Scholarly Reflections
LaVerdiere, Eugene. "Chapter Three: Proclaiming the Death of the Lord: The Eucharist in the Letters of Paul." The Eucharist in the New Testament and the Early Church. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press (Pueblo), 1996, 29-45.
The eucharist, as it is described in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, is a tradition which is to be done in remembrance of Christ, hence we repeat the tradition to this day (LaVerdiere 1996, 29). LaVerdiere observes that the traditional practices can be distinguished from one another and traced to origins. He sees the descriptions from 1 Corinthians 11 and Luke 22 coming from traditions in Antioch, while Mark 14 and Matthew 26 came from Palestine. We observe that in LaVerdiere's view the biblical accounts came from external, previously established traditions (LaVerdiere 1996, 30).
As LaVerdiere interprets it, in Corinth, the ritual included a declaration at the time of a full meal that the bread was the body of Jesus, then a later celebration over a cup, after people had eaten (LaVerdiere 1996, 31). An important element of all this was the passing on of the ritual tradition. This would easily explain the adoption of a particular wording, which came from the Lord. The liturgy would then come to be written down, among other places, in Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians (LaVerdiere 1996, 32). The surrounding context in 1 Corinthians suggests various areas of life which needed to be seen in light of the eucharistic fellowship. The meal was significant of a changed life (LaVerdiere 1996, 33). The rite was part of the way a distinctive Christian life was played out.
LaVerdiere considers the larger pagan society and its customs to be one of the substantial factors that the Corinthian Christians needed to bear in mind (LaVerdiere 1996, 34). The evidence he cites of this is the question raised of eating meat offered to idols. LaVerdiere rightly recognizes the underlying issue as that of not tempting orburdening anyone's conscience, a matter he also sees as easier to say than to do (LaVerdiere 1996, 36-37).
Another issue of distinction in 1 Corinthians was that of head coverings for women and long hair for men. LaVerdiere observes that women praying or engaged in prophecy was not a controversy (LaVerdiere 1996, 37). The issue apparently had more to do with engaging in what was recognized as masculine or feminine behavior. The overall situation is related to eucharist in that the eucharist asserts a radical unity but does not negate differences in roles (LaVerdiere 1996, 38). Ideally, rich and poor, slave and free, Jew and Gentile would eat and drink together. This was apparently not the case in some instances, as evidenced by 1 Corinthians 11:21 (LaVerdiere 1996, 41). Paul's call, then, was that they hold to the pattern of what Jesus did, in the supper and by his death and resurrection (LaVerdiere 1996, 42).