Reflections on 1 Corinthians 11:23–24
“For I received from the Lord what I passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 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.’” (1 Corinthians 11:23–24, NIV)
The first thing that jumps out at me is that Paul learned this from the Lord Himself. Christ met with Paul and spent time teaching him personally. In some ways He had a closer relationship with Paul after the fact than He was able to have with the other disciples, who had so many false expectations. They spent their time arguing about who would be greatest, rather than asking the questions they would need answered after He died and returned to heaven.
Paul spent about three years alone with Christ in the desert, relearning everything he had been taught was truth. He didn’t need as much time as the disciples did. He was ready to understand and be taught, while they were constantly fighting what the truth actually was. With Paul’s personality he didn’t waste time on prideful issues; he cut to the meat and asked all the things the others failed to ask.
Christ once told His disciples, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” Their hearts weren’t ready. Christ in Love never runs ahead of us. He gives us exactly what we can handle and leads us no faster than we can go.
A Memorial of a New Beginning
Christ waited until their last night together to give them this new ordinance. It was to be a memorial of a new beginning for all humanity. The gift of God was being completed, and Christ was about to reveal the very heart of God to the entire universe: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Me.”
Most Bibles add the word “men” to that verse, but it isn’t in the original. Christ said simply, “all.” The Cross was not only a message to humanity; it opened the heart of God to every created being, to the whole universe watching.
Everything was about to change over that weekend. The ceremonial system, the way of salvation taught since the fall of Adam, was coming to an end. Present truth is the truth that has the power to set us free and heal our souls. What was saving present truth on Friday, as Christ hung on the Cross, stopped being saving truth when He ripped open His tomb on Sunday morning, coming forth as our risen Savior. Faith in a Savior who was coming gave way to faith in a Savior who had come and conquered. This is the unrolling of the scroll, the moving on of salvation and God’s plan to redeem a lost race.
The disease of sin had been overcome, conquered and eradicated in the humanity of Christ. Love overcame sin and death, bringing life, health, peace and joy to this earth and to the whole creation of God. The Lord’s Supper is our celebration of that victory. It is our chance to set aside all other thoughts and plans and allow the reality of what Christ achieved to sink in. It is milk for the babies and meat for the mature.
Love in Action
That last evening was full of meaning. Before the bread was ever broken, Christ had shown them how Love acts: He knelt and washed twelve pairs of dirty feet. So when He said, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” it was this He wanted us to remember: not just the broken bread, but the heart that knelt to serve. Remembering Him means remembering His character.
Everything from their last meal together is a lesson to be understood in the light of the resurrection. They all vowed to stand by Him no matter what, not just Peter. He understood them better than they understood themselves. They hadn’t yet embraced who He was or the work He came to do. And that is the lesson for us: the truth will set you free and heal you, but if you don’t understand it or believe it, it cannot do its saving, healing work in you.
One Word That Troubles Me
One translation renders His words, “This is my body which takes your place.” Something is wrong there. Taking our place doesn’t heal us. It doesn’t eradicate the damage sin has caused, so we’d just be saved sinners. I don’t want to be saved in my sins. I want to be saved from them, healed to the place where I no longer want to do them, because the Love and mind of Christ are in me.
Christ healed humanity in Himself and gives that healing to us. To say He only took our place means we receive no real benefit from what He did; we’re simply spared. And sin would still destroy us in the end unless we let Christ heal us. Nearly every other version says simply for you, on your behalf. The Remedy puts it this way: “broken for your healing.”
When you take the bread, what are you remembering: a substitute who took your punishment, or a Healer who gave Himself to make you whole?
