1 Corinthians 11
11
1#1Co 4:16; Php 3:17Follow me as I follow Christ.
Covering the Head in Worship
2#2Th 2:15; 1Co 4:17; 11:17I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions as I delivered them to you. 3#Ge 3:16; 1Co 3:23; Eph 4:15But I would have you know that the head of the woman is the man, the head of every man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God. 4Every man praying or prophesying having his head covered dishonors his head, 5#Dt 21:12; Ac 21:9but every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is the same as if she were shaved. 6For if the woman is not covered, let her also cut off her hair. But if it is a shame for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved, let her be covered.
7#Jas 3:9; Ge 5:1For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. 8#1Ti 2:13; Ge 2:21–23The man is not from the woman, but the woman from the man. 9#Ge 2:18The man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man. 10For this reason the woman ought to have a veil of authority over her head, because of the angels. 11#Gal 3:28Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord. 12#Ro 11:36For just as the woman came from the man, so the man comes through the woman, but all things come from God.
13#Lk 12:57Judge for yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God uncovered? 14Does even nature itself not teach you that if a man has long hair it is a shame to him? 15But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering. 16#1Co 7:17; 1Th 2:14But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor have the churches of God.
Abuses at the Lord’s Supper
17#1Co 11:2; 11:22Now in what I have to say to you, I do not praise you. You have come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18#1Co 3:3; 1:10–12First of all, when you come together as the church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19#1Jn 2:19; Dt 13:3For there must also be factions among you so that those who are genuine may become evident among you. 20Therefore when you come together into one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21#Jude 1:12; 2Pe 2:13For in eating, each one eats his own supper ahead of others. One goes hungry, and another becomes drunk. 22#1Co 10:32; Pr 17:5What? Do you not have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.
The Lord’s Supper
Mt 26:26–29; Mk 14:22–25; Lk 22:14–20
23#1Co 15:3; Mt 26:26–28; Mk 14:22–24I have received of the Lord that which I delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which He was betrayed, took bread. 24When He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take and eat. This is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”#Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22; Lk 22:19. 25#Lk 22:20; 2Co 3:6In the same manner He took the cup after He had supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”#Mt 26:27–28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20. 26#Jn 21:22; 1Co 4:5As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Partaking of the Supper Unworthily
27#Nu 9:10; 9:13Therefore whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28#2Co 13:5; Gal 6:4Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30For this reason many are weak and unhealthy among you, and many die. 31#1Jn 1:9If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, so that we would not be condemned with the world.
33So, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34#1Co 4:19; 11:21–22If anyone hungers, let him eat at home, so that you may not come together into condemnation.
I will set the rest in order when I come.
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Military Bible Association
1 Corinthians 11
11
To Honor God
1-2It pleases me that you continue to remember and honor me by keeping up the traditions of the faith I taught you. All actual authority stems from Christ.
3-9In a marriage relationship, there is authority from Christ to husband, and from husband to wife. The authority of Christ is the authority of God. Any man who speaks with God or about God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of Christ, dishonors Christ. In the same way, a wife who speaks with God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of her husband, dishonors her husband. Worse, she dishonors herself—an ugly sight, like a woman with her head shaved. This is basically the origin of these customs we have of women wearing head coverings in worship, while men take their hats off. By these symbolic acts, men and women, who far too often butt heads with each other, submit their “heads” to the Head: God.
10-12Don’t, by the way, read too much into the differences here between men and women. Neither man nor woman can go it alone or claim priority. Man was created first, as a beautiful shining reflection of God—that is true. But the head on a woman’s body clearly outshines in beauty the head of her “head,” her husband. The first woman came from man, true—but ever since then, every man comes from a woman! And since virtually everything comes from God anyway, let’s quit going through these “who’s first” routines.
13-16Don’t you agree there is something naturally powerful in the symbolism—a woman, her beautiful hair reminiscent of angels, praying in adoration; a man, his head bared in reverence, praying in submission? I hope you’re not going to be argumentative about this. All God’s churches see it this way; I don’t want you standing out as an exception.
17-19Regarding this next item, I’m not at all pleased. I am getting the picture that when you meet together it brings out your worst side instead of your best! First, I get this report on your divisiveness, competing with and criticizing each other. I’m reluctant to believe it, but there it is. The best that can be said for it is that the testing process will bring truth into the open and confirm it.
20-22And then I find that you bring your divisions to worship—you come together, and instead of eating the Lord’s Supper, you bring in a lot of food from the outside and make pigs of yourselves. Some are left out, and go home hungry. Others have to be carried out, too drunk to walk. I can’t believe it! Don’t you have your own homes to eat and drink in? Why would you stoop to desecrating God’s church? Why would you actually shame God’s poor? I never would have believed you would stoop to this. And I’m not going to stand by and say nothing.
23-26Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord’s Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,
This is my body, broken for you.
Do this to remember me.
After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:
This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you.
Each time you drink this cup, remember me.
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.
27-28Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of “remembrance” you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.
29-32If you give no thought (or worse, don’t care) about the broken body of the Master when you eat and drink, you’re running the risk of serious consequences. That’s why so many of you even now are listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. If we get this straight now, we won’t have to be straightened out later on. Better to be confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later.
33-34So, my friends, when you come together to the Lord’s Table, be reverent and courteous with one another. If you’re so hungry that you can’t wait to be served, go home and get a sandwich. But by no means risk turning this Meal into an eating and drinking binge or a family squabble. It is a spiritual meal—a love feast.
The other things you asked about, I’ll respond to in person when I make my next visit.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.