1 Corinthians 11:26

“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come.”

It seems that in order to connect this verse with the foregoing, therefore or so that would be required, and not for or indeed. To explain the difficulty, Ewald has taken 1 Corinthians 11:26 as the continuation of the discourse of Jesus, which is, of course, inadmissible. Hofmann applies the for to the words of 1 Corinthians 11:22: “I praise you not,” which is equally inadmissible. Meyer, usually so rigorous, suffers here from a sort of philological faint; as the German word denn has sometimes the meaning of therefore, he translates: “in consequence of this institution by the Lord, see therefore what you do when you celebrate the communion.” But what so great difficulty is there in preserving the literal sense of γάρ ? All that is needed is to connect it with the words: in remembrance of me: “If Jesus so expressed Himself, it is because in fact the action you perform every time you celebrate the Supper is a memorial of His person. For the meaning of the action is to show His death. ” The idea of the action thus stated is really the reason of the manner in which Jesus instituted it.

In spite of all Holsten may say, the verb καταγγέλλετε is indicative: Ye show, not imperative: Show! For it is the essence of the action which is thus expressed. If καταγγέλλετε were the imperative, the γάρ would be inexplicable; οὖν or ὥστε would have been required, therefore or so that. With the practice which was becoming established at Corinth of making this feast a social act, a supper seasoned with agreeable conversation, Paul contrasts the moving memory, the celebration of the death.

The term show, καταγγέλλειν, vividly recalls the word Haggadah, which denoted in the Jewish Passover the historical explanation of the meaning of all the rites of the Paschal feast which the father, in answer to the eldest son's ritual question, gave to his family. Perhaps the narrative of the Lord's death was similarly rehearsed at the Holy Supper. In any case, every believer celebrated its efficacy in his heart, and his grateful cry mingled in the hymns of the assembly with that of his fellow-believers. The Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles implies that free course is left at this juncture for the words of the prophets present at the assembly. Paul therefore understands by the καταγγέλλειν, announce, the individual and collective proclamation of Christ's love in His sacrifice, and of the glorious efficacy of this act. Each one confesses that he owes his salvation to this bloody death.

The τοῦτο, this, of the Greek text after ποτήριον, is to be rejected according to the Alex. and Greco-Lats. The words: till He come, are connected with the idea of the ἀνάμνησις, remembrance. Remembrance ceases when the Lord reappears. Holsten here finds the idea: that then the Lord's death will have brought to an end the exercise of its salutary efficacy. I see in the text no trace whatever of this thought. Paul means that the Holy Supper is the Church's compensation for the visible presence of Christ. It is, so to speak, the link between His two comings: the monument of the one, the pledge of the other. Thus Paul simply reproduces the meaning of the words of Jesus preserved by Luke (Luke 22:18): “I say unto you, I will not drink from henceforth of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come.” If we read ἄν, it indicates the uncertainty of the time when Jesus shall come.