communion is meant to memorialize the death of Christ.  It is not meant to focus on his burial and resurrection, nor other events of his life like his baptism or birth.  Important as all of those events are, the fact remains that Christ’s command to partake of the Lord’s Supper “in remembrance of me” is given within the context of discussing his body and blood which were sacrificed in death.  Paul’s mention of his directive to “do this in remembrance of me” was likewise given within the context of specifically mentioning his death (11:26a) without discussing any other event of his life or resurrection.  Other things we do point to his resurrection, like the fact that we meet to worship on the first day of every week.  Our own baptisms also point to his burial and resurrection as well as to his own baptism.  The sermons often come from the teachings and events of his life.  Yet communion focuses upon his death and does so to motivate us to die to ourselves so we can live for him.

This we are to do until Christ comes again (11:26b), which indicates that partaking of communion is not something which we will do in heaven for all eternity.  Instead, we observe it every first day of the week when we assemble together.  Next week’s article will discuss why this is true.

— Jon