I Corinthians 11:23-25 - Word and Sacrament Together

I Corinthians 11:23-25 - 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 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.” 25 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.”

Message: Word and Sacrament Together

Time: Not the first, but 2nd letter to Corinthians, but the first to survive and to be considered authoritative. Written in AD 55, it was penned after Paul had reports of quarreling in this church he had previously visited. Paul covers a number of subjects, but all focus on the Christian's life in the church.

What the Lord is Saying: In the last lesson, I expanded on the idea of sacraments, these rites or acts we do and how they point to an act of God in a person's life. They reveal truth and reveal something in a person's life. They have a special relation or union between the sign and the thing signified. In this lesson, I will continue to study and connect these dots. 

Towards the end of my time what I saw was a way for us to see salvation in others through these sacraments and have a visible way to confirm faith. And so baptism and the Lord's Supper give breath to our visual world in helping us understand and believe spiritual truths. 

As we take these sacraments and administer them they are not simply done in silence but we spend time as they occur explaining the union of practice and grace. In the Lord's Supper we share scripture about it -- like today's passage. In baptism we talk prior to the act about salvation and what we see in baptism - death (a person under water) and resurrection (a person coming up out of water). In this practice we also observe what Christ did as well as he was baptized and he instituted the Lord's Supper. So we know that these events in our lives are important but they are joined with words and not simply acts alone. Even in other acts such as a marriage union it is important to speak of what God is joining together and it is of His doing. 

Faith is heard. Romans 10:17 - "Faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of Christ." So this speaking of the Word of God is paramount in the practice of the sacraments. No one can simply say they did it without the Word of God coming together with the Sacrament. 

In today's passage we witness this coming together and connection. Again, by themselves bread is simply a part of our meal for eating and nourishing and wine or drinking the cup is the same. But in this practice we make mention that the bread and cup have a connection to God giving up Himself for the salvation or giving of His life for sinners -- “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And lately I have been marveled at the usage of the language of cups in the Bible. Wondering if this cup of the Lord's Supper also can speak of God's wrath and His conquering of it in my life (Jeremiah 25:15).  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.” The sacrifice occurs in the Body and the Blood takes the place of my sin or the need for judgment/wrath. 

Summary: These acts or rites we observe are empty without the words of God bringing these acts into significance with what Christ has done on our behalf. 

Promise:  It is the preaching of God's Word and the administration of the sacraments that must go together. Let us not let eagerness to meet Christ in His sacraments cause us to neglect meeting Him in His Word.

Prayer: O God, thank you for the gift you give us in these Sacraments and how we can come to know you better as we practice this ordinances of Your Grace in our lives. Help me to always stay grounded in Your Word as we witness or practice these sacraments. I pray the Word of God would remain paramount in our lives and unite us in these practices. Bring churches together and help us to not focus so much on our differences but our similarities so that we have more Unity within the Body of Christ.