In Luke 22 and also 1 Corinthians 11, we read of Jesus’ commands that we
observe the Lord’s Supper saying, “Do
this in remembrance of Me.”
This is not the first time in the Bible that we are given a command to remember. You might recall when God instituted the
Passover celebration among His people to remind them of how God brought them
out of slavery in Egypt. God said of the Passover in Exodus 12:14, “This day shall be for you a memorial
day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations,
as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”
Or maybe you’re familiar with the
story of when God stopped the flow of the Jordan River allowing the Israelites
to enter the Promised Land on dry ground. Do you remember how God commanded
Joshua to have the people erect a memorial on the far bank? Joshua 4:6-7, “that this may be a sign among you. When
your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then
you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark
of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the
Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial
forever.”
I hear the same God speaking when Jesus says of the Lord’s supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
God instituted the Passover Holiday as a memorial to remind them that God had
brought them out of the land of slavery. He ordered that a pile of stones be
set up on the far bank of the Jordan as a memorial- an enduring reminder- that
God had brought them into the land of promise. Two memorials, one to remind
God’s people that they had been brought out, and another to remind them that
they had been brought in- both by a miraculous work of God. The Lord’s Supper combines these
two thoughts in one- for through the broken body and the spilled blood of
Jesus, represented by the bread and cup, we are reminded that we have been
miraculously delivered out of slavery to sin and death and brought in to the
promised Kingdom of Light.
Why does God repeatedly issue these commands for us to remember Him and
the great deeds He has done? And I don’t ask why because I’m confused about why
it is necessary --- that’s easy--- us humans are small, shabby, forgetful
creatures who have a hard time seeing beyond the difficulties directly in front
of us. As soon as the bear shows up in our lives it’s like all of us sheep
suddenly have no memory of the shepherd. Our eyes focus on the bear, Our google
searches are all bear-related, and because our minds are full of thoughts about
the bear our minds are full of anxiety. If today somebody’s car breaks down or
they get laid off or they feel a lump---it’s a new crisis--- and they seem to forget
the God who brought them through crises in the past and who has promised them an
eternity free of such worries. So in one sense that’s why the command to
remember is given--- because it’s necessary--- we’re forgetful--- but maybe a
more important question than why is the command necessary, is why does God care
that we remember. Does He want us to obey His command to do this in remembrance
of Him because that will be satisfying and rewarding to Him or does He give the
command for our joy?
Scripture is clear that Jesus is God. It was through Him, we are told in
the opening lines of John’s Gospel, that all things were made, and that he
existed eternally, without beginning and without end. Before ever the earth was
spoken into being He was. So according to the plain teaching of the Bible Jesus
is God- he is the Creator. When we state that Jesus was/is God that should
color the way we view the motive behind His commands. God is perfect and
perfect in all of His ways. That means that Jesus is perfectly content, and
all-sufficient within Himself. He wants for nothing. He needs nothing. And we,
of course, have nothing to offer Him that would make Him more complete, or
joy-filled or satisfied in Himself.
If He was needy he would not be
God
This is why Acts 17:24-25 says, 24
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and
earth, does not live in temples made by man,[a] 25 nor is he served by human
hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life
and breath and everything. This is
why Jesus Himself says in Mark
10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not
be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” So,
Jesus, in coming to the earth as a savior had nothing to gain, because, as God,
there was nothing he needed, nothing he lacked. He’s perfect! And perfectly
content. So why did he come and allow his body to be broken for us and his blood spilled out for
us? If he was not motivated by some need in Him, than what did motivate Him? It
was because of our desperate need and for our joy that he came. So when Jesus
commands us to do this in remembrance of Him it is not self-serving in any way.
He is not eager for us to keep this command so that he might become more
complete or satisfied or joy-filled or because He would feel bad if He was
forgotten. Jesus is not pathetic or lonely or weak or needy like that. He is
God, the very opposite of those things. He is so full and so complete that he
can never receive but only overflow as a blessing to us. So the command is
given for our benefit and for our joy. He does not need to be remembered. It is
us who need to remember. So the command was given for our good and for our joy.