J
JoyToBeCatholic
Guest
I may be having an uh-huh moment. Maybe just a little light beginning to dawn on marblehead…
Here is the passage:
17 But in giving you this charge, I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better but for the worse.
18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and I partly believe it.
19 For there must be also factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you.
20 When therefore ye assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord’s supper:
21 for in your eating each one taketh before other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
22 What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you? In this I praise you not.
23 For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread;
24 and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.
30 For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
31 But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, wait one for another. 34 If any man is hungry, let him eat at home; that your coming together be not unto judgment. And the rest will I set in order whensoever I come.
I would have said that the “Lord’s body” in vs 29 was the congregation (we are members of His body) - especially since Paul is here rebuking the Corinthians for their unruly and rude behavior at church - but this makes absolutely no sense (at least not to me) in light of Paul’s repeated mention of Christ’s body and blood (vs. 24, 25, 27 and 29). Paul repeatedly mentions eating and drinking (vs. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29). Suddently understanding the Lord’s body in vs 29 as meaning the congregation does not fit at all. It is clear from the repeated references to Christ’s body and blood and eating and drinking that the discerning of the Lord’s body he is pointing to is the Lord’s actual body within the context of eating and drinking. This can only be a reference to the Real Presence in the Eucharist.
I welcome any additional insight to this and/or alternative explanations - Catholic or not.
Thanks
Here is the passage:
17 But in giving you this charge, I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better but for the worse.
18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and I partly believe it.
19 For there must be also factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you.
20 When therefore ye assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord’s supper:
21 for in your eating each one taketh before other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
22 What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you? In this I praise you not.
23 For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread;
24 and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.
30 For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
31 But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, wait one for another. 34 If any man is hungry, let him eat at home; that your coming together be not unto judgment. And the rest will I set in order whensoever I come.
I would have said that the “Lord’s body” in vs 29 was the congregation (we are members of His body) - especially since Paul is here rebuking the Corinthians for their unruly and rude behavior at church - but this makes absolutely no sense (at least not to me) in light of Paul’s repeated mention of Christ’s body and blood (vs. 24, 25, 27 and 29). Paul repeatedly mentions eating and drinking (vs. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29). Suddently understanding the Lord’s body in vs 29 as meaning the congregation does not fit at all. It is clear from the repeated references to Christ’s body and blood and eating and drinking that the discerning of the Lord’s body he is pointing to is the Lord’s actual body within the context of eating and drinking. This can only be a reference to the Real Presence in the Eucharist.
I welcome any additional insight to this and/or alternative explanations - Catholic or not.
Thanks
