Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
1/18/98 am
This Do In Remembrance Of Me
Reading — Luke 22.7-20
Go with me now to Egypt some 3,450 years ago.
- The night was warm and balmy.
- There was an excitement in the air.
- It was electrifying.
- The skin tingled.
- The hair on the back of your neck stood up.
There was an air of anticipation, as two-and-a- half million enslaved Jews, swiped the blood of a lamb on the stripe and lentil of their doorway with a brush made of hyssop.
- Tonight the visit from the angel of death.
- Tomorrow, the exodus from years in Egyptian bondage.
What excitement!
Now, if you will, move forward in time 1450 years.
- The night is balmy.
- The anticipation for tomorrow is high.
- There is an excitement in the air.
Two and a half million Jews are gathered in the Holy City for Passover. The Kedron runs red with the blood of over 200,000 lambs to be offered in sacrifice. Jesus and 12 men make their way across the city toward an upper room to celebrate the Passover meal.
God is a nostalgic, memorial-minded God.
- There was the rainbow after the flood.
- The Sabbath.
- Pentecost.
- The feast of tabernacles.
- A pile of rocks in the Jordan to memorialize the miraculous crossing
- Passover.
- And now, the Lord’s Supper.
The old and the new are merged together to become a memorial event to be remembered by the Lord’s people till the end of time.
When you look up the word NOSTALGIA, the dictionary says, one of the meaning is homesick. Our God is homesick. He is homesick to be with His people... Its always been that way. God is some-sick this morning to be in your heart. God made your heart, and mine, to be His house and He wants to be at home. Jesus tells us, If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
You see, with memorials, God calls us to remember Him and what great things He has done for us. God marked the spot, with memorial reminders, for the Jewish people to recall. Now, in the Christian system, there is only one feast-day that’s the Lord’s Day... The first day of the week... Sunday to us. And there is only one memory minded feast... That’s the Lord’s Supper.
GOD WANTS US TO REMEMBER HIS SON’S DEATH.
With this single memorial event, God calls us back to the death of His Son on the cross. His death is what the Lord’s Supper is all about.
Folk, we are way over our head when we attempt to comprehend the death of Jesus. We can’t to fully understand it. We certainly are in no position to realize the pain of it all. But, in this memorial, we must try to: see, accept, and appreciate the significance of it all.
To the first century world it was absurd that a god, any god, would die by crucifixion. God’s don’t die, but ours did... In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!
When we put Romans 1.16 and First Corinthians 1.23 & 34 together we find that the cross, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is the power of our salvation. Listen to these scriptures:
- I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
- We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Did you know, that in 21 of the 27 New Testament books, we find virtually no discussion of the life and personal sayings of Jesus. They don’t rehearse:
- His miracles,
- His parables,
His personal experiences;
But, they do mention His death... His resurrection... And His second coming. In the four Gospels, the greatest emphasis is on His DEATH. Each of the Gospels emphasis some aspects of the life of Jesus... But all of them treat His death in detail.
This is strange... An emphasis on death in a biography. The biography of Daniel Webster has 863 pages... Only 5 deal with his death. A famous biography of Abraham Lincoln has 5000 pages... Only 25 are used to tell of his death.
- In this world’s view...
- In the world’s mentality...
- In the lives of our great men,
Death is treated as an incident to end a career.
But, you see, with Jesus, it’s different. Of course, the difference is that all others are still in their grave and Jesus isn’t.
- 25% of Luke’s Gospel is devoted to His death.
- About half of John’s Gospel deals with the last 24 hours of His life.
The death of Jesus is the single most important event in all of human history. History IS HIS-STORY.
- History,
- Religion,
- Salvation of all humankind,
Hinges on the cross, HIS DEATH. Is it any wonder then, that God memorialized HIS DEATH in this... The Lord’s Supper.
Let’s go back to the original Passover
and take special note of the elements used in this memorial event.
- There was the lamb,
- The unleavened bread,
- Bitter herbs,
- And the blood,
All of these Passover elements were present in the upper room that night. And are, in a very significant way, present in the memorial supper we partake each Lord’s Day.
THERE WAS THE LAMB...
The one Moses instructed Israel to use was to be spotless, without blemish. The Lamb, in the upper room that night, was none other than Jesus Christ. And church, without Him... Without Him, our memorial would be meaningless.
THE UNLEAVENED BREAD...
The Jewish Passover has always been celebrated with unleavened dough. Leaven, yeast, was a symbol of that which was corrupt and evil... SIN. In fact, Exodus 12.19 tells us, that ALL leaven was to be removed from the Jewish household for 7 full days proceeding Passover. So, any bread, served in the upper room that night, would have been unleavened.
Jesus said, this is My body, broken for you. Today, as we partake, we must see the bruised, broken body of Jesus on the cross. We must see Him... PURE... SINLESS... Yet becoming sin for us. The prophet Isaiah said;
- He was wounded for our transgressions.
- He was bruised for our iniquities.
- Our punishment was upon Him.
- He bore the sins of many.
Paul says; He, who knew no sin, became sin for us.
THE BITTER HERBS...
The Jews ate bitter herbs in remembrance of their years of suffering in bondage. The Jewish MISHNA says, lettuce, snakeroot or dandelions were used. The new and old are merged into this new memorial supper: The Suffering Savior, suffering for:
- Our sins,
- Our transgressions,
- Our iniquities.
When we partake of this communion feast, we must see the suffering Jesus, taste His hurt. Question!... Does it hurt you to see people: playing with babies, whispering, thumbing through their billfolds, during this memorial event? No! No!... Look... See... Taste... the bitter suffering of our Savior!
THEN THERE IS THE BLOOD...
The Jewish lamb shed its blood for the salvation of all in the household. Scripture tells us, there cannot be remission of sins... No salvation, without the shedding of blood.
- God covered Adam and Eve with animal skins to hide their nakedness. That animal had to shed its blood to hide their sin.
- The sacrifices of Abraham and the Patriarchs were bloody.
- Blood flowed freely in all of Judaism.
- Jesus took the cup and said, This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you. Matthew adds, unto the remission of sins.
As we partake of this memorial, we need to understand that His blood:
- Justifies us,
- Redeems us,
- Reconciles us,
- Sanctifies us,
- Cleanses us.
Listen to these scriptures:
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace... If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
“Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There is power in the blood...
Wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb.”
Power to: Justify us, Redeem us, Reconcile, Sanctify, Forgive, and Purify us from ALL sin. God help us to never... Never take this memorial and what it recalls and symbolizes for granted.. Not ever!... Not ever!
Allow me ten more minutes of your time. Turn with me to First Corinthians 11... and let’s read verses 17-29. I want us to consider the significance of the Lord’s Supper, using four words;
Communion,
Memorial,
Proclamation,
And Examination.
Are you there?... First Corinthians 11, beginning with the verse numbered 17.
In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don't you have homes 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 praise you for this? Certainly not! For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself...
Listen to this from first Corinthians 10.16, Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
FIRST, NOTICE THAT THE LORD’S SUPPER IS A COMMUNION.
The communion service is not to be a private event. Paul says, it is to be a part of the church coming together.
- We commune with Christ... With God, in this memorial event. Church, remove either Jesus or God from this event and it becomes completely meaningless.
- We commune with one another. Paul says this is what?... A participation. The Greek is koinonia... It means a fellowship, a participation, a communication together. Church, if we can’t come around this table together in honor of Jesus, then something is seriously... SERIOUSLY wrong. If we have a problem with a brother or sister in the church and we can’t:
- Commune,
- Communicate
- Fellowship,
- Koinonia,
Then we cannot properly participate in the communion service. So, the question each Lord’s Day must be:
- What is my relationship with Jesus the Christ, and God the Father.
- And what is my relationship with His family, His body, the church?
SECONDLY, THE LORD’S SUPPER IS TO BE A MEMORIAL.
It’s to be done in remembrance of Jesus. At Passover, the Jews remembered what great things God had done for them. He saved them from certain death, and delivered them from Egyptian bondage. He has done the same for us.
- We were destined to die...
- Eternal separation from God...
- Destined to hell for our sins...
But He delivered us from the bondage of sin... His blood had set us free. And when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed... INDEED.
This bring up and interesting question... How do we do this remembering?
- Perhaps by reading the crucifixion narrative in one of the Gospels.
- By reading a song, that speaks to us of God’s love and Jesus death on the cross.
- Perhaps in meditation or prayer.
Church, if we partake of the Lord’s Supper, and never think of His death, then it becomes and ritual and Paul says, we do harm to ourselves.
THE LORD’S SUPPER IS TO BE A PROCLAMATION.
Paul says, You do proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. How can we partake of the communion without anticipating His return?
THIS BRINGS US TO THE FOURTH POINT, THE LORD’S SUPPER IS A TIME OF EXAMINATION. A TIME OF INTROSPECTION.
- Examining ourselves to make sure we are partaking in a manner pleasing to Him, rightly recognizing... Rightly discerning the Lord’s body and blood.
- Examining our relationship to Him and to one another.
- Examining our readiness for His second coming.
Well, we must stop, but first let me tell you this story.
A Palestinian shepherd was searching for fire wood. As he returned to the fire, he encountered someone hiding in the rocks. Even though he was startled and scared, he said, friend come join me at the fire. The outcast replied, you would not want ME to come to your fire. Oh yes I do... You are invited no matter who you are. And with that he picked up his wood and started to the fire. As he placed the wood on the fire, it blazed brighter and he could see his visitor. He took a deep breath, his heart raced... His visitor was a leper. His face was scared, part of his extremities were gone... He was grotesque. The LEPER paused for a moment and smiled. It was an ugly, hideous smile. But it was the first smile in years. He came to the fire... He didn’t have to beg... HE WAS INVITED!
Church, each time we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we must recall: We are participants in the greatest event in history... His death. We didn’t have to beg, we were invited. We have been:
- Forgiven,
- Redeemed,
- Reconciled,
- Justified,
- Cleansed and purified, by the death of Jesus on the cross. Saved by the grace of God.
I would like for the men who have been appointed to serve the Lord’s Supper to come now and serve us as we participate in a memorial feast in remembrance of Jesus.
