The Lord's Supper: Proclaiming Christ's Death Until He Comes
The Lord’s Supper proclaims the death of Christ until He comes.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (BSB)
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
What is the big idea of 1 Corinthians 11:23-26?
The Lord’s Supper proclaims the death of Christ until He comes.
How does 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 point to Christ?
The Lord’s Supper announces the good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ. His body was given and His blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sins, and every time the church gathers at the table it proclaims His death and anticipates His return.
How does 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 relate to the life and ministry of Jesus?
Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper during the final Passover meal with His disciples, identifying the bread and cup as signs of His coming sacrificial death.
Authorial Intent
Paul reminds the Corinthians of the Lord’s Supper tradition he received and delivered, restoring its meaning as a proclamation of Christ’s death until He returns.
Literary Context
After rebuking the Corinthians for corrupting the Lord’s Supper through selfish division, Paul returns to the foundational meaning of the ordinance. By recounting the institution of the Supper, he redirects the church’s attention to Christ’s sacrificial death. The Supper is not merely a shared meal but a proclamation of the gospel and a covenant remembrance centered on the cross. Paul's correction restores the theological meaning of the practice before addressing the necessity of self-examination in the following passage.
Historical Context
Paul recounts the institution of the Lord’s Supper as a tradition received directly from the Lord and passed on to the church. The practice originated during Jesus’ final Passover meal with His disciples before His crucifixion.
Chapter: 1 Corinthians 11
Honor, Worship Order, and the Lord’s Supper Under the Lordship of Christ
Because the gathered church belongs to Christ and the Lord’s Supper proclaims his death, believers must conduct themselves in worship with ordered honor, mutual regard, self-examination, and discerning recognition of the body of Christ.