I Corinthians 11:27-30
“Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a person must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.For the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not properly recognize the body. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number are asleep.”
A very interesting passage. Growing up in a church I recall bringing a non Christian friend with me. He went up and took communion with us. He didn’t know what to do. The priest approached us after church to explain this passage in a nonthreatening way.
I don’t think my friend would have gotten sick as he had no malice, nor do I think he was at the age of accountability. I didn’t understand this passage.
I get it now. Communion is a holy exersize. We who are redeemed appreciate the great sacrifice which Jesus did. It was foretold in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:15 says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” They had just fallen. They had no idea the horrible consequences which were to come. We will see the evil of man. We will see the great plan of God through Judaism. Then Jesus, the Messiah, comes and dies for our sin and crushes the serpents head.
Those of us in whom He has delivered rejoice greatly. We have felt the hopeless state of sin and now being delivered from it. We have freedom in Christ and the wonderful fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Then, those of us who are saved partake of the Lord’s Supper and are so grateful. We sit with the elements and ponder the great sacrifice He made. Thank You, Lord.
So, when an unbeliever takes part in communion it’s very insensitive to God and those in the church. The Book of Acts has a husband and wife team giving an amount in which they were pretending to give all of the sale of the house. While in reality they gave only a fraction. Their sin wasn’t the amount, but the lie that it was the whole amount. They were both struck dead. That’s what Paul is referring to when he says some of you are ill. They partook of communion in an unworthy manner.
We should have the reverence demonstrated throughout scripture. God told Moses to take off his shoes for he was on holy ground. We should fear God. He will do what He says. So, we should heed His warnings.
When we share Christ we should insert that He is holy and we aren’t. Therefore we can never get to heaven on our own efforts. Jesus had to die for our sins. There was no other way to beat the rap all of us were under. Thank You, Lord for Your love and sacrifice.