We noted in a previous article how approved examples, especially when backed by commands, are authoritative. We also read an example of how the Supper must NOT be taken – a disapproved example (1 Corinthians 11.17-22). However, we do not read a single command in that paragraph. In fact, the command to correct the problem does not appear until verse 33. “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another” (1 Corinthians 11:33).
We must understand that commands are not the only way in which Jesus and the apostles authorize expressions of worship. When Jesus taught the Samaritan woman about true worship, he did not issue a single command. Did he have to speak in the form of imperatives in order to express his authority? When he says in John 4:24 that “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” – that sentence is declarative; we find no imperative in it. Because it is not a command, does it not express Jesus’ authority? On the contrary, Jesus’ declarative statements in this chapter are just as weighty in expressing his authority as any imperatives are.
Let’s return to 1 Corinthians 11 and examine it more closely. In verses 17-22 and 27-32, Paul makes several direct statements that disapprove of the Corinthians’ abuse of the Supper. Those negative and positive statements point out how the Supper must be taken. Most of those statements are declarative, but in verse 22, for example, he also uses an exclamation (What!) and questions (like “Shall I praise you?”) to condemn their abusive practices. In fact, saying “I will not praise you” (a declarative statement) seems to be much more effective than simply issuing a command like “Stop doing that.” Sometimes when a situation was delicate, Paul realizes that issuing a command might spur a different reaction. By showing his disapproval in this statement, he is implying that they should cease doing it! Implication is also authoritative. By the different types of explicit statements (imperative AND declarative, exclamation, interrogative), Paul instructs them in the proper manner of partaking the Lord’s Supper.
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The question of the frequency of the Lord’s Supper coincides with the frequency of the worship assemblies. The disciples first began assembling on the Lord’s Day even before Pentecost (John 20:26). The church was established on the first day of the week (Acts 2:1). Pentecost always fell on the first day of the week each year. The church in Troas met on the first day (Acts 20:7). The Corinthian church was already meeting on the first day. Why the first day? Jesus rose from the dead on that day. It became known as the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10). There is a connection between the observance of the memorial of Jesus’ death and Jesus’ resurrection that cannot be made with any other day than the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, the first day of the week. These examples set a precedent from the principle.
Eric Welch
