The divisions in the Corinthian church are concretely seen when they come together to celebrate the Lord’s supper. This passage is the only place in the Bible where the sacramental meal, elsewhere referred to as the breaking of bread
(Acts 2:42; Acts 2:7, Acts 2:11), is called by this name. By calling the meal the Lord’s supper,
Paul emphasizes that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has instituted the meal, and that the meal belongs to him.
The word supper
refers to the main meal of the day, which was customarily eaten in the late afternoon or evening. It is possible that the term Lord’s supper
refers not only to the ceremony of breaking bread and drinking wine, but to the entire meal that, in the early church, accompanied this ceremony.
The Corinthians have turned what is supposed to be a meal of fellowship with Christ and each other into an occasion for division. For this reason, their meal cannot even be called the Lord’s supper
anymore.
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.