📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 11:26
What does 1 Corinthians 11:26 mean?
"For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes."
— 1 Corinthians 11:26 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”
In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the 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 way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body.
Explanation
1 Corinthians 11:26 sits within Paul's instructions on the Lord's Supper, and in plain language it says that every time believers share the bread and cup of communion, they are making a public declaration about Jesus' death, and they will continue doing this until Jesus returns. The act of eating and drinking together is not merely a private, personal ritual—it is a proclamation, a testimony spoken through action rather than words alone.
The context is important for understanding why Paul writes this. The church in Corinth was misusing the Lord's Supper. Wealthier members were eating their own meals ahead of others, some were going hungry, and some were even getting drunk during what was meant to be a shared, sacred meal (1 Corinthians 11:20-22). Paul had already reminded them of the tradition he received from the Lord himself: that on the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me," and likewise with the cup (11:23-25). Verse 26 then draws out the meaning of that tradition—this meal is not ordinary food but a solemn remembrance and declaration of Christ's sacrificial death.
Theologically, this verse holds together several important truths. First, it anchors the Lord's Supper firmly in the past event of Christ's death—the cross is the center of what is being remembered and announced. Second, it points forward to the future, "until he comes," linking communion to the hope of Christ's second coming. In this way, the Lord's Supper stands between the cross and the return
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