1 Corinthians 11

34 verses

First Corinthians 11 addresses two liturgical disorders that have divided the community: the practice of head coverings and the conduct of the Lord's Supper. The head-covering section establishes a theological order — the head of the woman is the man, the head of the man is Christ, the head of Christ is God — while Paul's argument from creation, nature, and apostolic practice reflects a concern for honor and shame in the public gathering that has generated extensive scholarly discussion about its cultural particularity versus permanent normativity. The Lord's Supper section is the chapter's weightier concern: the Corinthian celebration has become a social disaster in which the wealthy eat and drink to excess while the poor go hungry, so that the gathering is doing more harm than good. Paul transmits the tradition he received — on the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, broke it, saying this is my body which is for you; do this in remembrance of me; likewise the cup after supper, this cup is the new covenant in my blood — framing the Supper as a proclamation of the Lord's death until he comes. The failure to discern the body — whether meaning the physical body of Christ in the elements or the ecclesial body of believers present at the table — brings judgment, evidenced in the community by the presence of weakness, illness, and death among them. The corrective is self-examination before eating and drinking: if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged, but when we are judged by the Lord we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. The chapter exposes the radical social-ethical stakes of Eucharistic practice: to eat the Lord's Supper while humiliating the poor is to eat judgment upon oneself, because the meal's meaning is inseparable from the community it creates and sustains.

VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS