1 Corinthians 10:16

COMMUNION WITH CHRIST

‘The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?’

1 Corinthians 10:16

As those to whom this Epistle was sent read St. Paul’s argument, they might or might not agree with the conclusion to which he sought to lead them; they might feel it to be unduly strict, or, at any rate, impracticable; but it is surely clear, from the way in which St. Paul writes, that he was confident that they would grant him the hypothesis from which he sets out. He knew that none of them would deny that when they drank of the consecrated cup they had communion with the blood of the Lord, and that when they ate of the consecrated bread they had communion with the body of the Lord. The course of his argument is therefore conclusive that to him the Lord’s Supper was not a mere commemoration, not a bare memorial. Such an interpretation of this Sacrament falls short of the plain requirements of his language. We cannot so impoverish the phrases which come from him. We cannot so deny the richness of his language. His thought is essentially the same as that which underlies the familiar lines—

‘Christ the sustenance of man! Christ the nourishment of man! The Self-communication of the humanity of Christ! His Manhood the food of our manhood! The conception finds frequent expression in our Liturgy. “Wherefore it is our duty to render most humble and hearty thanks to Almighty God our heavenly Father, for that He hath given His Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, not only to die for us, but also to be our spiritual food and sustenance in that holy Sacrament.” “For then we spiritually eat the Flesh of Christ, and drink His Blood; then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us; we are one with Christ, and Christ with us.” In that exquisitely beautiful prayer which immediately precedes the prayer of consecration, we beseech God to grant us His grace “so to eat the Flesh of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink His Blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His Body, and our souls washed through His most precious Blood, and that we may evermore dwell in Him, and He in us.” In the prayer of consecration itself we ask that “we receiving these Thy creatures of bread and wine, according to Thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ’s holy institution, in remembrance of His death and passion, may be partakers of His most blessed Body and Blood.” When the bread is given to us, we are bidden “feed on Him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving.” Again in the second of the alternative prayers for use after the actual Communion we offer up our thanks “for that Thou dost vouchsafe to feed us, who have duly received these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of Thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Our Church does not regard the rite as a simple act of commemoration. She attaches to it a deeper import, a fuller and richer meaning. Her mind is a faithful reflection of the Apostolic mind.’