They
should have known better. Only a few years after the Lord's church had been
established in Corinth, their assemblies had regressed into something the Lord
never intended. Thus Paul issues a stern reprimand: “But in these instructions
I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better
but for the worse …. Therefore coming together in one place [epi to auto],
it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper” (1 Cor. 11:17, 20).1 The ESV
renders v. 20, “When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you
eat.” While communion was meant to be a recurrent reminder of Christ’s atoning death (vv.
23-29), their abuses and misbehavior had rendered it unrecognizable.
The
implication of this rebuke and the accompanying directives for restoring the
Lord’s Supper is that the sacred memorial was to be kept on a regular basis (hosakis [“as often”] vv. 25, 26). But how
often? These Christians were to keep it as often as they gathered for worship. So
how often did the Corinth church assemble?
A Uniform
Practice of First-Century Churches
Later in
the same epistle Paul writes: “Now concerning the collection for the
saints, as I ordered the churches of Galatia, so you do also. On the first day
of every week [katá mían sabbátou], let each of you by himself store up
whatever he is prospered, that there be no collections when I come” (16:1-2).2 Since
the perí dé (“now concerning”) formula in 1 Corinthians draws attention
to the apostle’s answers to their questions (7:1),3 the current
response presupposes their previous knowledge of this collection.
These same
directives had been communicated to the churches of Galatia (16:1c),4 and the Macedonian
churches were also involved (v. 5).5 Paul goes on to reference
the churches of Asia (v. 19), who apparently participated as well (Acts 20:4),
plus all the churches in the province of Achaia (Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 1:1; 9:2).6 Throughout
1 Corinthians the readers have been consistently reminded of what is taught and
practiced everywhere in all the churches (1:2; 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:33).7
“On the first day of
every week” (katá mían sabbátou) indicates a regular occurrence on a
specific day each week (16:2a).
The implication is that the Corinth church and her sister congregations in
various places were assembling weekly on this particular day.8 If the
Corinthians were to observe the Lord’s Supper as often as they gathered for
worship (11:20-29), and they were assembling each first day of the week
(Sunday), the Lord’s Supper was to be observed every Sunday.9
About a
year after these instructions were penned, the apostle was passing through the
Roman province of Asia (Acts 20:5 ff.). Although he was in a hurry to get to
Jerusalem (v. 16), for some reason he stopped for a whole week in Troas (v. 6).
Why? “But on the first day of the week [tē mia tōn sabbatōn], having come together to
break bread [klasai arton], Paul
spoke to them, ready to depart on the next day; and he continued the speech
until midnight” (v. 7).10
The
expression “to break bread” is a customary idiom, used in two different senses
in the NT. Sometimes it refers to a common meal (Matt. 14:19; 15:36; Mark 8:6,
19; Acts 2:46; 20:11; 27:35), whereas at other times it applies to the Lord’s
Supper (Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19; Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 10:16; 11:24).
Either way, seeing that both involve more than just literal bread breaking, the
phrase is obviously idiomatic. The question is, how is it used in Acts 20:7? As a
general rule of thumb, whenever a modifier such as “food” or “eating” is
included, a normal meal is in view (cf. Acts 2:46; 20:11). When the expression occurs
in conjunction with spiritual activities, the Lord’s Supper is in view (cf.
Acts 2:42; 20:7). There is a clear distinction between these two actions (one
common and the other sacred), and they are not to be commingled and confused (1
Cor. 11:17-34).
It is
highly unlikely that Paul would have postponed his journey to Jerusalem for
seven days just to eat an ordinary meal with the Troas brethren. But if the
church assembled each Sunday, like other first-century Christians (noted
above), and if Paul and his traveling companions arrived on Monday, it would
have been necessary to stay there a week in order to assemble with these saints
to observe communion with them. The expressed purpose of this assembly was “to
break bread,” and the specified day was “the first day of the week.”
Immediately after this worship service, Paul ate food and resumed his hastened voyage
(v. 11).
A
Special Day
Sunday
marks the historical juncture when our Lord Jesus conquered death (Mark 16:9),
providing the cornerstone of the Christian faith (Rom. 1:4; 6:4-11; 1 Cor.
15:1-4, 12-22; 1 Pet. 3:21). Thereafter it was this day of the week on which
the Lord’s church was established (Acts 2:1; cf. Lev. 23:15-16; John 19:31) and
early Christians assembled together to commemorate Christ’s atoning sacrifice
(Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:17-26; 16:1-2).11
While
Jesus instituted this sacred memorial on a Thursday evening (Matt. 26:26-29),
the NT gives no special meaning to the fifth day of the week. It was another
couple of days before the enormous significance of Sunday became a reality (Matt.
28:1; Mark 16:9). Even though baptism was an integral part of the ministries of
John the baptizer and Jesus and his disciples (John 3:22-23), it wasn’t until
Christ’s resurrection that its full connotation was established (Rom. 6:3-11). The
day of the Lord’s resurrection was to be the day his church was built and his spiritual
kingdom realized (Matt. 16:18-19; Acts 1:3-8; 2:1-47),12 and ultimately
the memorial day of his death (cf. Matt. 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:16, 18;
Acts 2:42; 20:7).
Conclusion
For all
who are committed to restoring the NT church, we have clear directives
concerning the Lord’s Supper with respect to what, how, and when. If the early
Christians assembled every Sunday to observe communion in remembrance of the
Lord’s sacrificial death, what should we be doing?
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 Unless
otherwise noted, scripture quotations are the author’s own translation.
2 See The Sunday Collection <Link>.
3 See also 1
Cor. 7:25; 8:1, 4; 12:1; 16:1, 12.
4
Cf. Acts 16:6; 18:23; Gal. 1:2. These are probably the churches in the
southern region of the Roman province of Galatia, including Pisidian Antioch,
Lystra, Derbe, and Iconium (Acts 13, 14, 16). Note that Gaius of Derbe and
Timothy of Lystra were part of the delegation that carried the funds to
Jerusalem (Acts 20:4).
5 Cf.
Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 8:1–9:7. Macedonian cities where churches had been planted
were Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea (Acts 16:9–17:14). Representatives of
the Thessalonica and Berea congregations helped deliver the funds (Acts 20:4),
and Luke may have represented the church at Philippi (Acts 16:12; 20:6).
6
The province of Achaia included Corinth, Cenchrea, and Athens (Acts 17:24;
18:18, 27; 19:21; Rom. 16:1).
7
While the churches of Jerusalem and Judea were on the receiving end of this
benevolent aid, they too participated in funding the Lord’s work through
free-will offerings collected in a common treasury (cf. Acts 2:42, 44, 45;
4:32, 34-37; 5:1-2; 6:1-4). Consider also the generosity of the Syrian Antioch
congregation (Acts 11:29-30). Providing for the physical needs of destitute
brethren is not the only work first-century churches supported (cf. 1 Cor.
9:11-14; 16:6; 2 Cor. 11:7-9; 12:13; Gal. 6:6; Phil. 4:15-20).
8
These verses constitute an apostolic command issued to multiple congregations
in various locations to be regularly observed on a specified day each week
9
What if the church also met on Wednesdays or other days of the week? The bottom
line is, Paul is addressing what the church in mid-first-century Corinth was
actually doing (assembling every Sunday), not other possible scenarios that
would have required qualifying directives.
10
The term mesonúktion (“midnight”) applies
to the second of four watches of the night (Mark 13:35; cf. 6:48), equivalent
to 9 pm–12 am.
11 John’s
allusion to “the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10) employs the adjective kuriakos,
and the only other occurrence of this word in the NT is in reference to “the
Lord’s Supper” (1 Cor. 11:20), commemorated as regularly as these Christians
assembled together (vv. 20-34), viz. every Sunday (16:2).
12 Cf.
Mark 9:1; John 3:5; Acts 1:3; 2:30-38, 47; 8:12; 14:22;
19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31; Col. 1:13. See The
Kingdom of God Part 3 <Link>.
Related
Posts: Chronological Confusion, Questions about the Lord's Supper, Closed Communion, Apparent Discrepancies (Part 3), A Closer Look at the Elements of the Lord's Supper
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