Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Corinthians 10:16

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?" — 1 Corinthians 10:16 (ASV)

The cup of blessing or thanksgiving used in the Lord’s Supper brings us spiritually into participation in the blood of Christ and into fellowship with him. The same is true of the bread, whereby we become one body with him. The “cup of blessing” was a technical term for the third cup drunk at the Jewish Passover (see comment on Lk 22:14–18), the time when the Lord’s Supper was instituted (Matthew 26:17–30; Mark 14:12–26). That “participation [GK 3126] in the blood of Christ” is meant to be a memorial symbol of fellowship with Christ rather than a literal drinking of his blood is clear from the fact that (1) Christ had not yet died when he instituted this supper, and (2) this participation is in remembering him, not in drinking him (1 Corinthians 11:25).