For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
Paul is writing to correct the church in Corinth, which had turned their communion gatherings into something divisive and even shameful — wealthier members were eating lavishly while poorer members went hungry at the same table. In this context, Paul reminds them of what Jesus actually said and did the night before his crucifixion when he first instituted this shared meal. The word translated 'proclaim' is an active word — it means to announce or declare publicly, the same word used for preaching the gospel. Every time believers share communion, they are making an announcement about what Jesus accomplished on the cross. And Paul adds a crucial phrase: 'until he comes' — pointing forward to Jesus' promised return. Communion is not only a backward-looking memorial of a death; it is also a forward-facing declaration of an expected return.
Lord Jesus, you said 'until I come' — and I want to hold that hope like it's real. Forgive me for the times I've taken the bread and cup as routine, or worse, while ignoring the people beside me. Let every table be a proclamation — a defiant, hopeful act that you are coming back. Amen.
There's something almost defiant packed into the words 'until he comes.' Every time bread is broken and a cup is lifted, the church is lodging a quiet protest against despair — we are not eulogizing a martyr. We are declaring the death of the one who promised to come back, and we are acting as if we believe him. That's not grief. That's anticipation wearing grief's clothes. But Paul wrote this mid-correction, which means proclamation can go hollow fast. The Corinthians were performing the ritual while completely ignoring each other — the wealthy eating well while the poor sat hungry at the very same table. Paul's point is precise and uncomfortable: you cannot truly proclaim the Lord's death while treating his body — the actual people around you — as invisible. Communion is not a private transaction between you and God conducted in a crowd. It is a communal act of hope, and every person at that table is part of the proclamation. It's worth asking honestly: who have you been looking past?
Paul says communion is a 'proclamation' — an active declaration. Who do you think that declaration is made to — God, each other, the watching world, spiritual forces, or some combination of all of these?
The phrase 'until he comes' adds a future dimension to what might otherwise feel like a backward-looking ritual. How does anticipating Christ's return change what the bread and cup mean to you personally?
Paul's correction connects the Lord's Supper directly to how the Corinthians were treating each other economically. What does that say about the relationship between worship and how we treat people outside the sanctuary?
Is there someone in your church community — or in your life — who you've been sitting beside without really seeing? What would it mean to actually share this table with them?
If every time you take communion you are making a public proclamation, what would it look like to take it this Sunday with that level of intention — not as a habit, but as a deliberate declaration?
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 1:11
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 1:7
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
John 14:3
Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
John 21:22
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2 Peter 3:10
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 9:28
And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1 John 2:28
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:42
For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are [symbolically] proclaiming [the fact of] the Lord's death until He comes [again].
AMP
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
ESV
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
NASB
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
NIV
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
NKJV
For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
NLT
What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.
MSG