John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 11:21

"for in your eating each one taketh before [other] his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken." — 1 Corinthians 11:21 (ASV)

For every one of you taketh before others his own supper. It is truly wonderful, and almost miraculous, that Satan could have accomplished so much in so short a time. We are, however, admonished by this example of how much antiquity, without reason on its side, can achieve, or, in other words, how much influence a long-continued custom has, when not sanctioned by a single declaration of the word of God. This, having become customary, was regarded as lawful. Paul was then present to interfere. What then must have been the state of affairs after the death of the Apostles? With what liberty Satan must have reveled! Yet here is the great strength of Papists: “The thing is ancient — it was done long ago — let it, therefore, have the weight of a revelation from heaven.”

It is uncertain, however, what was the origin of this abuse, or what was the cause of its arising so soon. Chrysostom is of the opinion that it originated in the love-feasts (ἀπὸ τῶν ἀγαπῶν), and that, while the rich had been accustomed to bring with them from their houses provisions for feasting with the poor together and in common, they afterwards began to exclude the poor and to gorge on their delicacies by themselves.

And, certainly, it appears from Tertullian that this custom was a very ancient one. Now they gave the name Agapae to those common entertainments, which they arranged among themselves as tokens of fraternal affection, and which consisted of alms. Nor do I have any doubt that it arose from sacrificial rites commonly observed by both Jews and Gentiles.

For I observe that Christians, for the most part, corrected the faults connected with those rites in such a way as to retain, at the same time, some resemblance. Hence, it is probable that, observing that both Jews and Gentiles added a feast to their sacrifice as an appendage to it, and also that both of them sinned regarding ambition, luxury, and intemperance, they instituted a kind of banquet. This banquet was intended to accustom them more to sobriety and frugality and, at the same time, to be consistent with a spiritual gathering in terms of mutual fellowship.

For in it the poor were provided for at the expense of the rich, and the table was open to all. But, whether they had from the very beginning fallen into this profane abuse, or whether an institution, not otherwise objectionable, had degenerated in this way over time, Paul insisted they should in no way mix this spiritual banquet with common feasts.

“This, indeed, appears commendable — that the poor, along with the rich, share together the provisions that have been brought, and that the rich share from their abundance with the needy; but nothing should be so important to us as to lead us to profane the holy sacrament.”

And one is hungry — this was one evil in the situation: that while the rich indulged themselves sumptuously, they appeared, in a way, to reproach the poor for their poverty. He describes the inequality hyperbolically when he says that some are drunken and others are hungry, for some had the means to stuff themselves well, while others had meager food. Thus the poor were exposed to the derision of the rich, or at least they were exposed to shame. It was, therefore, an unseemly spectacle, and not in accordance with the Lord’s supper.