partakers of his body and blood ; " if we contract such guilt by eating and drinking unworthily ; in other words, if such blessings attend the Avorthy receiving, and such guilt the unworthy receiving of this ordinance, it is evident that we should not approach it without due self-inspection and prepa- ration. Let a man examine himself. In other words, let him ascertain whether he has correct views of the nature and de- sign of the ordinance, and whether he has the proper state of mind. That is, whether he desires thankfully to commemo- rate the Lord's death, renewedly to partake of the benefits of that death as a sacrifice for his sins, publicly to accept the cov- enant of grace with all its promises and obligations, and to signify his fellowship with his brethren as joint members with himself of the body of Christ. And so let him eat. That is, after this self-examination, and, as is evidently implied, after having ascertained that he possesses the due preparation. It is not essential, however, to this preparation, as before re- marked, that we should be assured of our good estate, but simply that we have the intelligent desire to do what Christ requires of us when we come to his table. If we come humbly seeking him, he will bid us welcome, and feed us with that bread whereof if a man eat, he shall never die.
29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily,* eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discern- ing the Lord's body.
This verse assigns the reason why self-examination in pre- paration for the Lord's supper is necessary. It is. because he that eateth and drinketh unworthily (in the sense before ex- plained), eateth and drinketh judgment to himself. That is, he incurs the manifestation of God's displeasure "by the act of eating. The word damnation, used in our version, originally and properly means simply condemnation, and not hopeless and final perdition, which is its modern and popular sense. In the original the word is Kpi/xa without the article, and there-
* The word ava^iws, unworthily, is omitted by the MSS. A. C, and is re- jected by Lachmann and Tischendorf. If discarded, the sense of the passage is either, ' The cater and drinker, i. e. he who eats and drinks at the Lord's table as at an ordinary meal, eats judgment to himself; ' or, ' He that eats, not discerning the Lord's body, eats judgment to himself.' The common text has in its support the majority of ancient MSS., and is followed by most editors.