Putting Others First

Theme: Body of Christ

Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

               

Objectives: (From the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson book)

Know: Divisions in the church in Corinth were demonstrated by the way they celebrated communion. Paul instructed the believers to unite around the sacrifice of Christ represented by the bread and cup.

Think: Let a constant awareness of Christ’s sacrificial love drive my interaction with all of my church family.

Do: Do my part to build unity in my local body of Christ.

Notes and questions

B1 The Corinthian believers had questions about Communion, the Lord’s Supper.

B2 Their remembrance of the Lord was badly flawed: 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 NKJV  Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.  18  For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.  19  For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.  20  Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.  21  For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.  22  What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. They

C1 Had divisions. These are splits (schisms) maybe due to socio-economic reasons.

C2 Had factions. This is believing and teaching false doctrine.

C3 Had the Lord’s Supper for the wrong reasons. Utley, in his commentary on this passage, writes: It is possible to understand this phrase in several ways.

1. The wealthy/educated/influential/high-born came early and ate their meal quickly so that when the poor arrived there was nothing, or hardly anything, left to eat.

2. Each person was to bring his own meal. The elite believers ate theirs quickly in the presence of the poor, or slave members of the church, who brought little or nothing.

C4 Had selfish motives and actions

C5 Had despise for the church of God (the people)

C6 Were shaming those who are poor. Utley gives further comment: The problem was selfishness and gluttony based on social distinctions instead of self-giving love, as Jesus' actions and precedent clearly taught. The Corinthian church did not believe that they were one in Christ. There was a radical dichotomy between

1. social haves vs.  have nots

2. wealthy vs. poor

3. men vs. women

4. freedmen vs. slaves

5. Romans vs. all others

6. spiritual elite vs. common believer

C7 The word drunk in 1 Corinthians 11:21 means intoxication.

C8 Questions

D1 What is their main problem?

D2 What happened to the oneness of the group? Oneness as

E1 John 13:34 NKJV  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

E2 John 17:11 NKJV  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.

E3 Oneness is understood to be one in beliefs, gospel, doctrine, goals, etc. as in being one team.

B3 Paul set about to correct this.

B4 Basics of Communion

C1 In remembrance of what Jesus has done for us: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NRSV  For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,  (24)  and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."  (25)  In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."  (26)  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

D1 In remembrance of Me.

E1 Remembering the prophecies about Him, His birth, His baptism, His ministry, His teaching, His attributes, His warnings, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His present ministry, His promises, His coming for us soon, His reign as King of Kings, etc.

E2 His suffering for our sins, the penalty paid, His offer of salvation, and His call to us.

E3 His love, His compassion, and His seeking us who were lost.

D2 Old and New Covenant

Comparing Old and New Covenant
Old Covenant	New Covenant
Was given to Israel Exodus 19:1-5	Was given to Abraham and cannot be annulled: Galatians 3:13-18
Given at Mt. Sinai Exodus 19:1-5	Given at the Last Supper as a memorial to remember the sacrificial gift of the Lord Jesus for the sins of the world
Conditional Exodus 19:5	Unconditional
Given to the nation of Israel	Promised to the nation of Israel: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Failed and is fading away Hebrews 8:3	Successful and everlasting Jeremiah 32:40 with Is everlasting and perfect: Hebrews 13:20
	Promised and guaranteed by Jesus Christ: Hebrews 7:21-22
Inaugurated with blood of animals Hebrews 9:18	Inaugurated with blood of Christ 1 Corinthians 11:25
Must keep the whole law perfectly in thoughts, desires, words, and deeds Galatians 5:3	Jesus Christ kept the whole law perfectly in thoughts, desires, words, and deeds John 19:28 and Hebrews 4:15
Perfect obedience is required in thoughts, desires, words, and deeds Exodus 19:5	Faith is required Romans 4:5 and Romans 5:1
Was given to convict people of their sinful condition: Galatians 3:19-24
Moses was the mediator: Galatians 3:19	Jesus is the mediator: Hebrews 8:6
The covenant with Israel had problems: Hebrews 8	The Old Covenant has been replaced: Hebrews 8:13

D3 If you want to read more about the New Covenant, read Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8-10.

D4 You proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

E1 We do not see Him today.

E2 We have this reminder from when He ate with His Apostles until He returns for us.

E3 It is for all believers until He returns.

E4 There is a promise that He will return.

B6 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NKJV  For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;  24  and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  25  In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."  26  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.

C1 The word received has the idea that Paul learned this from the Lord Jesus.

C2 John 6:51-56 NKJV  I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  52  The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  53  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  54  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  55  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  56  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

D1 This is somewhat related to the passage we are studying.

D2 The idea is that we eat food and drink fluids to live physically. It is a source of life for us.

D3 Jesus Christ is our food and fluid to live spiritually. He is our source of life.

D4 Jesus created Adam and Eve (and us). Jesus recreates us in the New Birth. Without Jesus, there is no spiritual life. Spiritual life is only in Jesus. There is no other way. We cannot do this ourselves. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

C3 From our passage what night was this supper?

C4 Jesus took the bread. What did He do next? How can we apply that for us today?

C5 How was Jesus’s body broken?

C6 Is blood necessary for salvation? Hebrews 9:22-28 NKJV  And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.  23  Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  24  For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;  25  not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—  26  He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  27  And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,  28  so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

C7 The idea of remembrance is recollection. Why do we need to be reminded?

C8 What are we proclaiming?

C9 How long is the church to do this?

B7 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 NKJV  Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.  28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  29  For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.  30  For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.  31  For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.  32  But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

C1 How do we eat unworthily?

C2 With what do we examine ourselves? What is this standard?

C3 What is happening to the people in 1 Corinthians 11:30?

D1 Chastening

D2 Psalm 38 is one passage that answers the question. Here is Psalms 38:3 NKJV  There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin.

C4 What is the solution, the healing of the problem?

C5 According to 1 Corinthians 11:32, what is a purpose of chastening?

B8 1 Corinthians 11:33-34 NKJV  Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.  34  But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.

C1 What is the importance of waiting for one another?

C2 What judgment might one experience if we do not the right thing?

C3 Do we do the Lord’s Supper as a family or as individuals? The family is referring to the whole congregation.

C4 Is the Lord’s Supper a necessary ritual, a rule for salvation?

C5 How does loving our neighbor as ourself apply to this passage?

C6 How are we to do this principle this week?

B9 Next week:

C1 Gifted to serve

C2 Theme: Spiritual Gifts

C3 Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 12

SS Lesson Jesus’s Passover with the Apostles

Final Passover and Betrayal

 

A1 Objectives

B1 How the final Passover, the Lord's Supper, is a remembrance of Jesus's death.

B2 How Judas's betrayal was part of God's plan.

 

A2 Scripture

B1 Matthew 26:14-30 The Parable of the Talents

B2 John 18:1-11 Betrayal, arrest, and trial of Jesus

B3 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Institution of the Lord's Supper

 

A3 Notes

B1 Passover

C1 Initiated, described, regulations thereof given by God for Israel--"This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance." (Exodus 12:14 NRSV)

C2 Named after the "passing over" of the death angel--"...you shall say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.'" And the people bowed down and worshiped." (Exodus 12:27 NRSV)

C3 The Hebrew word itself referred to a leaping over of something. Here it would the leaping over of the blood bought household.

C4 The death angel did not kill the first born, if he saw the blood of the sacrificed animal on the door posts. This indicated the death of the substitute. "Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down." (Exodus 12:21-23 NRSV)

C5 This month became the first month of the new Jewish calendar. It corresponds to March-April.

C6 Ritual

D1 On the 10th day, the special lamb was chosen by the father of the household.

D2 On the 14th day, in the late afternoon the chosen lamb was killed.

D3 When evening started, then the 15th day started.

D4 On this evening the special sacrificial meal was eaten.

E1 Lamb--was not dressed. It was roasted whole. No bones were to be broken.

E2 Bread--made without yeast and dough saved to take with them. No leavened bread was to be eaten for 7 days.

E3 Herbs--bitter herbs.

E4 What was not eaten of lamb was burned to ash the following morning.

D5 The clothes they wore that evening were to be traveling clothes, so they could make a hasty departure.

D6 The Passover was to be celebrated every year.

D7 It was to be at the place God appointed as the place of worship.

D8 All adult males were required to be there.

C7 This could be eaten with another family if the families were small.

C8 Non-Jews could participate if the males were circumcised and recognized by the nation as qualified.

C9 Lasted 1 day.

C10 The Passover of Jesus's time

D1 Had the lamb killed at the Temple.

D2 Could be eaten with friends as well as relatives.

D3 A cup of wine was blessed by the head person and passed around to each person before and after eating the unleavened bread.

D4 Singing of Psalms.

D5 Lasted 7 days.

C11 See here: www

B2 Blood

C1 Animal VS Christ

B1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. (Hebrews 10:1-4, NKJV)

B2 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins. (Hebrews 10:1-4, GNB92)

C2 Differences

 

Law	Christ
Bulls and goats	Christ
Image and shadow	The real thing
Yearly	One time only
Still feel guilty of sin	No guilt
Cannot take away sin	Takes away sin

 

B3 Last Supper

C1 Views (main source here

D1 Roman Catholic

E1 Eucharist is sacrament

F1 Word means thanksgiving

F2 Sacrament is

G1 "conveys grace to all who receive it worthily."

G2 Forgiveness of sin may be given and obtained.

G3 It is the bloodless sacrifice of the Savior, a real sacrifice.

E2 Consecration (when the priest does the mass)

F1 the bread and the wine become the actual body and blood of Christ.

F2 Transubstantiation is the term used for this.

F3 Christ's presence is in the elements (bread and wine) and is called the Real Presence.

E3 From the Council of Trent (1545-1563):

"...By the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."

D2 Orthodox

E1 Similar to Roman Catholic

E2 Called mystery rather than sacrament

E3 Does not define how the elements become the actual body and blood of the Savior

D3 Lutheran

E1 Named Consubstantiation

E2 The body and blood of the Savior are present around, in, under, with the bread and wine.

E3 The bread and wine stay bread and wind.

E4 Luther illustrated by an iron rod placed into the fire. Both are united in the red hot iron, yet both are still distinct.

E5 Eucharist does not make present the sacrifice on the Cross.

D4 Reformed and Presbyterian

E1 Christ is not present literally in the elements but is present spiritually.

E2 People receiving the elements receive the actual body and blood of the Savior through the Holy Spirit's power. This works through the sacrament.

E3 This view is called Receptionism.

E4 "The rule which the pious ought always to observe is, whenever they see the symbols instituted by the Lord, to think and feel surely persuaded that the truth of the thing signified is also present. For why does the Lord put the symbol of his body into your hands, but just to assure you that you truly partake of him? If this is true let us feel as much assured that the visible sign is given us in seal of an invisible gift as that his body itself is given to us."--John Calvin

D5 Symbolic

E1 Called the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion.

E2 No physical or spiritual presence of Christ at all. It is just bread and wine (or grape juice).

E3 It is a remembrance and symbolic only.

E4 This view is called Memorialism.

E5 Anglican and Methodist Churches have a wide variety of views.

D6 None

E1 Some like the Salvation Army do not have Eucharist at all.

E2 "The Salvation Army has never said it is wrong to use sacraments, nor does it deny that other Christians receive grace from God through using them. Rather, the Army believes that it is possible to live a holy life and receive the grace of God without the use of physical sacraments and that they should not be regarded as an essential part of becoming a Christian." Source: Waterbeach SA

C2 I Corinthians 11:17-33 Instructions on the Lord's Supper

D1 Failure due to

E1 Divisions--people angry and not speaking to one another. They are not unified to serve the risen Lord.

E2 People are eating the Agape Feast and the Lord's Supper as if at a restaurant, not celebrating and remembering what the Lord Jesus has done for us.

E3 People are not eating together. Some get their food early and chow down before others get any.

D2 Correction

E1 The Lord Jesus gave this info to Paul.

E2 Paul gave it then to the disciples.

E3 The night that the Lord Jesus was betrayed he

F1 Took bread

F2 Gave thanks

F3 Broke the bread

F4 And said, "Take, eat; this is My body which was broken for you.

G1 Thus all would know that it was bread that was a symbol

G2 All would remember what Jesus went through as our Savior.

F5 "Do this in remember of me." It was not eat me as if it was changed into His flesh.

F6 Took the cup after supper.

F7 Said, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood,

F8 "Do this as often as you remember me." Thus indicating that it is symbolic, not real flesh. It is in remembrance.

F9 It was for the purpose of the New Covenant sealed with His blood, just as the first covenant was sealed with blood (animal).

F10 We remember in this way the Lord's death until He returns.

E4 We are to

F1 Do this with reverence. That is in a serious, purposeful manner.

F2 We are to examine ourselves by the rules of the New Testament. If we see that we are not right and in accordance with those rules, then we must repent and get things right with God and man.

F3 If it is not in remember, with a serious attitude, and with a serious examination of ourselves with repentance if needed, then we are guilty of the "body of the Lord and of the blood of the Lord."

F4 We will bring God's judgment on us if we drink and eat irreverently.

G1 Might get physically sick.

G2 Might get physically weak.

G3 Are sure to be spiritually sick and weak.

G4 Some have died.

F5 The importance of judging ourselves is so that we will not be judged by God Himself later.

F6 If God does discipline us, it is so that we do not face that same judgment and fate of the world.

F7 Wait for one another when eating the Love Feast and taking Communion.

F8 If someone is hungry, eat at home.

F9 I sort out and do further instruction late, when I come to visit you.

 

A4 Questions

B1 In the plain, normal reading of 1 Corinthians 11:17-23, which of the above understandings of remembering the Lord's Supper is most reasonable?

B2 What are we to do before partaking of the Lord's Supper?

B3 What are we to do during the Lord's Supper?

B4 What are we to do after partaking of the Lord's Supper?