If we do not discern that, are we any better than those Roman soldiers who nailed him to the cross. Paul says in verse 29 that those who eat and drink in an unworthy manner drink judgment on themselves, not discerning the Lord s body. This table, instead of being a table of forgiveness can become for people the table of judgment if people come in an unworthy manner not discerning the body and blood. Paul even goes so far as to say that the Corinthians improper conduct at the Lord s table is the reason some of them were sick and some had died. He is saying that taking the Lord s Supper in an unworthy manner is a spiritual sin which can in certain cases can have physical consequences.
Sin has consequences.
If a person sins sexually for example, we know there are consequences of that sin - in the marriage, in the family, in one s relationship to God and even physically. Our society is well aware of sexually transmitted diseases and even AIDS which follow sexual promiscuity. Sin has spiritual, emotional, social and also physical consequences. Paul say that sinning against the body and blood of the Lord in communion also has consequences - spiritual and even physical sometimes. People in the Corinthian church had gotten sick and were weak and even died because they came to the table of the Lord in an unworthy manner drinking and eating judgment on themselves by their disregard and disrespect for the body and blood of our Lord Jesus.