Lessons #401 and 402
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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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Exposition of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:26-34)
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. 33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
The message of this section of 1 Corinthians 11:26-34 that we have been considering for some time now is: You must approach the Lord’s Supper with awe since there are consequences for failing to do so correctly. As we stated previously, the section is concerned with the exposition of the Lord’s Supper as the Holy Spirit gave to Apostle Paul. This exposition, we said, involved three issues. The first is an explanation of what remembrance of the Lord means in the context of the Lord’s Supper that involves looking backwards to the death of Christ on the cross with all the implications of His death and looking forwards to His second coming. The second concerns the correct approach to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. This involves two elements – self-evaluation that must take place prior to and during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and the proper attitude the believer should have as the person comes to the Table of the Lord’s Supper. The third and final exposition concerns the consequences of its improper celebration. The first consequence of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper is being made liable for violating the spirit and significance of the celebration. This we considered in our last study. Hence, we move to the second consequence as we promised in our last study to do in today’s study.
The second consequence of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper is divine discipline/judgment. This divine discipline/judgment is described in terms of judgment as given in 1 Corinthians 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Verse 29 is certainly concerned with the consequence of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper since it provides an explanation to what would happen to someone that improperly celebrates the Lord’s Supper. This assertion is because the verse begins with the word “for” that is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) that has several usages. For example, it can be used as a marker of inference with the meaning “so, then, by all means” or it can be used as a marker of cause or reason for something in which case it may be translated “for, because.” In our context, it is used as a marker of explanation and so, that of exposition of what happens to a believer who improperly celebrates the Lord’s Supper.
There should be no doubt that the apostle is concerned with what happens to a believer who improperly celebrates the Lord’s Supper, so he describes the believer in terms of celebration of the Lord’s Supper in the clause of 1 Corinthians 11:29 who eats and drinks. The clause describes a believer who participates in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper although the apostle did not specify what the person eats or drinks, but the context indicates he meant one who partakes the elements of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, that is, the person eats the bread and drinks the wine or grape juice used in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. By the way, the KJV adds the adverb unworthily to the clause. The earliest known Greek manuscripts do not contain the word, but it is added in later manuscripts based on the verse 27. If that was in the original, there is no reasonable explanation for its omission. That aside, the apostle described a person who participated in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper by eating the bread and drinking the wine or grape juice used in the occasion.
To be sure that the apostle is concerned with consequences of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper, he adds the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 11:29 without recognizing the body of the Lord. Again, we have a manuscript variation in the word “Lord” or “Christ” that appeared in the 2011 edition of the NIV and in the NLT that does not appear in the oldest known Greek manuscripts of the NT but was added in later manuscripts. We state that the word was added for if it was in the original manuscript there is no reasonable explanation to leave it out especially since it may be necessary to help explain the word “body.” Anyway, the literal Greek based on the original manuscripts of the verbal phrase we are considering reads not discerning the body.
The verbal phrase of the NIV without recognizing the body is an interpretative translation that interpreted the Greek participle translated “recognizing” as indicating the circumstance of eating and drinking. While this interpretation is possible, but it seems to me that the literal Greek that reads not discerning the body is concerned with stating a condition which if not met will lead to the consequence envisioned in 1 Corinthians 11:29. We say this because the apostle used a participle of a Greek word that we will get to shortly with a Greek particle (mē) that usually means “not.” This negative Greek particle implies that one conceives or supposes a thing not to exist, in contrast to another negative Greek particle (ou) which expresses that it actually does not exist. In some instances, when a participle is used with the Greek particle used in our passage that means “not,” there is the implication that a condition is anticipated or implied. Take for example, when Apostle Paul encouraged the Galatians to continue in good works as that would be rewarded in the due time as stated in Galatians 6:9:
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
The clause if we do not give up is literally not giving up. The use of “if” in the NIV and many other English versions is because it is considered a component of the Greek participle giving up that is understood as conditional. Hence, we contend that since the apostle in this passage in Galatians used the same Greek construction, he used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:29 that he meant to convey condition that if not met would lead to the consequence he stated in the verse. In effect, we are saying that the verbal phrase of the NIV without recognizing the body should be read as if not recognizing the body; in this way, it is clearer that the apostle is concerned with a condition that if not met would trigger the consequences he wrote beginning in verse 29. After my interpretation, I consult many English versions and discovered that some of them agree with this interpretation. For example, the TEV translated the verbal phrase as if people do not recognize and the REB although follows the Greek order of the sentence reads if he does not discern the body.
The condition that the apostle stipulates that if not met would trigger the consequences that follow is again in the verbal phrase without recognizing the body of the Lord or literally not discerning the body. What does the apostle mean in this verbal phrase? To answer the question requires us answering two questions. What does the word “recognizing” mean? What does the word “body” refer to? To answer the first question requires understanding the Greek word used.
The word “recognizing” is translated from a Greek word (diakrinō) that has a range of meanings such as “to judge” in the sense of rendering legal opinion, but we limit our consideration to the meanings that are more relevant to our passage. Thus, the word may mean “to judge correctly” although the translators of the NIV used the meaning “interpret” to translate our Greek word in Matthew 16:3:
and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
The clause You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky is literally You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky. The word may mean “to pass judgment,” that is, “to weigh carefully” or “to evaluate” as it is used to describe what some in the local church in Corinth were required to do regarding those who speak prophetically as stated in 1 Corinthians 14:29:
Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.
The word may mean “to discriminate” not in the sense of using good judgment to recognize distinction but in the sense of making an unjust distinction in the treatment of different categories of people especially as based on social status of a person as James used it to condemn those who give preferential treatment to the rich in a local church as we read in James 2:4:
have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:29, it means “to judge correctly” or “to evaluate discerningly,” that is, to evaluate by recognizing or perceiving differences. A difference that is to be perceived is that between the Lord’s Supper and common meal. Hence, there is a sense that our Greek word in the verse we are considering is better understood to mean “to interpret correctly.” This brings us to the second question of what the body means in the verse we are considering.
The word “body” is translated from a Greek word (sōma) that we have considered previously but we need to review it. The word refers to the body of a human or animal. The 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 phrase in person he is unimpressive is literally the bodily presence weak. The word may mean “a unified group of people” hence it is used to describe the church of Christ as we read in Ephesians 1:22–23:
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:29, the word is used with meaning of body in a physical sense. However, the context suggests that the body should refer to that of Christ leading to two possible interpretations of the body as being related to the elements of the Lord’s Supper or to the church.
The two questions we have considered enable us to interpret what Apostle Paul meant in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 11:29 without recognizing the body of the Lord. There are two general interpretations given to this verbal phrase. First interpretation takes the “body” as a reference to the church of Christ that consists of all believers joined together, each having equal value and each worthy of respect. Thus, the failure of the Corinthians during the Lord’s Supper was their making distinctions between themselves based on a person’s wealth so that the poor is not treated well. Second interpretation takes the “body” as a reference to the bread eaten during the Lord’s Supper. Hence, the failure of the Corinthians was not to recognize the Lord’s body in the bread which they ate. While the first makes good sense, it is the second interpretation that I believe the apostle meant. So, the apostle means the condition which if a person does not meet that would lead to the consequences that follow in his exposition is properly interpreting the significance of the body of Christ that was offered for us that we celebrate during the Lord’s Supper that would include ensuring no sin of any kind during the celebration. A person should understand that the bread and wine the person partakes during the celebration are not to be considered ordinary bread and drink but that which signify the death of Christ on the cross for our sins. Thus, when a person fails to recognize this fact evident in sinning during the celebration, such as mistreating other believers, then the person has failed to meet the condition required for proper celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Therefore, the person would be subject to the consequences the apostle stated that follow beginning in verse 29. We believe that our interpretation encompasses the first in that if a person properly recognized that Christ died for the person’s sins, then during the celebration, that person would not be involved in mistreatment of the poor during the Lord’s Supper. Another reason for our interpretation is that Apostle Paul previously referred to the bread of the Lord’s Supper as a participation in the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 10:16:
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?
There is more. We indicated that the word “Lord” used in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 11:29 the body of the Lord is not in the original. However, the fact the apostle used a definite article before the word “body” in the Greek indicates that he had in mind the bread that represents the body of Christ as the Lord stated when He instituted the celebration as recorded in verse 24. This interpretation would certainly justify the addition of the word “Lord” as in the NIV.
Be that as it may, the primary consequence of failure to correctly interpret the significance of the elements (bread and wine/juice) used in the Lord’s Supper is, as we have stated, divine discipline/judgment from the Lord. This divine discipline is described in the last verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 11:29 eats and drinks judgment on himself. This verbal phrase conveys that anyone that does not meet the condition of correctly interpreting the significance of the elements used in the Lord’s Supper but partakes of them brings condemnation on self that leads to punishment. We say this because of the word “judgment.”
The word “judgment” is translated from a Greek word (krima) that may mean “judgment, judging” as the action/function of a judge as it is used of what God does, as stated in 1 Peter 4:17:
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
The word may refer to legal decision rendered by a judge, that is, “judicial verdict” thus the word may be used for a condemnatory verdict so may mean “condemnation” as the word is used to describe fate of false teachers in 2 Peter 2:3:
In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
The word may mean “punishment” as it is used for the prostitute in Revelation 17:1:
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:29, it means “condemnation” that involves punishment. Hence, if a person participates in the Lord’s Supper improperly then the person has subjected self to condemnation that brings punishment.
In any case, the improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper is inseparable from the resultant condemnation that is evident in punishment. In effect, the improper celebration of the Lord Supper and the condemnation a person is subjected to because of it cannot be separated from each other. This means that once a person celebrates the Lord’s Supper improperly the individual is subject to condemnation that is evident in punishment. The two events (improper celebration and punishment) are so joined that it is difficult to speak of the one without the other. This observation is based on the beginning phrase in the Greek of 1 Corinthians 11:30 that is translated in the NIV as That is why. The literal Greek of the phrase reads because of this. Of course, our English versions have rendered it using different expressions. On the one hand, for the most part, the English versions that kept the order of the Greek sentence of 1 Corinthians 11:29 that ends with the matter of discerning or correctly interpreting the significance of the elements used in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper begin verse 30 with such expression as “for this reason” as in the NASB or “this is the reason” as in the GW. This translation makes it easier to relate that the results stated in verse 30 are because of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper. On the other hand, for the most part, the English versions that ended verse 29 with the condemnation of self or judgment on self, begin verse 30 with the expression “that is why” as in the NIV or “this is why” as in the HCSB, making it difficult to interpret the reason for the results of verse 30. The difficulty lies with the possibility of confusing the two pronouns “this” and “that.” The pronoun “this” usually refers to the nearer of two things close to the speaker. So, if verse 29 ends with the concept of judgment as in the word of the NIV drinks judgment on himself and verse 30 begins with the word “this,” the implication is that the results given in verse 30 are due to the matter of judgment. If, however, verse 30 begins with the pronoun “that” which usually refers to the more distant of two things nearer to the speaker or it refers to a specific thing previously mentioned then “that” could be interpreted as the judgment in verse 29 or improper celebration, making it difficult for the English reader who knows the English language to decided based on the English versions what “that” means. Of course, if such a person consulted the Amplified Version, there would be no doubt that it is the improper celebration that results in what the apostle described in verse 30. That notwithstanding, it is probably that the Holy Spirit directed the apostle to write in such a way that the two events of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper and the judgment are so intertwined that they should not be separated as one considers the results given in verse 30. Thus, the point we have made that the improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper is inseparable from the resultant condemnation evident in punishment.
Anyway, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul states two related consequences of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper that were occurring in Corinth that should be recognized as divine discipline. The first is sickness. It is this that is stated in the clause of 1 Corinthians 11:30 That is why many among you are weak and sick. It seems that a large portion of the Corinthians were celebrating the Lord’s Supper improperly as the word “many” suggests since it is translated from a Greek adjective (polys) that has several meanings. The word may, in some contexts, mean “majority” as the word is used to describe those in Corinth that inflicted punishment on a believer that was subject to church discipline as implied in 2 Corinthians 2:6:
The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him.
The word may mean “few” in reference to a number that is less than or equal to ten as in the promise of the Lord to the disciples regarding the event that occurred about ten days after His ascension as we read in Acts 1:5:
For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
The word may mean “number” in the sense of undetermined quantity as it is used to describe the time that transpired between the stay of Paul and his team in the house of Philip, the evangelist and the arrival of Prophet Agabus at Caesarea as stated in Acts 21:10:
After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:30, it has the sense of “great number of” or “large number.”
The “great number of” the Corinthians who were celebrating the Lord’s Supper improperly were met with judgment of sickness as in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 11:30 are weak and sick. The phrase weak and sick although interpreted by some as referring to two different conditions is saying essentially the same thing which is sickness or illness. We can demonstrate this interpretation by considering the words used. The word “weak” is translated from a Greek word (asthenēs) that may pertain to suffering from a debilitating illness hence may mean “ill, sick” as Apostle Paul used it to describe his condition when he came to preach the gospel to the Galatians as we read in Galatians 4:13:
As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.
The word may also pertain to experiencing some incapacity or limitation either physically or spiritually. It is in the sense of being “unimpressive” that the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe how some in Corinth viewed him in a passage we cited previously 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 clause but in person he is unimpressive is literally, but his bodily presence is weak. But the word “weak” stands in direct contrast to a Greek adjective (ischyros) that literally means “strong” although in the context has the sense of “impressive.” It is for this reason that our Greek word has the meaning of “unimpressive” as given in the NIV since it is the bodily appearance of the apostle that is being criticized by some in Corinth. In a spiritual sense, the word may mean “helpless” or “powerless” morally as it is used to describe our state before Christ died for our sins as stated in Romans 5:6:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
The apostle used our Greek word in both physical and spiritual weaknesses in the same passage as we read in 2 Corinthians 11:29:
Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
Being weak here probably refers to both physical and spiritual weakness. In other words, being weak refers to physical infirmity and being vulnerable to temptation and doubt. The apostle then feels weak in the sense that he empathizes or has compassion for their vulnerability to temptation and doubt since he himself experienced illness, discouragement, and fear. Of course, the apostle burns with anger towards those who lead others to sin. It is true that our Greek word may be used to describe physical and spiritual weakness but there are specific nuances implied in the use of the meaning “weak,” depending on the context. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:30, the word is used in the sense of “ill,” that is, affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function.
It is our interpretation that the Greek word translated “weak” in 1 Corinthians 11:30 refers to illness or sickness. How can we be sure of this interpretation since the Greek word has several meanings? The apostle did not leave us guessing so he explained what he meant by “weak” in our passage. We say that he explained what he meant because of the word “and” used in the phrase weak and sick of 1 Corinthians 11:30 that we are considering.
The conjunction “and” is translated from a Greek conjunction (kai) that in our phrase is subjected to two interpretations. It could be interpreted as a marker of connection between two words “weak” and “sick.” Or it could be interpreted as being used to provide explanation to what preceded in which case it may be translated “that is.” In effect, it is used to explain or narrow the meaning of “weakness” in our passage. This we say because the word “sick” is translated from a Greek word (arrōstos) that literally means state of powerless hence means “ill, sick.” The Greek word is used five times in the Greek NT, four times in the gospels. In all the four occurrences of the word in the gospels of Matthew and Mark, there is no doubt that it has the meaning of “sickness” or “illness” because the word is associated with the word “healed.” Take for example, it is used to describe those Jesus healed as narrated in Matthew 14:14:
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Likewise, those the disciples healed when the Lord sent them on a mission field are described using our Greek word in Mark 6:13:
They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
Therefore, there is no doubt that our Greek word means “sickness” or “illness.” Consequently, the Greek word is used to narrow down the meaning of the Greek word that is translated “weak” in the passage we are considering, that is, 1 Corinthians 11:30. Anyway, the point is that the first divine discipline that a considerable number of members in the church in Corinth experienced for improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper is sickness or illness. The mention of sickness or illness necessitates our reviewing what we have studied in the past about sickness with an addition.
The first point we want to bring to your attention is that God is the ultimate source of sickness or illness contrary to what many Christians think. This truth is derived from several passages of the Scripture. When Moses stated to Israel what would happen if they failed to keep the law of God given to them, he stated that God would bring sickness or diseases to them as recorded in Deuteronomy 28:58–61:
58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God— 59 the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
It is Yahweh that is said to bring illness on the son that resulted from David’s adulterous affairs with Bathsheba as we read in 2 Samuel 12:15:
After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.
When Herod stole the praise due to God as he delivered his address to the Jews, the Lord is said to strike him with illness that resulted in his death as we may gather from Acts 12:23:
Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
Thus, God is the ultimate source of sickness although at times Satan would be a secondary agent of sickness as we may gather from the experience of Job as stated in Job 2:6–7:
6 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
That Satan is a secondary agent of sickness is asserted by the Lord Jesus as He healed a woman as recorded in Luke 13:16:
Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
The Lord attributed the woman’s condition to Satan but that does not mean that he is the ultimate source. For Satan to be the ultimate source of the woman’s condition would mean that he is a creator, something that is not true. There is only one creator of all things whether good or bad in our estimation; it is God as we may infer from Isaiah 45:7:
I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
God remains the ultimate source of all things good or bad as also stated in Ecclesiastes 7:14:
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.
Another point we want to bring to your attention regarding illness or diseases is that God sends them as punishment for sin. The Lord threatened Israel with punishment that involves diseases if they did not obey His commandments to them as we read in Leviticus 26:14–16:
14 “ ‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
Jehoram was inflicted with illness or sickness that led to his death because of his sins as stated by the words of Prophet Elijah recorded in 2 Chronicles 21:12–15:
12 Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said: “This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah. 13 But you have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your father’s house, men who were better than you. 14 So now the LORD is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow. 15 You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.’”
The psalmist acknowledged that his sickness was due to his sin in Psalm 38:2–3:
2For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me. 3Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin.
The Jews understood that sin is God’s punishment. Therefore, the disciples asked the question concerning the reason for the condition of the man born blind as we read in John 9:2:
His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
The reality is that sickness or disease is a result of the fall of humankind into sin. It is the fall of humankind that resulted in God’s punishment that brought pain into the world as we may gather from Genesis 3:16–17:
16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
It is true that the pain mentioned in this passage is concerned primarily with being a woman and being a man, but the idea of pain implies that suffering or sickness that leads to pain is also the result of sin. In effect, if there were no sin in the world there would be no sickness. Thus, we should recognize that sickness or disease is part of God’s punishment for humankind falling into sin. Of course, we should be careful to recognize that personal sickness or disease may not necessarily be the result of a person’s immediate sin but of the lingering effects of the fall of humankind into sin.
There is no doubt that sickness or disease is the result of the sin of mankind but there are certain steps you can take to minimize sickness or ill health. To minimize sickness requires you maintain a joyful disposition in life. In effect, you should have that disposition where you are very joyful, avoiding any form of bitterness in your life as that would be detrimental to your health. This step is implied in the words of Proverbs 17:22:
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
The sentence A cheerful heart is good medicine is literally A rejoicing heart is good healing. The adjective “cheerful” is translated from a Hebrew adjective (śāmēaḥ) that pertains to a feeling or attitude of joy, happiness, or contentment. Here it has the sense of “joyful” so that the phrase cheerful heart of the NIV refers to a disposition of a person who is quite often full of joy or full of contentment and avoids any form of bitterness. This kind of disposition puts a person in a situation where the body of such a person receives healing from the effects of sin such as bitterness. We use the word “healing” because the word “medicine” of the NIV is translated from a rare Hebrew word (gēhāh) that may mean “healing, recuperation, that is, a medicinal cure to restore health” so in this passage it has the sense of medicine in the sense of something that treats or alleviates the symptoms of disease. Hence, we contend that if you maintain a joyful disposition in your life, you will alleviate some form of sickness. We are not saying that you will never be sick but that you will rarely be sick since your joyful attitude helps to heal you from the effects of sins. Joyful disposition is certainly very beneficial spiritually and physically that in part is the reason believers are commanded by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul to have a joyful disposition as recorded in Philippians 4:4:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
If you refuse to rejoice, that is, maintain joyful disposition then you are making things worse for yourself. In effect, you expose yourself more to the physical effects of sins in the form of sickness. Listen to the alternative effect on the body of not maintaining joyful disposition in the second clause of Proverbs 17:22 but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. The word “crushed” is translated from a Hebrew word (nāḵēʾ) that pertains to that which is pressed to the point of breaking so means “crushed” in the sense of broken. A broken spirit impacts the body adversely as in the verbal phrase dries up the bones. The word “dries” is translated from a Hebrew word (yāḇēš) that means “to dry up” or “to be withered” or “shriveled up, that is, to be a state of relatively little or no moisture.” Here the sense of the word is to wither in the sense of “to weaken or degenerate (of a limb or part of the body).” The thing that withers due to a broken or crushed spirit is given in the word “bones” that is translated from a Hebrew word (gěrěm) that although may mean “bones” but here it is used in the sense of “strength” with perhaps emphasis on the physical nature of the strength. When a person’s spirit is broken or crushed then it affects the body in the sense that a person’s strength is sapped. A person in such a state is more prone to sickness or disease. Thus, it is important to maintain a joyful disposition in your life to help alleviate ill health.
Let’s consider another passage of Proverbs 14:30:
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
The sentence A heart at peace gives life to the body means that a mind at peace results in a healthy body. The sentence envy rots the bones means that a disturbed mind or a mind in turmoil leads to disease that weakens the body. The UBS handbook suggests that the verse may be translated “If someone’s inside is at peace, then his body will be well. But if someone is jealous and angry all the time towards others, this behavior will be like a bad sickness that attacks his bones.” Anyway, the point is that although illness is unavoidable because of the effect of original sin, those with joyful disposition will not be impacted by the physical effect of original sin in form of sickness as those who do not.
Another way to minimize sickness is to ensure you have a constant regiment of exercise. It is true that there is no direct command in the Scripture that requires you to exercise but the Holy Spirit in passing makes the point that exercise is necessary for our physical wellbeing. The indirect reference to exercise is given in 1 Timothy 4:8:
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
The primary emphasis of this verse is on spiritual exercise described in terms of godliness. Nonetheless, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul acknowledged the necessity for physical exercise although some believe that it is not merely physical exercise that is involved. That notwithstanding, the apostle is saying that physical training is of some value. We do not have to emphasize the necessity for us to exercise our bodies. Physical activities are essential for our wellbeing. It is irresponsible on our part to ignore physical activities. We should be careful to understand that the time at which this was written physical exercise is not emphasized in the same sense as it is today. For people who were involved in ancient agricultural economy had plenty physical exercises because they worked with all the muscles in their bodies. They tilled the ground and lifted all kinds of things thereby exercising the various muscles. Furthermore, they walked a lot since they did not have automobiles as we have. Today many of us do our work sitting or using machinery so that we rarely exercise our muscles; therefore, formal exercise becomes important. When we say that physical exercise is not emphasized in the same sense as today, we mean that the obsession today with physical fitness was not quite the same as among the Greeks. They placed great emphasis in athletes, as we seem to do today but mostly in connection with the Olympic Games and not necessarily on mass physical fitness as today. In any case, let us consider the apostle’s admission in the expression for physical training is of some value or more literally for bodily exercise for little (short time) is beneficial. Anyway, we ask the question of in what sense is physical exercise profitable or beneficial? An answer is that it helps to maintain good health. A person who exercises would be less prone to certain health problems than those who do not. So, you can ensure better health condition by exercising. Exercising must be combined with good diet to help the believer avoid some sicknesses that beset the body. Some are not careful with fat and so they like to eat a lot of fried food and that causes health problems. You see, fat can be detrimental to our health so that God stirred Israel away from eating fat of animals by indicating that all fat of animal for sacrifice belong to Him as we read, for example, in Leviticus 3:16:
The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD’s.
With this consideration of what to do to avoid certain sickness, we return to our consideration of the fact that divine discipline in terms of sickness that came to a good number of the Corinthians was due to improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
How does the clause of 1 Corinthians 11:30 many among you are weak and sick, apply to you? You may ask. If you are a believer in Christ, it applies to you just as it did with the Corinthians. If you are sickly, you should examine yourself to ensure that your sickness is not connected with being careless in celebrating the Lord’s Supper. Although the apostle cited sickness as part of the divine discipline the Lord inflicts on those who are careless in celebrating the Lord’s Supper, the discipline will certainly apply to other areas of life where a believer suffers. Therefore, if you suffer or experience loss of financial income, you should also check to see that it is not only because you refuse to support the ministry but that it is related to carelessness in participating in the Lord’s Supper.
03/25//22 [End of Lessons #401 and 402]