In verse 20 Paul says, “When therefore you come together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper.” In 10:21 Paul speaks of the table of the Lord. As we have seen, the emphasis of the table of the Lord is the fellowship of His blood and of His body (10:16-17), the participation in the Lord, the enjoyment of the Lord in mutuality, in fellowship; whereas the emphasis of the Lord’s supper is the remembrance of the Lord (11:24-25). At the Lord’s table we receive His body and blood for our enjoyment; at the Lord’s supper we give Him our remembrance for His enjoyment.
In verse 21 Paul declares, “For in eating, each one takes his own supper first, and one is hungry, and another is drunk.” In the apostle’s time the believers used to come together for supper, the main meal of the day, with the rich bringing more and better food for the mutual enjoyment, and the poor, less food. This was called the feast of love (2 Pet. 2:13; Jude 12) and came from the background of the Passover feast (Luke 22:13-20). At the end of their love feast they ate the Lord’s supper with the bread and the cup to remember the Lord (1 Cor. 11:23-25). The Corinthians did not do this properly. They did not wait for one another (see v. 33). Each took his own supper first. The rich became drunken and the poor were hungry (v. 21). This caused divisions and parties among them (v. 18). Hence, they spoiled the Lord’s supper. Thus, their eating was not the eating of the Lord’s supper (v. 20). In verse 22 Paul said to them, “What! Do you not have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and disgrace those who have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you.”
Concerning a review of the definition of the Lord’s supper, Paul says in verse 23, “For I received from the Lord.”
What Paul received from the Lord he delivered to the Corinthian believers. In verse 23 he tells them “that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread.” Then “having given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, which is for you; this do for the remembrance of Me.” The breaking of the bread is that we may eat it (Matt. 26:26). To take the Lord’s supper is for the remembrance of the Lord Himself.
Verse 25 says, “Similarly also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood; this do, as often as you drink it, for the remembrance of Me.” The bread is of life (John 6:35), and the cup is of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16). This cup is the new covenant, made up of all the rich blessings of the New Testament, including God Himself. It was enacted by the Lord’s blood, which He shed on the cross for our redemption (Matt. 26:28).
The real remembrance of the Lord is to eat the bread and drink the cup (11:26), that is, to participate in, to enjoy, the Lord who has given Himself to us through His redeeming death. To eat the bread and drink the cup is to take in the redeeming Lord as our portion, as our life and blessing. This is to remember Him in a genuine way.
Verse 26 continues, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you declare the Lord’s death until He comes.” The word declare here means proclaim, announce, or display. To take the Lord’s supper is to declare and display the Lord’s death, rather than remember it. We remember the Lord Himself by declaring and displaying His death. Please notice that we remember the Person of the Lord, but we declare, proclaim, His death. We remember the Person by declaring His death to the entire universe: to the demons, to the angels, and to human beings.
According to verse 26, we are to declare the Lord’s death until He comes. We should take the Lord’s supper for the remembrance of Him by declaring His redeeming death without ceasing until He comes back.