Verse
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. – 1 Corinthians 11:24
Meaning of 1 Corinthians 11:24
The verse 1 Corinthians 11:24 is written to the church in Corinth as a reminder of the moment of Jesus’s crucifixion. According to the context, Paul tells the church that Jesus was aware of His crucifixion and resurrection. Hence, He was introducing the Holy Communion or Sacrament that His followers can partake in after the ascension. The meaning of 1 Corinthians 11:24 is that Jesus is instructing His disciples how to use bread, a symbol of His Body, and repeat the practice it regularly after He is gone, along with wine which is a symbol of Jesus’ blood. In other words, Christians in every denomination receive bread and wine or water or grape juice each Sunday and maintain it as a standard tradition to remember Jesus’ death on the cross.
Interpretations of 1 Corinthians 11:24
The verse 1 Corinthian 11:24 is one of the verses that is used as a part of prayer during the Holy Communion or Holy Sacrament as a tradition on Sundays. A few interpretations of 1 Corinthians 11:24 are discussed below.
Interpretation #1 Jesus’ death is more important than the resurrection
In this version, the readers believe it is more crucial to focus on Jesus’ death and crucifixion as He died on the cross to purchase forgiveness from His followers. Hence the verse, ‘And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me’ implies that a Christian must remember why Jesus gave His life for them and eat bread to remember that sacrifice. Here the reader may or may not give importance to the resurrection when Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day.
Interpretation #2 Holy Communion is a Passover tradition
In this version, the readers believe that breaking of bread was the tradition that was started by Moses and was called Passover. Also, Passover is observed by Jewish people every year when they cook unleavened bread to remember their freedom from Egyptian slavery. This interpretation doesn’t include the second part of the communion, which is the wine. Hence the verse ‘And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me’ here implies that Jesus was continuing the same tradition. Also, he or she may believe Paul was explaining the same to the church in Corinth without mentioning the tradition from the times of Moses but as a new tradition.
Interpretation #3 Communion is meant to be a private event
This interpretation is primarily applicable to the church in Corinth in the 1st century. As per the context, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to the church after learning that the Holy Communion event turned into a quarrelsome party. The church members fought over food and wine, and many were left hungry to the point of death. Hence, Paul wrote this epistle and 1 Corinthian 11:24 to explain the purpose of eating the bread and drinking wine, which is to remember the death of Jesus. Since it is an act of remembrance, the readers believe that Sacrament or Holy Communion is a sacred practice and away from the crowd who do not share their faith.
Interpretation #4 Sacrament is a time for self-reflection
In this interpretation, the reader understands the purpose of remembering Jesus’ death and sacrifice. As the verse ‘And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me’ explains what Jesus had done before He was crucified. Jesus had instructed the disciples on how to remember Him in the future and considered bread as a symbol of Jesus’ mangled body. Hence, as a tradition, Christians who take the Holy Communion maintain a somber environment at churches or in a group while taking the bread and the wine. The reader also understands that through self-reflection, they can get closer to God and experience peace. In other words, the worst means during the Holy Communion time, a person must pray and think about their past actions and take the opportunity to ask for forgiveness in the presence of God without exposing their life in front of other church members.
Historical background of 1 Corinthians 11:24
The timeline of the book of 1 Corinthians was written 53-54 A.D. to the church or Corinth while Paul was Ephesus. The letter was written after his first visit to Corinth 2 or 3 years after the establishment of the church in 50 – 51 A.D. The letter mainly addressed the practices, disobedience, and conflict in the church. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul confronts the members dressing and relationship with God. 1 Corinthians 11:24 is also used as a part of prayer while partaking of bread during the Sacrament. It particularly recollects the last days of Jesus and the beginning of the tradition that churches worldwide have been following on Sundays and is similar in most of the denominations of Christianity.
Literary Devices of 1 Corinthians 11:24
The verse 1 Corinthians 11:24 is one of the important verses that recalls the reason for Jesus’ death and the importance of self-reflection. A few literary devices in 1 Corinthians 11:24 are as follows.
Alliteration – The verse has good use of consonant sounds in repetition at the start of the word. However, a few are not in quick succession. For example, the sound of /h/ and the sound of /b/ in ‘And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me’.
Symbolism – The ‘bread’ in 1 Corinthians 11:24 is a symbol of Jesus’ body, which is also a reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus for the sake of humanity.
Assonance – The verse also has good use of repeated vowel sounds, and a few are in quick succession. For example, the sound of /ee/, the sound of /a/, the sound of /i/, and the sound of /oo/ in ‘And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me’.
Consonance – The verse also has rich use of repeated consonant sounds, and a few are in quick succession. For example, the sound of /n/, the sound of /k/, the sound of /d/, the sound of /s/, the sound of /r/, and the sound of /m/ in ‘And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me’.
Theme – The major themes of 1 Corinthians 11:24 are gratitude, respect, remembrance, reverence, and obedience.
