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1 Corinthians 11:29
Many Bibles' marginal references for this verse, as well as some interlinear Bibles, indicate that the translators have added the word "Lord's" to the text, assuming that Paul refers to Christ's human body. However, in the Greek text, the end of the verse simply reads "not discerning the body." The words "the body" can refer to several things that are not mutually exclusive. Paul could weave multiple threads through his writings, and at times, overlap them in profound ways. First, the chapter shows that some members in Corinth were confused about whether the congregational meals were the Lord's Supper. By trying to observe the Lord's Supper or Passover on just any occasion, the significance of the bread and the wine becomes muddled through familiarity and sheer repetition. Hence, if any bread throughout the year symbolized Jesus Christ's crucified body, church members would take the Passover in an unworthy manner because they would not see His sacrifice as distinct and set apart. For the symbol to continue to be meaningful, people must distinguish between the unleavened bread eaten on Passover and common, daily bread. Second, we can understand the phrase "not discerning the body" as a reference to the tortured, physical body of Jesus Christ. Thus, we participate in the Passover in an unworthy manner if we do not seriously and consciously acknowledge our sins, which made Christ's excruciating sacrifice necessary. He suffered crucifixion because of what we have done, and without consciousness of our sin and the wages—punishment—we have earned, His sacrifice loses its significance in our minds. Third, "the body" can refer to the spiritual Body of believers, the church. I Corinthians 10:16-17 teaches that what we partake of is what we become a part of. When we partake of the bread that symbolizes His body, we become a part of the spiritual Body of believers who are also "in Christ" and have the Father and the Son dwelling in them. I Corinthians 10 contains the first mention of this spiritual Body, and the rest of the chapter and chapter 11 are all about things related to interactions within the Body. Then chapter 12 gives the most lengthy and specific explanation of the Body analogy in the Bible. After that, chapters 13 and 14 continue expounding on the theme of relationships and interactions within the Body, even though the Body is not directly mentioned. So, when Paul talks about "the body" without defining exactly what he means, we must remember that it appears in the middle of a lengthy discourse on the spiritual Body. In light of this, what does it mean to "discern" the body? The English word discern means "to separate or distinguish by the eye or by the understanding" or "to see the difference between two or more things." It can mean "to judge" or even "to be partial to." The Greek word in I Corinthians 11:29, diakrino, means essentially the same thing: "to make a separation or a distinction" or "to evaluate between two or more things, and become partial to one." It can mean "to differentiate" and "decide." What I Corinthians 11:29 means, then, is that if we do not discern or make a correct distinction regarding the spiritual Body, we will partake of the Passover in an unworthy manner. The way that we "discern the Body" is to distinguish it in our minds from what is not part of the Body—the rest of humanity. It means to show partiality to the Body as a whole, rather than making distinctions within the Body. The Corinthians were making distinctions about people within the Body, and thus they highly esteemed some individuals among them and despised others. Thus, Paul warns them that, when it came time to observe the Passover, they were in danger of eating and drinking judgment to themselves because they were not being partial to Christ's spiritual Body as a whole. Put another way, they were not treating all church members—all the brethren for whom Christ died—with the highest respect.
David C. Grabbe
What Does 'Discerning the Lord's Body' Mean? (Part Two)
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