1 Corinthians 11:25-27 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

He also took the cup when he had supped Or, after supper. “This circumstance is mentioned to show that the Lord's supper is not intended for the refreshment of the body, but, as we are told 1 Corinthians 11:26, for perpetuating the memory of Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension, to the end of the world, and declaring our expectation of his return from heaven to judge all mankind; that by seriously and frequently meditating on these things, the faith, hope, and gratitude of his disciples may be nourished. Now, that these ends may be effectually answered, this service must be performed by the whole members of each particular church, not in separate companies, but together, as making one harmonious society, by whose joint concurrence and communion in the service, the death of their Master is not only remembered, but declared in the most public manner to the world, as a fact known and believed by all Christians from the beginning.” Saying, This cup is the new testament Or, new covenant, rather, as the word more properly signifies. That is, it is the solemn seal and memorial of the covenant which is established in my blood, by which all its invaluable blessings are procured for you. Our Lord did not mean that the covenant of grace was first made at the time he shed his blood. It was made immediately after the fall, on account of the merit of his obedience unto the death, which God then considered as accomplished, because it was certainly to be accomplished at the time determined. Now this likewise do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me And in order to maintain the memory of my bleeding, dying love, in the church and in the world. The ancient sacrifices were offered in remembrance of sin; this sacrifice, once offered, is still represented in remembrance of the remission of sin. According to the Papists, the expression, as oft as ye drink it, “implies that the cup, in the Lord's supper, may sometimes be omitted; and on that pretence they have denied the cup to the laity;” but how justly, may be known by taking notice that the words, as often as, are applied (1Co 11:26) to the bread as well as to the cup. Besides, Matthew hath told us, that when Christ gave the cup, he said, (Matthew 26:27,) drink ye all of it; which being both an invitation and a command, all Christians are as much entitled to the cup as to the bread.” For as often as ye The church of God in any age; eat this bread and drink this cup With proper solemnity and seriousness, faith, love, and gratitude; ye do show forth the Lord's death Ye proclaim, as it were, and openly avow it to God and all the world; so the word καταγγελλετε, here used, signifies: till he come To close the present scene of things, and to receive all his faithful servants to a place where, for ever dwelling with him, they will no more need these memorials of an absent Saviour. Though at the institution of this ordinance our Lord spake nothing of his own second coming, yet in his discourse after the celebration of it, he connected his second coming with his death, John 14:3. The apostle therefore truly expressed his Master's intention, when he told the Corinthians, that by publishing the Lord's death, they published also his coming to judgment, and that the service of the supper was intended as a publication of both. Wherefore Ωστε, so that; whosoever shall eat this bread, &c., unworthily That is, in an unworthy, irreverent manner, without properly regarding him that appointed it, or the design of its appointment; shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord That is, of profaning that which represents his body and blood.