How to Approach the Table
ICS Daily Devotions
Observing and celebrating the Lord’s Supper has great significance and benefits if we understand what it means to come before the table.
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. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgement to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
Jesus came to die for the ungodly, so everyone qualifies to be saved. However, nobody is worthy to come before the Lord’s Table based on their own strength even after they have been saved. Although we are seen as righteous before God, we are not perfect. In fact, the very reason for us to come before the Lord as we partake of the Holy Communion is to remind us of the grace of God. God sent Jesus to be the propitiation of our sins. His work of atonement and redemption caused us to have a right standing before God because we are hidden in Christ. We celebrate the Lord’s achievement for us when we remember what He has done for us through the atonement and redemption of the Lord. Jesus would have died in vain if the law or the works of men were able give us a right standing before God.
Therefore, the “unworthy manner” in the opening passage is referring to the need to examine ourselves and prepare our hearts to worship and celebrate the finished work of Christ. We must not come before the Lord’s Table in a careless and improper manner. 1 Corinthians 11:20-22 records that feasting and drunkenness happened before they partook of the Holy Communion. Coming to the Lord’s Table drunk was an absolute disregard to the Holy Communion and the presence of God, and an unruly and inappropriate behaviour before the Lord’s Table.
However, it pleases God when we come to the Holy Communion table by faith. We can believe in the covenant relationship with God to help us face any tribulation in life. We can remind ourselves that we are coming as a body of believers regardless of race, class and background. We have faith that God has given us a new way of life through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus which has set us free from the law of sin and death. It is an appropriation and a remembrance of what we have since the Holy Communion is a reminder of Christ and His work.
Sermon Series: The Holy Communion
