The Table of Jesus vs. the Table of Demons (1 Corinthians 10:14-22)

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. [15] I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. [16] The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? [17] Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. [18] Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? [19] What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? [20] No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. [21] You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. [22] Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

I. Today's Temples and Tables

Brothers and sisters, friends, ask yourself this: what do temples of false worship look like today? And what would we expect to see if we were shown, in this day and age, the table of a demon? Keep that in mind as we dive into our main study passage for this morning: 1 Corinthian 10:14-22.

II. The Passage: “They Offer to Demons and Not to God” (10:14-22)

If this was the very first passage you studied in this letter we call “1 Corinthians”, what would you need to know to make sense of it? Think about it. That question is a question about the importance of considering the context whenever we seek to understand a verse or passage. To answer that question, I think the first thing we should look at is the larger section in which we find this passage. As many of you may remember, that larger context runs from 8:1, all the way to 11:1. What connects all those verses? Paul tells us in the opening verse of this section: (8:1) “Now concerning food offered to idols...”. What does that mean? It means that Paul is tackling the issue of whether or not Christians should ever eat meat that was used in a pagan sacrifice. One reason this was an issue had to do with the local meat market. Leftover meat from those pagan temples would often find its way to those meat markets, to be sold to the general public.

Now, back in chapter 8, Paul already agreed with those who didn't see a problem with eating such meat. False gods were not real, and meat was/is just meat. But that didn't mean he wasn't concerned. What Paul was concerned about was how this eating might affect a brother or sister who had what he called a “weak” conscience. Some, who were former idol worshipers, were very uncertain about anything connected to their old way of life. They might even be susceptible to going back, even for a limited time, to trusting in those so-called gods. Before we judge, which of us, even as believers, hasn't gone back to trusting in those things that once ruled our lives?

But in regard to the context of our study passage this morning, we also need to consider the verses that came right before these verses. You may remember from last time, when we talked about the first thirteen verses of chapter 10, that Paul highlighted a number of episodes from the Old Testament that involved both the faithlessness of God's covenant people and the subsequent judgment of their covenant God. Why should those stories matter to the Corinthians? Or to us? Verse 11: “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” And one of the clear takeaways for his readers is found in verse 7: “Do not be idolaters as some of them were...”.

So keeping these contextual clues in mind, let's talk about vs. 14-22, starting with v. 14: “There-fore, my beloved [those whom I love; those who are dear to me], flee from idolatry.” Now, that exhortation isn't surprising in light of verse 7, right? But it might have been surprising to some of the readers here. Why is that? Well, yes, many would have understood why those with a “weak” conscience needed to hear this command to flee from idolatry. But others would have said, “We have! We've left it behind. We are no longer idol worshipers. We are now followers of Jesus, and therefore, we only worship the one true God, through Jesus.”

Now, while Paul would have been incredibly thankful for that general truth, the reason this pass-age exists is because these 'strong' Corinthians were weak when it came to discerning what we might call 'residual idolatry'. Paul explains the danger of this residual idolatry by explaining to his (v. 15) “sensible” readers two key ideas that we find in these verses.

The first thing Paul explains, in vs. 16-18, is that ritual meals express spiritual partnerships. The apostle illustrates this idea by first referring to the very meal that Jesus himself instituted for his followers: the Lord's Supper. Now, you may know that Paul will go on in the next chapter to address the Lord's Supper more extensively. But here, he simply wants to emphasize the idea that the elements in that meal, both the cup and the bread, are a koinonia in the “blood” and the “body of Christ”. Do you see that in verse 16? In this translation, that Greek word koinonia is rendered as “participation”. But more often in the New Testament, this same word is translated as “partnership” or “fellowship”. Friends, we enjoy a partnership/fellowship in Jesus Christ crucified!

And I think that emphasis on how our ritual meal, how the Lord's Supper, represents our partnership with one another through the sacrifice of Jesus, that emphasis is clear from the next verse. Look back at verse 17. Paul is not getting mystical here about individual Christians participating in the blood and body of Jesus. No. He states in v. 17, “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” If the bread represents the body of Christ (i.e., that element by which we remember the broken, crucified body of Jesus) then when we par-take of that same bread together, we demonstrate our unity in the Lord Jesus. Make sense? So...

In v.18, Paul simply provides an additional truth to illustrate the idea that ritual meals express spiritual partnerships. When the ancient Israelites brought for worship sacrifices called peace offerings, then according to Leviticus 7, those worshipers would, along with the priests, share in the meal. That's why Paul writes what he writes in v. 18: “...those who eat the sacrifices are [partners] in the altar”. So whether OT or NT, ritual meals express spiritual partnerships.

With that in mind, the second thing Paul explains here, in vs. 19-21, is that, furthermore, pagan ritual meals expose spiritual enemies. It wasn't simply that these Christians in Corinth were buying idol-sacrificed meat from the meat markets. Some of them were also eating the temples of those idols (cf. 8:10, “if anyone sees you... eating in an idol's temple”). Why would a follower of Jesus ever eat in a pagan temple? Because those dining halls were familiar settings for social gatherings; for community-wide festivities. In my first message from this section, I compared this to a restaurant like Cracker Barrel. What if in the center of Cracker Barrel was a massive altar dedicated to a false god? And what if your chicken-fried steak came from a heifer that had been sacrificed an hour earlier on that very altar? Would that be concerning to you?

For many of the Corinthian believers, they were so used to gathering with friends and family and neighbors in these dining contexts, that they had not carefully considered the spiritual implications of their participation. As we just talked about, they didn't seem to understand that ritual meals express spiritual partnerships. But what makes that especially concerning is what Paul reveals in v. 20, “...what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons (!) and not to God.” The Corinthians knew that Poseidon, Aphrodite, and Demeter were not reals gods; that no such beings existed. That's why Paul writes what he writes in v. 19: “What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is any-thing, or that an idol is anything? [v. 20] No.” The god is not real, and the meat is not tainted.

But... but... what is spiritually real in such a sacrifice is the demonic influence and demonic design behind it all. Think about that truth. Would it, does it, sober you to know there is a demonic reality behind all idolatry... even the idolatry with which you might struggle? Does that take some of the 'shine' off those temptations? Both Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 106 connect the worship of idols and false gods with the worship of demons.

Along with the other apostles, Paul understood that our enemy, the devil, along with his demonic allies, wants (and has always wanted) nothing more than to distort the truth about God, and then, to distort worship of the true God. And one of the primary ways these being have done that, over many thousands of years, is through the influence of false gods. Whatever those dark forces could and can do to inspire such worship, they absolutely will do: sensual gratification, social acclamation, fearful manipulation, prideful justification, spiritual deception (false miracles).

Therefore, if such demonic forces are really at work in these pagan temples, and if ritual meals express spiritual partnerships, then what does that mean for Christians eating in such places? Look at the end of verse 20: “I do not want you to be participants [partners] with demons. [21] You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” If our partnership is with God's people, through the sacrifice of Jesus, then how could we dabble with a pagan partnership, one that's connected with, of all things, a sacrifice to demons? However they might justify it, such a practice is, in fact, idolatrous.

III. Old Altars, New Life

As we've talked this month about how this section of 1 Corinthians reveals a number of marks of Christian maturity, I think what we're seeing here is a mature use of discernment. Paul is moving beyond a simplistic view of “Well, I'm no longer sacrificing to an idol”, to “I want absolutely nothing to do with idolatry.” He can discern what many of the Corinthians cannot: that the taint of idolatry extends beyond temple membership and direct veneration. And so, we should ask...

What about today? What does this mature discernment look like today? In places like India, for example, where idol-housed temples and ritual meals are still quite common, the application here is a little more of a 'straight line'. But what about us? I'm not sure if there's an exact parallel for us in the West. But...since idolatry remains alive and well among us, and many kinds of false worship abound here, as they do everywhere, then I think there are degrees of relevance; but discerning these issues and those degrees requires the same set of truths. First...

Think about the old altars at which you worshiped. Was this more literal in terms of a cult or some other major religion? Or maybe it was worshiping at the altar of materialism or of sexual immorality or of control or of human approval or of politics. Wherever that worship was, what-ever it looked like, and whenever it tempts you to come back, then, second...

Think about 'worship' that is ultimately irredeemable. You cannot redeem a ritual meal in an idol's temple. What I mean is that there's no good reason for participating in such a thing. In contrast, if I once worshiped at the altar of materialism, and spending money was an expression of my devotion, that doesn't make buying things inherently wrong. But with something like sexual immorality, for example, there are many obvious sins when it comes to worshiping at that altar. But there are also things that require more discernment. If you used to frequent a particular girly bar, but that place is also open for lunch, minus the girls, then would it be okay to go there with old friends? Wouldn't any money spent there be directly upholding a demonic altar? Flee it!

Third, think about with whom you want to be united. If we belong to Jesus (by grace, through faith), then we have been united to Christ, and through him, to his people. But, if you're honest, do you still long to be part of the old gang? To be who they want you to be? To exploit old bene-fits and connections? It's one thing to want to reach those in your old circles. It's another to compromise in order to do so. But as Paul reminds the Corinthians here, the altar around which we are united is the cross. Those are our people, and that's where our God had his blood shed and his body broken... for us. It is an altar of love.

Every other altar is an altar of lies. Greed will not die for you. Lust will not die for you. Workplace success or political power will not die for you. That worldly system or human philosophy or alternate religion will not shed its blood for you. It doesn't care about you.

Demons always offer a benefits package, but at the cost of your soul. In contrast, Jesus Christ paid the price for us, that we might have life. So let us embrace Him and his people. And let us ask God for mature discernment, that we might 1) avoid demonic danger, and yes, (2) that we might not provoke the Lord to jealousy (do we see that's what we're doing?); but also, 3) let us always go home for dinner, that we might be spiritually, deeply, and eternally nourished at his table; for that's where we'll find life-giving food. Amen?

What Jesus declared to Christians two-thousand years ago, he continues to declare today, to all of us, wherever we are spiritually:

Revelation 3:20... “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”