Bible
Communion- So We Never Forget
I was so afraid that I would forget!
When I complained to my mother, she sent me to the closet to get some ribbon. When I brought it back, she cut a piece and handed it to me with the instruction, “Tie it around your finger. Now you will remember! because every time you see the ribbon you’ll be reminded that Mildred has a birthday party at 3:00 on Saturday.”
My mother, was right.
I remembered. I didn’t let her forget either because I needed her to take me to the party.
The Israelites NEEDED to REMEMBER
God knows how forgetful we can be. Just like my mom God had a strategy to help them remember.
God was going to deliver His people from slavery. In Exodus 12 God laid out His strategy that would lead to their deliverance.
God’s final plague was about to be released. The precious heir, the oldest son in every family would die throughout Egypt. Even the animals were included in this horrendous plague.
God assigned the Israelites a duty that would ensure His protection and exemption from the plague.
God told them to…
Kill a lamb. Take the blood. Paint the doorposts, top and sides! You will be safe in the midst of the plague.
This plague was the pivotal event that freed them from slavery. It would change their identity and distinguish them as God’s chosen people.
They needed to REMEMBER God’s faithfulness.
So, before the plague ever happened, God told Moses and Aaron so you won’t forget, you must celebrate this miracle every year.
God had the annual celebration of Passover all planned before it even happened! A celebration that at its innermost core was a memorial to the goodness and faithfulness of God.
God had a covenant with these people, with this nation.
Hundreds of years later.
It was at a Passover celebration that we spot the perfect lamb…the lamb of God, Jesus. He was about to fulfill the plan of God. No animal sacrifice could ever accomplish what He was about to do. He was about to pay the full price of sin.
He was going to do more than redeem a nation. Jesus came to be the Savior of the World. He was about to make a way that anyone and everyone could be forgiven, cleansed from all sin and born into God’s family. A sense of belonging that would help them experience a new identity. A relationship with God. Peace. Love. Joy.
A new covenant.
And like God declared “Remember” at the Passover in Egypt, Jesus, knowing that He was about to pay the ultimate price, said “Remember”.
This is important…it wasn’t what they expected to hear.
Jesus was telling them, “From now on, when you celebrate this event…I want you to remember me!”
Me?
What?
This was the Passover. They were to remember how God saved Israel from death and delivered them from bondage. Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was a prophetic picture of what Jesus would do at the cross for anyone that would believe on Him.
We know the saying…”Out of sight. Out of mind.” Jesus was leaving them. Before He died, He set in place a memorial, a celebration to remember Jesus!
Let me show you what some scriptures on Communion in 1 Corinthians 11.
23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread,
24and when He had given thanks,
He broke it and said,
(Sorry to interrupt. Jesus knew what was about to happen to Him. Could they heard it in His voice? Did He speak slowly for impact? Did He stop at the end of each phrase so the gravity of what He was saying could sink into their hearts? OK. Here’s what He said.)
“This is My body,
which is for you;
do this in remembrance
of Me.”
25In the same way,
after supper He took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant
in My blood;
do this,
as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of Me.”
The New Covenant
Berean Standard Bible
1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
Forgiveness. Redemption. New Birth. Peace. Healing. Wholeness. Body. Soul. Spirit. Through Jesus!
One more thought.
We call it communion at my church.
It’s not snack time. It’s more than a symbol.
While the activity is symbolic, it is so much more than a symbol that calls us to remember the past.
Yes, remember, REMEMBER what He did so you can walk in newness of life right now-today. So, you can experience His love, grace, peace and power.
An invitation to come close, to experience a deep level of spiritual fellowship.
Do we do that? Do we even really understand what that means?
Sunday’s communion stirred something in my heart. I want to know what it is to really commune, fellowship, experience Him at a deeper level.