Focal passage: Luke 22:7-20
How do you remember what you’ve already forgotten? When something slips your mind – where you placed your car keys, the date of your anniversary, your next dentist appointment – how do you retrieve that thought?
An awful lot can go wrong when something is forgotten. The steak left on the grill is overcooked, your boss berates you for missing an assignment, the list could go on. So how do we recall that which we’ve forgotten? The simplest solution is to avoid forgetting altogether. However, since we are constantly inundated with dates and tasks to keep up with, that seems impossible.
Instead, we can establish routines and memory devices to recall important things in our lives. Perhaps some of you use an app on your phone or the more old-fashioned method of tying a string around your finger. When Jesus ate His final meal with His disciples, He instituted a way of remembering with striking clarity His sacrifice on the cross.
Of course, the “Lord’s Supper” is much more than a simple mnemonic device. However, one of its functions is to help future disciples remember the pain and suffering Jesus went through on our behalf.
Luke writes, “And [Jesus] took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’” (vv. 19-20).
A truth that believers across denominational lines can agree on is: Jesus’ costly sacrifice should be remembered by believers.
The next time you take communion, don’t go through the motions. Allow the breaking and chewing of bread to remind you of Jesus’ body which was broken, lashed and torn apart for you. As the drink runs down your throat, imagine Jesus’ blood being spilled on the ground to purchase your freedom.
The Bible says that “you were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20). When we remember the price that was paid for us, we develop a longing for the One who paid it all.