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?
Paul is writing to the early church in Corinth, a cosmopolitan Greek city saturated with idol worship, where new believers were genuinely confused about what practices they could still participate in. The word translated 'participation' is the Greek word koinonia — one of the richest words in the New Testament, meaning fellowship, sharing, or partnership, not just proximity. Paul is arguing that when Christians share the bread and cup of communion — the meal Jesus established the night before he was crucified — they are not just commemorating a past event. They are entering into genuine union with the living Christ. Notice that Paul frames this not as a lecture but as a question — 'Is it not?' — as if the answer should already be obvious to anyone who has truly experienced the table.
Lord, forgive me for the times I've taken the bread and cup without really expecting to meet you there. You call it participation — koinonia — actual partnership with your body and blood. Open my eyes to what I'm receiving. Let the table be a real encounter, not a comfortable ritual. Amen.
Paul asks this as a question, and that's worth pausing on. He's not explaining something new — he's appealing to something the Corinthians have already felt, if they were paying attention at the table. 'Is it not?' There's almost an incredulous quality to it, as if he's saying: surely you've noticed this. Koinonia doesn't mean standing near someone. It means being partners in something, sharing it together from the inside. When you take communion, Paul is saying, you are not observing from the bleachers. You are not simply honoring a good man's memory. You are entering into actual partnership with the death and resurrection of Christ. The quiet tragedy is how easily this becomes routine — another small cracker, another sip from a tiny cup, another item checked off the order of service. What would change in you if you went to the table this Sunday actually expecting to meet someone there, not just to complete a ritual?
Paul uses the word koinonia — participation, fellowship, partnership. How does that specific word shift the way you understand what's happening when you take communion?
How would you honestly describe your experience of communion — closer to a memorial, a ritual obligation, or a genuine encounter with Christ?
Paul wrote this in the context of idolatry — things that looked harmless but were actually pulling people into allegiance to something other than Christ. What might be competing for your participation today in a similar way?
If communion is genuine fellowship with Christ, how might that change the way you relate to the specific people sitting beside you at the table — especially ones you find difficult or easy to overlook?
Before your next communion, what's one thing you could do — a prayer, a moment of silence, a honest conversation with God — to receive it as partnership rather than habit?
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psalms 23:5
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luke 22:19
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Matthew 26:26
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
1 Corinthians 11:23
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:35
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Matthew 26:28
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing .
John 15:5
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:42
Is the cup of blessing which we bless [at the Lord's Supper] not a sharing in the blood of Christ? [Indeed it is.] Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ? [Indeed it is.]
AMP
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
ESV
Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
NASB
Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
NIV
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?
NKJV
When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ?
NLT
When we drink the cup of blessing, aren't we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn't it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don't we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ?
MSG