The apostle Paul’s love and care for the church in Corinth is evident. He invested over a year encouraging them in person, and then continued to communicate often by letter and messenger as the church grew (Act 18:11). Sadly, they fell prey to two vicious predators still stalking New Testament assemblies today: partisanship and division. The evils of preference and favoritism had crept in among the believers and they began to follow human ideology rather than God’s Word. Sound familiar? In response, the apostle opened this first recorded letter to the Corinthian church with an impassioned call to unity in Christ. “Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you” (1Co 1:10 NASB).
Paul spends the rest of the book encouraging the Christians to cleave to their Lord in holiness and leave the failures of their past and the sinful society around them. His first letter to the Corinthians teaches us much about assembly doctrine and practice, and it is of profound value to local churches today. In the middle of his missive, the apostle introduces the Lord’s Supper as an example of our unity with both the Lord Jesus Christ and our fellow believers. While the text provides clear prescriptive doctrine on conducting the Lord’s Supper in chapter 11, we should understand that references to the body and blood, and the loaf and the cup, are employed in chapter 10 as pictures of our shared fellowship together in Jesus Christ. We share in the blood, we share in the body, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of one loaf (10:16-17 NASB). He emphasizes this focus on fellowship with the unique phrase “the Lord’s table” (v21 KJV).
Gathering in fellowship around a shared table has been a joyful practice for generations. From Abram’s meal after the battle of the kings in Genesis 14 to those blessed at the marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19, and everywhere spiritual and secular in between, we know that eating, drinking and shared experiences bring people together. Sometimes loud and boisterous, and sometimes somber and introspective, these meals are not merely physical acts of nourishment, but meaningful spiritual gatherings that bond Christian communities and unite us against divisions and prejudice. This spirit of continuous fellowship is infused in the language of the Lord’s table.
As such, we should not confuse the Lord’s table as a synonym for the Lord’s Supper. The weekly remembrance of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus with the physical elements of a loaf of bread and a vessel of wine is likely the local church’s deepest public expression of our fellowship in the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot overstate the value and intimate joy with Jesus Christ that come from remembering the Lord. But it is a unique event in time, and celebrated only until He returns to bring us into greater fellowship with Himself. The physical table on which the emblems stand in the center of our Breaking of Bread gathering is neither relevant nor holy; the imagery goes beyond our physical communion feast. The Lord’s table symbolizes the benefits of the shared fellowship of God’s people with Himself all the time. “We are always at the table of the Lord, always partaking in the benefit of his death, but not always at the supper where he proclaims that death in His appointed way.”1
However, Paul’s use of the Lord’s table also serves as a warning. He contrasts our continuous fellowship at the Lord’s table with another metaphoric table, the “table of demons,” and highlights the dangers of idolatry and spiritual compromise. The believers in Corinth were tempted by their old ways and the wicked society around them. It was familiar and comfortable, a table where they had spent many hours.
But their fellows were different now, and this was not where they were called to be. By fully participating in both worlds, we need to ensure we are not enjoying “partnership with demons,” dishonoring Christ and alienating ourselves from Christian fellowship, sharing in fellowship with darkness (10:20 NASB). Surely our hearts would grow cold and hard within us at this table.
The phrase “the Lord’s table” in 1 Corinthians 10 encapsulates the essence of Christian fellowship. By understanding this enlightening metaphor, we can appreciate the depth of meaning behind this simple phrase and its continued relevance today. Rather than dividing ourselves, picking favorites, or looking for empty seats to share with the world, let us lean into the Lord’s table with burning hearts. Together we should enjoy fellowship, constantly sharing His love and nourishing our souls, publicly feeding on His Word, and enjoying our connection to Christ and to one another.
1 W.E. Vine, The Collected Writings of W.E. Vine: Volume 2 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996), 72.
