The Communion
No section of the Scriptures has been more grossly misunderstood or abused than those verses pertaining to the communion. By God-given authority, Jesus ordained this act of worship and appointed where it should be placed. (Matt. 26:26-29; Luke 22:17-20; Mark 14:22-25.) Even in the apostolic age, the communion, its place and purpose in worship, was perverted and abused. The apostle Paul deals with this misconduct in the Corinthian congregation in chapters 10 and 11.
There is nothing in the words of Jesus which even suggests a literal view should be taken about the words "This is the basic idea of the doctrine of transubstantiation adopted by the Roman Catholic Church long ago. This doctrine teaches a change of substance; the bread and the fruit of the vine into the literal body and blood of Christ when partaken. Those who read the New Testament with an open mind understand that there is figurative language used by our Lord. "I am the vine" in John 15:1; "I am the DOOR of the sheep" in John 10:7, and many other places proves the symbolic statements used. The same may be said of the Lutheran claim of the actual indwelling of the presence of Christ in the elements when partaken.
The natural and reasonable way to understand Jesus' words "this is my body, this is my blood" is that of a memorial or a representation of the cross where His body was offered and His blood was shed. The "cup" cannot be taken literally, for one cannot drink a cup.
"Cup" therefore must refer to the contents or the fruit of the vine.
Jesus said: "I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." (Matt. 26:29.) Jesus states here the communion would be in the kingdom which began on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ. "New" means a quality or way in contrast to that which is old. It carries with it the idea of surpassing and superseding the old. Thus the New Covenant took the place of the old.
The background of Paul's arguments in First Corinthians is the wilderness wandering of the Jews which is a type of the Christian life. They did not travel individually but as a church, a congregation. (Acts 7:38.) At the institution of the Passover in Egypt, the Jews prepared it by slaying a lamb for each house. Christ, the lamb of God is our Passover. (I Cor. 5:7.) The above teaches that the Communion is to be partaken of all through our sojourn here, for as yet we have not reached Home and final glory. Every first day of the week, faithful Christians, for whom the communion was intended, assemble to commemorate the body and the blood of Christ, which for the basis of the New Covenant in which those who obeyed the gospel were freed from the guilt of sin and passed over into the way of life. "Communion with" simply means "partakers of" or in "fellowship." The same word translated "communion" is elsewhere translated fellowship, sharing and partakers of. In the communion we declare we are partakers of and recipients of the body and blood of Jesus. In I Corinthians 10:16,17, Paul appeals to the one bread which is broken as a communion with the body of Christ. "The many" are the one body. All faithful partake of this. There is mutual communion of the members of the body.
"Unworthiness" means not discerning. Their acts became their judgment because they did not understand nor partake of the comunion as they ought. "To proclaim the Lord's death till He come" is a perpetual re-affirmation of this great truth in act, that is by communion. The Communion is the crown and center of the acts of worship of assembled Christians upon the first day of the week. (Acts 20:7.)