1 Corinthians 10:14-22
Idol Feasts and the Lord's Supper
14Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
18Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. 22Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
St. Paul tells us we need to flee from idols and idolatry...There are many kinds of idols...We may have money, cars, jobs, certain hobbies, food, alcohol, as well as other material things...When we make it to the kingdom of heaven, God will expose to us our idols...There maybe some idols we have, that we are not even aware of...
Paul who was always trying to convert Gentiles to Christianity wanted the Corinthians to be kind and courteous in their ways and in their eating ways and in their eating with others...There were times when people ate food that had been offered to idols...He makes them (and us) aware that participation in idol worship, is not the right thing to do...Believers must be on guard, to use the free choice, the free will that God gives us to help others while doing the evangelistic work that Jesus explains in His Great Commission...We should not use this freedom to hurt others...
St. Paul knew and wrote in more detail to the Corinthians about the LORD's supper in chapter eleven (1 Corinthians 11:17-33)...St. Paul knows that the food we partake is our daily bread from God...He helped, and enhanced the early Eucharist traditions of the early Christian churches to include this tradition, at their meals...Jesus told us in His last meal, His Last Supper that the bread He ate and the wine He drank referred to His body and His blood...So when we eat our daily bread, we are to do it in remembrance of Him...We are to remember that the wine and drink, we drink, is the new covenant He brings...The cup (our drink) is the blood He poured out for us (Luke 22:19-20)...
Jesus knows we will eat and drink daily to replenish our bodies...We need the food and drink to survive...Like our daily bread and drink, we need Him...The food and drink we partake daily is the perfect time (anytime we think of the Father and Son, is a good time) to remember our LORD...The drinks we drink also are a reminder for us of Him, as His blood that He poured out for us, in saving us from our sins...
I AM the bread of life...He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and He who believes in Me will never be thirsty...I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you...Whoever eats My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink...Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him...Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me...This is the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:35, 6:53-58)...