Maundy Thursday, April 17, 2025
Maundy Thursday, April 17, 2025
These words have brought about much division in the church. Some church bodies use these words to exclude non-members from the Lord’s Table. They have no desire to be party to someone eating and drinking and, in doing so, pass judgment on themselves. Other church bodies seemingly disregard the Apostle Paul’s warnings here, dismiss his concerns, and open the Lord’s Table to all comers. Surely, there must be a way to the Lord’s Table that does not run afoul of such absolute exclusion and radical inclusion.
The pivotal two verses, verses 27 on “eating and drinking in an unworthy manner” and 29 on “discerning the body,” require a little thought. When Paul speaks of “eating and drinking in an unworthy manner,” he refers to an admonishment he delivered in verses 17-22. The Corinthians turned the Lord’s Supper into their own supper (vs. 21). Some ate gluttonously; others went hungry. Some drank to drunkenness, while others remained thirsty. Paul declares this a contemptuous practice (vs. 22)… a practice unworthy of the church of God.
Verse 29, “discerning the body,” moves in several directions. The first would use “body” as a reference to the “body of Christ,” meaning the church of God (vs. 22) and the “unworthy” practice of showing contempt for it.
The second would use “body” referring to the “body and blood of Christ” spoken of in 24-25. This second direction also ties back to the “unworthy” in verse 27 because of its conclusion, “concerning the body and blood of the Lord.”
There does not appear to be any hint of metaphorical, allegorical, or representational applications of the “body and blood.” Jesus is not just spiritually present… not merely a memory… and certainly not just an artifact of the communicant’s faith. Jesus’ true body and Jesus’ true blood are handed over in the bread and the wine. The communicant receives Jesus’ physical, corporeal presence.
Such reception is a solemn event worthy of Paul’s admonition in verses 17-22. In Paul’s opinion, the lack of respect contributes to the health problems evidenced among the Corinthian congregation (vs. 30). To avoid absolute exclusion and radical inclusion yet respect the Lord’s Table with appropriate solemnity remains for every congregation.
Table Talk: Discuss your experiences of exclusion and inclusion at the Lord’s Table.
Pray: Heavenly Father, grant that I receive the body and blood of my Lord with appropriate respect and solemnity. Amen
I Corinthians 11:23-32 (ESV)
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, 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 the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.