The Lord's Supper

¹⁷In the things I tell you now I don't praise you. Your meetings hurt you more than they help you. ¹⁸First, I hear that when you meet together as a church you are divided. And I believe some of this. ¹⁹(It is necessary for there to be differences among you. That is the way to make it clear which ones of you are really doing right.) ²⁰When you all come together, you are not really eating the Lord's Supper.* ²¹Why? Because when you eat, each person eats without waiting for the others. Some people don't get enough to eat [or drink], while other people [have so much that they] become drunk. ²²You can eat and drink in your own homes! It seems that you think God's church (people) is not important. You embarrass those people that are poor. What should I tell you? Should I praise you for doing this? I don't praise you. ²³The teaching that I gave you is the same teaching that I received from the Lord: On the night when Jesus was given to be killed, he took bread ²⁴and gave thanks for it. Then he divided the bread and said, "This is my body; it is for you. Do this to remember me." ²⁵In the same way, after they ate, Jesus took the cup of wine. Jesus said, "This wine shows the new agreement [from God to his people]. This new agreement begins with my blood (death). When you drink this, do it to remember me." ²⁶Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you make known the Lord's death until he comes. ²⁷So if a person eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is not worthy of it, then that person is sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. ²⁸Every person should look into his own heart before he eats the bread and drinks the cup. ²⁹If a person eats [the bread] and drinks [the cup] without recognizing the body, then that person is judged guilty by eating and drinking. ³⁰That is why many in your group are sick and weak. And many have died. ³¹But if we judged ourselves in the right way, then God would not judge us. ³²But when the Lord judges us, he punishes us to show us the right way. He does this so that we will not be condemned with [the other people in] the world. ³³So, my brothers [and sisters], when you come together to eat, wait for each other. ³⁴If a person is [too] hungry to wait, then he should eat at home. Do this so that your meeting together will not bring God's judgment on you. I will tell you what to do about the other things when I come.

Lord's Supper The special meal Jesus told his followers to eat to remember him. See Lk. 22:14-20.