Lessons #335 and 336
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Prohibition of idolatry and reasons (1 Cor 10:14-22)
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. 18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19 Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
The message of this passage of 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 we started to consider in our last study is that Believers should avoid idolatry since everything associated with it is incompatible with the Christian faith, exposes one to demons, and so harms one’s fellowship with the Lord. This message captures the prohibition against idolatry and various explanations or reasons the Corinthians, and so all believers, should not be involved in idolatry. We have examined the prohibition against idolatry in the command flee from idolatry. So, what is left is the consideration of the explanations or reasons against idolatry. It is with this consideration of the reasons against idolatry introduced in verse 15 that we begin our study today.
Verse 15 introduces the reasons or explanation against idolatry although that is not that obvious. We say that it is not obvious that verse 15 introduced reasons the Holy Spirit provided through the apostle against idolatry because there is no connective at the beginning of the verse in the Greek text that usually signals that what follow concern reason or explanation. Often, in the Greek text, to indicate that a sentence is to be interpreted as providing reason or explanation for something in the passage, the Greek uses a Greek conjunction (gar) that is commonly translated “for” in the English versions. Take for example, the apostle used the Greek conjunction to provide a reason the Corinthians, and so all believers, are in superior spiritual status which is that their sins have been forgiven them through the death of Christ on the cross although he did so, using a metaphor of Christ being believers’ Passover lamb as we read in 1 Corinthians 5:7:
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
There is another Greek conjunction (hoti) the apostle used at the beginning of a verse to supply one of his reasons for thanking God for the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:5:
For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—
However, the apostle did not begin verse 15 with any of these conjunctions or any other, for that matter, that would signal he was about to introduce reasons for the prohibition against idolatry. Why then do we contend that verse 15 introduced the reasons the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul prohibits idolatry? The answer lies with how the apostle addressed the Corinthians and the task he assigned to them in verse 15.
The apostle implied that he was about to supply reasons for the prohibition against idolatry in that his address to the Corinthians implies that he recognized them as those who are marked with good judgment as in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 10:15 I speak to sensible people. Some interpreters take this sentence as ironical but that does not seem to be what the apostle intended since such irony would not make much sense with the function, that we will get to later, he assigned in the verse, to those he addressed. Therefore, it is better to take the sentence to mean that the apostle assumed true what he stated about the Corinthians that he addressed. This does not mean that the apostle contradicts himself when he had previously stated that some of the Corinthians claim to be wise, he simply admits that some of them were indeed wise in the sense of being able to comprehend the reasons he was about to give to them regarding prohibition against idolatry.
Anyway, the expression “sensible people” in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 10:15 I speak to sensible people is translated from a Greek word (phronimos) that pertains to understanding resulting from insight and wisdom. Thus, the word may mean “wise” as Apostle Paul used it in his sarcastic comparison of the apostles to the Corinthians as we read in 1 Corinthians 4:10:
We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!
The word is used in a negative sense of “conceited” to describe Gentiles in Apostle Paul’s argument regarding Israel’s status in God’s election in Romans 11:25:
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
The clause so that you may not be conceited is literally so that you will not be wise in yourselves. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:15, it has the sense of “judicious person,” that is, “a person marked by the exercise of good judgment or common sense; especially in practical matters.” By describing the Corinthians as persons marked with sound or good judgment, the apostle implies that what he was about to write to them call for the use of sound judgment. In exercising sound judgment, one must have reasons for one’s thought or action. In other words, no one that is unable to reason out something can be considered wise. I mean that those who are wise usually consider reason(s) for or against an action before taking it. Thus, the apostle by addressing the Corinthians as those with good judgment, he implied that what he was about to provide to them are reasons that lead to wise decision or choice. The point we are making is that the apostle in addressing the Corinthians as those who have good judgment implies that he was about to provide facts that are necessary to exercise sound judgment regarding the matter of idolatry.
Another reason we assert that 1 Corinthians 10:15 introduced the reasons against idolatry as given by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul is the assignment, he gave to the Corinthians regarding the application of his description of them as those with sound judgment or wise. This assignment is for them to put into practice the ability to reason since he demands of them to evaluate something as implied in the second sentence of 1 Corinthians 10:15 judge for yourselves what I say.
The word “judge” is translated from a Greek word (krinō) that may mean “to judge, pass judgment upon, express an opinion about” as it is used in the Lord’s instruction concerning looking down on others in a condemning way in Luke 6:37:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
The word may mean “to judge as guilty,” “to condemn” as the word is used to describe the states of those who believe in the Lord Jesus and those who do not in John 3:18:
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
The word may mean “to punish” as in Stephen’s sermon as he referred to God’s promise to Abraham of punishing those who would enslave his descendants, according to Acts 7:7:
But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’
The word may mean to make a judgment based on taking various factors into account, hence means “to consider,” as Lydia used the word to persuade Apostle Paul and his team to stay in her house if the apostle considered her a believer in Christ as we read in Acts 16:15:
When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
The word may mean “to prefer” as it is used to describe the preference of believers regarding day of worship although it is translated “considers” in the NIV of Romans 14:5:
One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
The sentence One man considers one day may be translated one man prefers one day.
The word may mean “to resolve” as it is used to describe the only thing the apostle was concerned regarding the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 2:2:
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
The word may mean “to convince” as in Apostle Paul’s certainty about the death of Christ for all human beings as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:14:
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:15, the sense of the word is “to evaluate,” that is, “to form a critical opinion of something (either positive or negative) by examination or scrutiny.” It is impossible to evaluate anything critically without facts on which to base the evaluation. Hence, the implication here is that the apostle is about to supply facts or reasons that would help the Corinthians to carry out the evaluation he expected of them.
The apostle wanted the Corinthians immediately to begin to urgently evaluate the facts or the reasons for the prohibition against idolatry that he was about to supply to them. We say that the apostle wanted the Corinthians to urgently evaluate the facts or reasons he was about to supply them because he used a command in the aorist tense in the Greek implying in this specific context that there is a sense of urgency in the action that he wanted them to begin taking, that is, evaluation of the facts or reasons he was about to provide them.
The facts the Corinthians are to evaluate are introduced in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 10:15 what I say. The word say implies that what the apostle writes next are intended to provide reason or even clarification. This is because the word “say” is translated from a Greek word (phēmi) that may mean “to state something orally or in writing” hence “to say, declare” as in Peter’s declaration that he was not going to deny Jesus Christ, as stated in Mark 14:29:
Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”
The word may mean “to say something that provides a fuller explanation of a statement,” so may mean “to imply, to mean.” It is for this reason that the translators of the NIV rendered the Greek word with “what I mean” in 1 Corinthians 7:29:
What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:15, the word is used with the meaning “to say” but with the sense that what is being said is intended to shed light or provide explanation for the prohibition against idolatry. Consequently, the assignment of applying sound judgment to what the apostle has written that follow verse 15 should be understood as providing the reasons or explanation for guiding against idolatry. Hence, we contend that verse 15 introduced the reasons that follow.
In any case, there are three general reasons the Holy Spirit provided through Apostle Paul about the prohibition against idolatry. A first general reason for prohibition against idolatry is because of the uniqueness of the Lord’s Supper as described in verses 16 and 17 of 1 Corinthians 10. In other words, the apostle intended for the Corinthians to recognize that idolatry is unbecoming of believers because of the uniqueness of the Lord’s Supper that they celebrate. This general reason may not be that clear as a reason against idolatry but that will become clearer as we examine what the apostle wrote regarding the Lord’s Supper.
Be that as it may, the uniqueness of the Lord’s Supper is first described in terms of the significance of the two elements used in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The first element of the Lord’s Supper the apostle mentioned is drinking from the cup that is usually the second element of its celebration. Apostle Paul probably reversed the order here because of the flow of the reasons he provided since he maintained the normal order of bread and the cup in the celebration later in the eleventh chapter. By flow of the reasons/arguments he provided, we mean that it was easier for the apostle to go from the mention of bread in the last part of verse 16 to speaking of the oneness of the body of Christ in verse 17. That aside, the apostle indicates that the significance of celebrating the cup is sharing in the death of Jesus Christ. It is this significance that is given in the first rhetorical question of 1 Corinthians 10:16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?
It is our assertion that the first rhetorical question of verse 16 is the apostle’s way of conveying that the significance of celebrating the cup is sharing in the death of Jesus Christ. This notwithstanding, the are two concerns of this rhetorical question. The first is what is meant in the phrase the cup of thanksgiving or literally the cup of blessing. The second is how to understand the phrase a participation in the blood of Christ. To deal with these concerns as well as to understand that this first rhetorical question of verse 16 is the apostle’s way of conveying that the significance of the cup in the celebration of cup is participation in the death of Christ, we should consider the words used in the question.
The word “cup” is translated from a Greek word (potērion) that literally refers to a vessel for holding liquid and so drink from, hence means “cup” as in the giving of someone drink our Lord referenced in Matthew 10:42:
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
The literal cup can by metonymy (a figure of speech in which one thing is designated by the mention of something associated with it, e.g., White House in this country stands for the president) stand for what it contains, as for example, where “cup” represents “wine” in Luke 22:20:
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Figuratively, the word “cup” is used for the suffering and eventual violent death of the Lord Jesus in John 18:11:
Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:16, it is used in a literal sense of a small container or vessel usually used for drinking, that is, “cup” that is associated with thanksgiving.
The word “thanksgiving” is translated from a Greek word (eulogia) that may mean “praise,” that is, an act of speaking in favorable terms for someone or some object as it is used for the activity of angels, living creatures, and elders in the heavenly court regarding Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, in Revelation 5:12:
In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
The word may mean “blessing” either as an activity of human or God. It is as a human activity that the word is used in what Esau sought from his father without success as we read in Hebrews 12:17:
Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.
Blessing as benefit bestowed by God the Father is meant in the spiritual blessing believers receive from Him, as stated in Ephesians 1:3:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:16, the word means “blessing” in the sense of “the speech act of praying for divine favor or protection; especially with the idea that even the audience (as well as the recipient) receives a benefit from the utterance.” Our Greek noun is related to its verb translated in the NIV as give thanks.
The expression “give thanks” is translated from a Greek word (eulogeō) that may mean “to speak well of, praise, extol,” that is, to say something commendatory about a person as it is used to describe Zechariah’s speech about God once he was able to speak after the birth of John the Baptist in Luke 1:64:
Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God.
The word may mean “to bless” in the sense of “to ask for bestowal of special favor, especially of calling down God’s gracious power as the word is used to specify the right action of believers toward their persecutors as stated in Romans 12:14:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
The word may mean “to bestow a favor, provide with benefits” as it is used to describe the spiritual benefits God has bestowed on believers although the word “bless” is used in the passage we cited previously, that is, Ephesians 1:3:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:16, it is used in the sense of “to bless,” that is, “to invoke (or ask for bestowal) divine favor, often implying a positive disposition or kind actions toward the recipient.”
The Greek words we have considered enable us to deal with the first concern of how to interpret the phrase the cup of thanksgiving or literally the cup of blessing. Using the meanings we have established, then the cup of thanksgiving is better translated the cup of blessing. The phrase the cup of blessing is probably derived from the Jewish Passover meal where it refers to the cup of wine drunk at the conclusion of the meal and over which a prayer of blessing is spoken. The apostle used this familiar Jewish expression for the cup used in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper by Christians. Hence, the phrase the cup of thanksgiving or literally the cup of blessing is to be understood as the cup along with its content that is used for celebration of the Lord’s Supper by believers in Christ over which we offer prayer of thanksgiving to God or should we say the cup over a minister who administers the celebration prayers over in keeping with the Lord Jesus’ example. This, of course, leaves us with the second concern of the rhetorical question about how to understand the phrase a participation in the blood of Christ.
Thus far, the sentence of 1 Corinthians 10:16 the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks describes the second part of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper since the first involves the bread. In the second part of the celebration, like the first part, the Lord offered thanks to the Father before instructing the disciples to drink from the cup He used to establish the second part of the celebration as we read in Matthew 26:27:
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
Of course, the cup as used here refers to the wine in the cup that the Lord offered His disciples to drink. So, before drinking of the wine or juice that is used to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we offer thanks to God in keeping with the pattern the Lord Jesus established. The cup or the wine in it conveys the establishment of a new covenant that was ratified by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as indicated in Matthew 26:28:
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
It is possible that some will celebrate the cup without understanding its significance. Therefore, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul gives the significance of celebrating of the cup in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:16 a participation in the blood of Christ. Some have taken the view that the phrase is dealing with physical drinking of the blood of Christ or that the content of the cup turns into the blood of Christ in some mysterious way. Such a view is not supported by either the Greek grammar or examples of Israel’s celebration of the Passover or even from pagan practices of eating sacrificial meals offered to their gods. Others view the phrase as concerned with fellowship of believers during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper which may be implied but that is not the focus of the phrase. We contend that our phrase is concerned with sharing in the death of Christ on the cross. To prove that this interpretation is correct, we consider two key words used in it.
The first is the word “participation” that is translated from a Greek word (koinōnia) that may mean “communion, association, close relationship.” It may refer to a sign of fellowship or proof of brotherly unity so that it means “gift, contribution” as in Romans 15:26:
For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
It may mean “participation, sharing”, as in sharing of the suffering of the Lord Jesus as stated in Philippians 3:10:
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:16, the word means “participation, sharing”, that is, the act of sharing in the activities or privileges of an intimate association. The sharing that occurs at the time of celebration of the cup is described in the phrase in the blood of Christ.
The word “blood,” which is our second key word, is translated from a Greek word (haima) that literally means “blood” as the red life-fluid of humans and animals as in the description of what oozed out when the body of Jesus Christ was pierced by Roman soldiers while He was hanging on the cross as stated in John 19:34:
Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
Figuratively, the word means “life-blood” as constituting the life of an individual. Thus, the Greek word is used for “seat of life” in the Septuagint of Leviticus 17:11:
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.
Because blood is considered seat of life, the shedding of blood is the same as killing or taking of life as the word is used to describe prophets killed by Israel’s ancestors as our Lord Jesus referenced in Luke 11:50:
Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world,
Some English versions such as the TEV and the CEV avoided the use of the word “blood” in their translation of this verse. For example, the sentence the blood of all the prophets that has been shed is translated in the TEV as the murder of all the prophets killed. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:16, the Greek word is used with the meaning “lifeblood”, that is, “blood of a person considered as the seat of life.”
It is true that our Greek word refers to “lifeblood” but when the word is used in connection with Christ in the phrase the blood of Christ it has special meaning. We have studied in detail in first chapter of this epistle the phrase blood of Christ to indicate it is a reference to the death of Christ on the cross. Let me refresh your mind with an argument we used to demonstrate that the phrase blood of Christ refers to His death. Apostle Paul says that God reconciled us to Himself through the death of His son, that is, Jesus Christ, in Romans 5:10:
For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
The same apostle spoke of the idea of God reconciling Himself to all things but this time he used the same phrase his blood in Colossians 1:20:
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
If reconciliation mentioned in Romans 5:10 is through the death of Jesus Christ, certainly it is the same reconciliation that the apostle had in mind in Colossians, but instead of using the word “death” in association with Christ, he used the word “blood” that was shed on the cross. Therefore, there can be no doubt that the blood of Christ refers to His death on the cross. The point then is that the blood of Christ should not be thought of in a literal sense but in a figurative sense to refer to His sacrificial death on the cross.
Our examination of the key words in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:16 a participation in the blood of Christ should help to convince you that the Holy Spirit intended to convey to us that any time we celebrate the cup in the Lord’s Supper that we are enjoying the benefits of His death on the cross for us. We celebrate the forgiveness of sins that we received through the death of Christ as indicated by our redemption or forgiveness of sins as stated in Ephesians 1:7:
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.
When we celebrate the cup, we in effect celebrate our eternal life that was made possible through the death of Christ on the cross. We celebrate His victory over spiritual beings that are in opposition to God as implied by what the Holy Spirit stated through Apostle Paul in Colossians 2:14–15:
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
In keeping with victory of hostile spiritual beings, we celebrate our Lord’s victory over death so that we should no longer live in fear of death, as implied in Hebrews 2:14–15:
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Hence, next time you celebrate the cup, you should think of the blessings that the death of Christ brought to you, especially that of forgiveness of sins without which we could not enjoy any of the spiritual blessings of God.
In any case, we had indicated that Apostle Paul was concerned with the significance of the communion elements. As we have explained, it is probably because of the flow of thought of what he taught that the apostle reverenced first the second element of the Lord’s Supper celebration before the first element that is used in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Having given the significance of the second element, the apostle returned to the significance of the first element of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. He conveyed that its significance is to enable believers to recognize that they are part of the church of Christ. It is this significance that is given in the second rhetorical question of 1 Corinthians 10:16 And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? As in our consideration of the first rhetorical question; to support our interpretation, we should consider the words used in the Greek.
The first word is “bread” that is translated from a Greek word (artos) that may mean “bread” as a baked product from grain and so it is used for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper as in the original instruction about it in which Christ used bread, as we read in Matthew 26:26:
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
However, the Greek word can also mean “food” as any kind of food or nourishment as that is the sense that the word is used by Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 3:8:
nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
The phase anyone’s food is literally bread from anyone. It is in a figurative sense that the Lord Jesus described Himself as “bread of life” in John 6:35:
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
In Jesus Christ’s claim of being the bread of life, He meant that He is the way to eternal life or through whom one receives eternal life. Nonetheless, the Greek word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:16 in the sense of “loaf of bread.” It is this that is broken as the first element of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper hence the clause of 1 Corinthians 10:16 that we break.
The word “break” is translated from a Greek word (klaō) that means “to break an object into two or more parts,” but in the NT, it is used exclusively for breaking of bread. Thus, it was used to describe the Lord Jesus’ tearing a loaf of bread in pieces in His miracle of feeding the five thousand mentioned in Matthew 14:19:
And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
It is this breaking of bread into pieces that the Lord followed when He instituted the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, according to Matthew 26:26:
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Consequently, the breaking of bread may refer to ordinary meal or fellowship meal of the type that church practiced when they met at different homes as indicated in Acts 2:46:
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
That aside, it is in the sense of “to break off” that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 10:16.
When a believer partakes of the broken piece of the bread for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper that person celebrates being a part of the church of Christ as implied in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:16 a participation in the body of Christ. The word “body” is translated from a Greek word (sōma) that refers to the body of a human or animal. Human body is to be understood in different ways. The body could refer to the seat of sexual function as it is used to describe the state of Abraham when the Lord promised him of having a son, as we read in Romans 4:19:
Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.
The body may refer to seat of mortal life so that Apostle Paul used it to indicate being alive in contrast to being dead as to be with the Lord in 2 Corinthians 5:6:
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
The body may refer to organ of human activity so that it is the activity that is done through the body that will be evaluated before the Judgment Seat of Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:10:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
The word may be used for the entire person as it is used in Apostle’s Paul declaration of what some in Corinth said about him, as we read in 2 Corinthians 10:10:
For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”
The sentence in person he is unimpressive is literally the bodily presence weak. The word may mean “physical” as in James 2:16:
If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
The phrase his physical needs is literally the things needful for the body. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:16, the word is used with meaning “body” so that it has the sense of “physical” or “the outer being of a person.” However, when the word is used with Christ in the phrase body of Christ, it is subject to two interpretations. It could literally refer to Christ’s earthly body that was subject to death as we read in Romans 7:4:
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
Another interpretation is as a figurative expression to refer to the church of Christ, as it is used in Ephesians 4:12:
to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:16 the phrase body of Christ refers to the church of Christ. Thus, when a person eats the bread during the communion service that person attests to the fact the individual belongs to the church of Christ. Therefore, if an unbeliever partakes of the first element of the Lord’s Supper that is a meaningless act but for the believer eating of the bread of the Lord’s Supper celebration should remind the person of the high privilege of being in the church of Christ. In any event, the first uniqueness of the Lord’s Supper is the significance of the communion elements. This brings us to the second uniqueness of the Lord’s Supper.
The second uniqueness of the Lord’s Supper is that it portrays the unity or the oneness of the church of Christ. It is this truth that is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 10:17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul conveys to us in an unmistakable manner that there is only one church of Christ. Unfortunately, in this country, believers act as if there is more than one church of Christ as evident in the names believers use to describe their local churches. We hear such things as “white church” or “black church.” Such declaration is contrary to what the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul conveys here. There is only one church of Christ although sin has caused believers to think otherwise.
To state strongly that there is only one church of Christ, the apostle used two arguments in support of his point. The first argument is that there is only one loaf of bread that is involved in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It is this that is given in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 10:17 Because there is one loaf or literally Because (there is) one bread. The fact that the apostle used the concept of one loaf or one bread in his argument to support concept of the unity or oneness of the church of Christ is as we have said, the reason he mentioned the first element of the Lord’s Supper as the second in our passage to enable the easy flow of thought in what he wrote. That aside, when the apostle used the Greek phrase that literally translates one bread or one loaf, he was probably thinking of the inception of the Lord’s Supper where the Lord used one loaf of bread. But ever since, there are several loaves of bread that are used in celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Of course, the word “one” that is translated from a Greek word (heis) that is a numerical term with the meaning “one” that may also mean “one” with focus on uniformity or quality of a single entity and so in some passages may mean “one and the same.” Thus, when believers celebrate the Lord’s Supper it is the same kind of bread that is used. The point of the apostle is that there is one loaf of bread that is broken into pieces for the celebration. This fact is true even of the elements that we use today in our communion service. They are made generally from the same dough of bread before they are broken into smaller pieces. Anyway, the apostle says that because there is one loaf then there can only be one church of Christ as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 10:17 we, who are many, are one body.
The apostle indicates that there are many believers in many locations, but they form one body. The pronoun we is inclusive of the apostle and all other believers including the Corinthians. The one body the apostle meant is the church of Christ or the body of Christ regardless of any other human factor. What he said to the Corinthians is essentially the same point he made to the Galatians as recorded in Galatians 3:26–28:
26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
The point is that there is only one church of Christ that consists of believers from different locations and of different backgrounds. An implication of this today is that it is wrong for local churches to compete with each other since it does not make sense that a person is competing with self.
The apostle’s second argument related to the first is that believers share the same one bread as in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 10:17 for we all partake of the one loaf. The word “partake” is translated from a Greek word (metechō) that here refers to eating something in common with other believers when the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. Anyway, the apostle continued to use the concept of “one bread” to drive home the point that there is only one church of Christ that believers belong.
The uniqueness of Lord’s Supper that believers partake that indicates they share the benefits of the death of Christ on the cross and belong to the church of Christ is a strong argument against idolatry. In effect, the apostle meant that those who have such unique relationship with God in Christ should not be involved in idolatry in any form of shape, including sharing meals with unbelievers in the idol temples. Let me end by reminding you of the message of the section we are studying is: Believers should avoid idolatry since everything associated with it is incompatible with the Christian faith, exposes one to demons, and so harms one’s fellowship with the Lord.
08/06//21