In verse 27 Paul says, “So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.” To eat or drink in an unworthy manner is to fail to evaluate the significance of the bread and the cup of the Lord, which signify His body broken for us and His blood shed for our sins through His death for our redemption. To be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord is for a believer to bring judgment to himself (vv. 29-30).
In verse 28 Paul continues, “But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” For a man to prove himself means to examine himself, to put himself to the test and have himself approved, meeting the prescribed specifications.
Verse 29 says, “For he who is eating and drinking, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the body.” To eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner brings judgment to us. This judgment is not a condemnation, but the Lord’s temporary discipline (v.32).
Not to discern means not to distinguish, separate, discriminate, make a distinction. To fail to discern the Lord’s body is to fail to make a distinction between the bread, which signifies the Lord’s body, and common food. It is to fail to evaluate the significance of the bread we take at the Lord’s supper. This brings judgment, the Lord’s discipline, to us.
The thought of the apostle in using this expression, “the body,” not “the body of the Lord,” may include also the mystical Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4) in addition to the physical body of the Lord (1 Cor. 11:24). Therefore, when we participate in the Lord’s table, we must discern whether the bread on the table signifies the one Body of Christ or any division of man, any denomination. In discerning the Body of Christ we should not partake of the bread in any division or with any divisive spirit. Our participation in the Lord’s table must be the unique fellowship of His unique Body without any division either in practice or in spirit.
The apostle’s dealing with head covering is related to the Head (v. 3); his dealing with the Lord’s supper (the Lord’s table) is related to the Body. Regarding the headship of Christ, representing God and represented by man, we must keep the divine governmental order ordained by God without any disorder. Regarding the Body of Christ, we must be properly regulated by the apostle’s instruction without any confusion or division. The Head is Christ, and the Body is the church. Christ and the church—these two—are the controlling and directing factors of the apostle’s dealings with the confused and disorderly church. He deals with the church’s problems first by stressing Christ as God’s center and our portion in chapters one through ten. Following this, he emphasizes the church as God’s goal and our concern in chapters eleven through sixteen. In chapters one through ten he begins with Christ as the antibiotic to heal the diseases of the sick church. Then from chapter eleven he goes on to the church and uses the matter of the church, the Body, as an inoculation against the church’s disorder. Both Christ and the church are crucial to the carrying out of God’s administration in His New Testament economy.