“I do not see an evidence that Paul carried through the Jewish theology of commemorative yet distinct lambs into his Christian conversion.”
Hmmm...”...when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”...”This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes.”
Commemorate:
“1. to serve as a memorial or reminder of: The monument commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
2. to honor the memory of by some observance: to commemorate the dead by a moment of silence; to commemorate Bastille Day.”
Nope! Sure no sign that Paul carried thru Passover’s memorial / reminder of / honor by observance from his Jewish roots!
< / sarcasm >
And in the previous chapter we read, “9What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, 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?”
Did Paul teach the ‘real presence’ of the demon in the offering to the idol? No...yet he goes on and says, “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.”
Now, about 60 seconds of reading time later, he writes, “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”
So how do you get “the actual wording of the passage refers to the historical physical body of Christ in no uncertain terms right when it gets to talk about receiving unworthily”.
Why the Eucharist? “Do this in remembrance of me.” “Do this in remembrance of me.” “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes.”
No atoning sacrifice. No physical body. Remembrance. Remembrance. Proclaim. Unite with Christ, not demons.
And what does it mean to eat without discerning the body?
“For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20When you come together, it is not the Lords supper that you eat. 21For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.”
The congregation is the body of Christ. Yet the Corinthians are split by factions, as though the body of Christ can be split! When they meet, they acts as individuals instead of one body. Each eats when and what he wants, and the rich humiliate the poor.
In the next chapter, Paul continues to talk about the congregation as the body of Christ, with the Spirit giving gifts as He desires, but all needing each other together.
Paul isn’t talking about the physical body of Christ, but the Church - the Body of Christ - and unity, and love, and caring for one another, and using gifts to build up the body, not the individual. When they have factions in the congregation, and treat each other shabbily, and aspire to gifts that build up the individual but not the whole, they fail to discern the body of Christ - the Church.
Let the gentle reader judge:
Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. 24 And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. 25 In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. 26 For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come. 27 Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. (1 Cor. 11)
"this is my body, which shall be delivered for you". Do you really think it is the Church that is delivered? Neither have I ever heard the Church referred to as the "blood of the Lord".
What you preach is height of absurdity, all to obfuscate the truth of the scripture.