1 Corinthians 10:15 Commentary and Bible Study

We see the context of these words in verse 14, ‘Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry’; and again in verse 19, ‘What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?’ So around these verses are exhortations and statements about idolatry or idols. In context Paul is arguing that just as the Christian has communion with the Lord at the Lord’s Supper, and believers together have communion with one another via a common loaf; just as the Israelites, who offered up sacrifices on the altar in the temple, were partakers of the altar, so those who offer sacrifices to idols have fellowship with the idol. Worse than that, they have fellowship with the demons who lie behind the idols. This is the apostle’s shocking commentary on what they are doing. However verse 16 can be taken entirely by itself, because it conveys to us a tremendous principle; he uses a tremendous term here – ‘The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?’, and we particularly need to look at that word ‘communion’. Communion means partnership, sharing with Christ; knowing him, walking with him, having him and having part with him. This too is power weapon against temptation. ‘The cup of blessing which we bless’ – nearly all modern translations go along with this, but the NIV translators didn't seem to understand it, so they went to a near equivalent, which is just about permissible, but it is wrong in this context: ‘the cup of thanksgiving.’ That made more sense to them, but no, it is the cup of blessing. Why? Because this cup is the source of all our blessings. Of course it isn’t literally. The chalice at the Lord's table, if a church uses one cup, or the little miniature cups which most nonconformist churches use today; whether it is a single chalice or whether it is individual cups, that cup is a symbol, and the liquid in it is but a symbol, a representation. It isn't literally the source of blessing. It is a picture of the blood of Christ, a symbol of the sufferings and the death of Christ. It is a representation of that precious, precious blood that was spilt. It is a little cup that we use, but there is so much meaning in that little cup. The sacrifice of Christ, the atoning substitutionary death of Christ for our sin, his indescribable suffering bearing the eternal weight of horrendous punishment compressed into the space of hours, that we deserve for all eternity. He drank that cup and suffered it. What do I see in that little cup of the Lord’s Supper? Just a small cup? No, I see the love of Christ represented. That cup represents to me the astonishing love, that he should come from heavenly glory for a worm such as me, to suffer and to die in agony for me. It is a love I cannot measure, a love I cannot understand, an unreasonable love, an infinite love. And yet it wasn't just me; it was for millions and millions. The love of Christ represented in that cup! And I shall praise him and thank him and adore him for that love. My pardon is there; my washing is there; my forgiveness is represented in that cup. ‘Which we bless.’ We just thank him for, and praise him for, and honour him for. We bless him: that is to say, we admire him; we are astonished and overwhelmed at him. The Lord’s Supper, it is not a funeral service. We are not in tears. We are not lamenting Christ. His suffering is past now, we see it as a victory at the Lord’s Supper, as we gather around the Lord ’s Table. We are just filled with amazement and wonder and love, and it moves us. We are so thankful for what his shed blood has accomplished, for what it has purchased for us, and one of the things that it has purchased is communion, constant communion with him.So Paul says, ‘Is it not the communion’, the partnership, the sharing, ‘of the blood of Christ?’ What an amazing thought. I was there on Calvary's cross. Long before I was born, I was as it were on Calvary's cross with him, and with all those people who would ever be saved in the history of the world. There was a sense in which we were all there, because it was our sin that was punished; it was our life that was set free. We are with Christ as if we are crucified with Christ, says the apostle Paul. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the sharing of the blood of Christ? That little cup reminds me that my soul, as it were, was on Calvary being ransomed by Christ. As the high priest in ancient times wore upon his breastplate the names of the tribes, so Christ on Calvary wore on his heart the names of all his people who would ever be saved, and he died for them. He saw them in his mind’s eye. He knew each one of us; in our case, long before we were born. He knew for whom he was dying; he felt our sins, and he did it out of love for us. What power the Lord’s Supper has to deliver us from temptation! We come to the Lord’s Supper we feel these things afresh. How can we continue in our sin? ‘The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion [the partnership] of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?’ This cup represents the blood that brings us into fellowship with Christ, and brings us into fellowship with one another, as washed, saved, ransomed people: my brothers and sisters in the Lord, who I must love and help and accommodate to, and be approachable by, and be one with.