📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 11:28
What does 1 Corinthians 11:28 mean?
"But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup."
— 1 Corinthians 11:28 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
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.
For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged.
Explanation
1 Corinthians 11:28 instructs believers to engage in careful self-examination before participating in the Lord's Supper (Communion). In plain language, Paul is saying that a person should pause and honestly assess their own heart, attitudes, and conduct before eating the bread and drinking the cup that represent Christ's body and blood. This is not a suggestion but a directive tied to the seriousness of the act being performed.
The context is essential to understanding this verse properly. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth, a congregation troubled by division, immorality, and disorderly conduct, including abuses at their communal meals. Just prior to this verse, in verses 20-22, Paul rebukes the Corinthians for turning the Lord's Supper into an occasion of selfishness and inequity—some ate and drank to excess while others, likely poorer members, went hungry. Some were even getting drunk while fellow believers had nothing. This behavior showed contempt for the unity and sacredness of the meal that Christ instituted the night before His crucifixion (verses 23-26). Paul then warns in verse 27 that eating and drinking "unworthily" makes a person guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord—meaning they treat the sacred symbols of Christ's sacrifice with careless disregard, failing to discern the body (v. 29), which likely refers both to the body of Christ given for them and to the body of Christ as the unified church.
Theologically, this verse emphasizes that the Lord's Supper is not merely a ritual meal but
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