A Sermon on the Earliest Eucharistic Tradition (1 Cor 11:23–26)

Dealing with several, apparently disparate issues in the ecclesia in Corinth that share the lack of inner unity as a fundamental problem, Paul responds with the construction of a common ‘identity’. This is based on the shared relationship with Christ, the Crucified and Risen One, regardless of the Corinthians’ differences and the diversity of their gifts. This relationship is expressed in a particularly dense manner through the image of the “body of Christ” into which the members of the ecclesia are baptised. The metaphor is not limited to the idea that members work together to create a greater whole. Every baptised person becomes part of the body of the Crucified and Resurrected One, who – as the Eucharistic tradition recalled in 1 Cor 11:23–26 shows – gives himself – his body – to the assembled ecclesia. The sermon on Maundy Thursday attempts to apply these insights and to show what they could mean for the church today.