1Cor 11:23-32 | TNotes | STEP | 11:23 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 ; 9:14 ; cp. 1 Thes 4:15-17 ). • On the night when he was betrayed: See Mark 14:43-46 .

11:23 ^a 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 ^b; 9:14 ^c; cp. 1 Thes 4:15-17 ^d).

• On the night when he was betrayed: See Mark 14:43-46 ^e.
11:24 ^f 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 ^g, 48-58 ^h.
11:25 ⁱ After supper might suggest that the main meal separated the breaking of the bread from the drinking of the cup (see Luke 22:20 ^j).

• The new covenant is God’s promise to forgive sins because of the sacrificial death of Jesus (cp. Jer 31:31-34 ^k; 32:40 ^l; Luke 22:20 ^m; Heb 7:22 ⁿ; 8:8-10 ^o; 9:15 ^p; 10:12-18 ^q; 12:24 ^r; 13:20 ^s). The blood of a sacrifice confirmed an agreement or covenant (see Exod 24:8 ^t; Zech 9:11 ^u; Heb 9:12 ^v; 13:20 ^w; cp. Rom 3:25 ^x; 5:9 ^y).
11:26 ^z 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 ^aa; cp. 1 Thes 1:9-10 ^ab; 3:12 ^ac; 4:13-18 ^ad; 5:23 ^ae).
11:27 ^af 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 ^ag). 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 ^ah).
11:28 ^ai Before taking the Lord’s Supper, Christians should confess their sins and consider what the bread and the cup signify (11:26 ^aj).
Summary for 1Cor 11:29-30: 11:29-30 ^ak In light of 11:27 ^al, 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 ^am, 10 ^an).
11:31 ^ao Self-judgment (which implies confession of sin and repentance) averts God’s judgment.
11:32 ^ap When God’s people are judged by the Lord and disciplined (cp. Deut 8:5 ^aq; Heb 12:5-11 ^ar), it is for their ultimate good, so that they will not be condemned along with the world (see Eph 2:1-3 ^as).