1Cor 11:20-34 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for 1Cor 11:20-22: 11:20-22 Some people were more concerned about eating their own supper than with the Lord’s Supper .

Summary for 1Cor 11:20-22: 11:20-22 ^a Some people were more concerned about eating their own supper than with the Lord’s Supper.
11:23 ^b I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself: This is one of the few explicit references in Paul’s letters to traditions handed down from Christ (see also 7:10 ^c; 9:14 ^d; cp. 1 Thes 4:15-17 ^e).

• On the night when he was betrayed: See Mark 14:43-46 ^f.
11:24 ^g Jews and early Christians traditionally gave thanks to God for their food before eating (see study note on Mark 14:22-25).

• This is my body: Cp. John 6:32-35 ^h, 48-58 ⁱ.
11:25 ^j After supper might suggest that the main meal separated the breaking of the bread from the drinking of the cup (see Luke 22:20 ^k).

• The new covenant is God’s promise to forgive sins because of the sacrificial death of Jesus (cp. Jer 31:31-34 ^l; 32:40 ^m; Luke 22:20 ⁿ; Heb 7:22 ^o; 8:8-10 ^p; 9:15 ^q; 10:12-18 ^r; 12:24 ^s; 13:20 ^t). The blood of a sacrifice confirmed an agreement or covenant (see Exod 24:8 ^u; Zech 9:11 ^v; Heb 9:12 ^w; 13:20 ^x; cp. Rom 3:25 ^y; 5:9 ^z).
11:26 ^aa In taking the Lord’s Supper, Christians proclaim the saving significance of the Lord’s death to those around them until he comes again (see 1:7-8 ^ab; cp. 1 Thes 1:9-10 ^ac; 3:12 ^ad; 4:13-18 ^ae; 5:23 ^af).
11:27 ^ag To take the Lord’s Supper without recognizing its significance or with unconfessed sin in one’s life is to take it unworthily (see 11:28-31 ^ah). It is equivalent to sinning against the body and blood of the Lord himself; it treats his sacrificial death as trivial (cp. Heb 10:29 ^ai).
11:28 ^aj Before taking the Lord’s Supper, Christians should confess their sins and consider what the bread and the cup signify (11:26 ^ak).
Summary for 1Cor 11:29-30: 11:29-30 ^al In light of 11:27 ^am, the body of Christ is probably to be understood here as a reference to the death of Christ, not to the church, though some interpret it that way.

• Those who eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily thereby invoke God’s judgment upon themselves. Such judgment may be expressed in infirmities, sickness, and even death (cp. Acts 5:5 ^an, 10 ^ao).
11:31 ^ap Self-judgment (which implies confession of sin and repentance) averts God’s judgment.
11:32 ^aq When God’s people are judged by the Lord and disciplined (cp. Deut 8:5 ^ar; Heb 12:5-11 ^as), it is for their ultimate good, so that they will not be condemned along with the world (see Eph 2:1-3 ^at).
11:34 ^au after I arrive: Paul was planning to visit soon (4:19 ^av; 16:5-7 ^aw).