BIBLE QUESTION
Does the Eucharist Repeat Christ's Sacrifice?
No. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 frames the Lord's Supper as a proclamation of Christ's death "till he come," not a renewed sacrifice.
Answer
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 does not describe the Lord's Supper as a fresh sacrifice of Christ. Paul anchors it in the historical night when Jesus was betrayed (1 Corinthians 11:23). The bread is identified as "my body, which is for you," and the cup as "the new covenant in my blood" (1 Corinthians 11:24, 1 Corinthians 11:25), tying the meal to the once-for-all death already accomplished.
The language of the institution is anamnesis ("in remembrance of me"), not re-presentation. Paul then summarizes the purpose: "as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:26). The action is a proclamation that looks back to the cross and forward to the return; it is not framed as a repeated offering.
Context
The passage sits in a longer section addressing disorder at Corinthian gatherings (1 Corinthians 11:17-22). Paul rebukes the church for turning the meal into a display of inequality, where the hungry are shamed while others eat and drink to excess. He then grounds the corrective in the tradition he "received of the Lord."
Verses 23-26 therefore function as the theological standard against which the abuses of verses 20-22 are measured. Eating the bread and drinking the cup is not a private feast but a shared confession of Christ's death, sustained until his return.
Related scriptures
- 1 Corinthians 11:23 Paul locates the origin of the Lord's Supper in the very night Jesus was betrayed, showing the meal is tied to that single historical event rather than to a repeatable sacrificial act.
Common questions
Is the Lord's Supper a sacrifice in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26?
No. The passage calls it a "remembrance" and a "proclamation" of the Lord's death; no sacrificial terminology or repeated offering is used.
Does "as often as ye..." mean each celebration is a new sacrifice?
No. Paul pairs it with "till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:26), framing the repeated meal as an ongoing proclamation until Christ's return, not as repeated sacrificial work.
How should believers receive this bread and cup?
Self-examined, discerning the body, in recognition of Christ's death on their behalf, and in shared fellowship rather than self-indulgent eating (1 Corinthians 11:27-34).