When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper He told His disciples to remember Him by sharing this meal. We are to remember His death. There is bread that represents His body. There is the fruit of the vine which represents His blood. Jesus instituted this meal just before He was to die, giving Himself as a sacrifice for sinners. But that would not be the end. Jesus would rise from the dead on the third day. At that time the disciples did not fully understand these things. But when the Church comes to this Table and remembers Christ we are looking back on His death and His resurrection. We are not just remembering a dead Jesus because Jesus is not dead. This is not the Table of a dead martyr or hero. Neither do we remember Jesus as we would remember a loved one or friend who has died. When we remember Jesus we are remembering a living person who is a constant presence with us.
How do we remember a living person and Presence?
Our remembrance of Jesus is joyful and hopeful.
The Lord’s Table is a serious occasion but not a sorrowful one. We are not here to mourn for Jesus but to remember Him. When we remember someone we love who has died we are sorrowful because we are separated from their presence. But this is not the case with the Lord Jesus. We are always in His presence. He is here with us at this Table, though we cannot see Him physically.
We must not only remember how Jesus died but why He died. He died so that we could be forgiven. And we are here to remember that we ARE forgiven. This is not a time to mourn for our sins but to remember our salvation and to be glad. Not only do we look back at His death but we also look forward to His coming again. There is hope at this table. We come around this Table until He comes again. Did He not promise that He would come again?
He is present with us now, but not physically. However, we look forward to being in His presence physically and for eternity. That is the hope of glory. If we do not have this joy and this hope at the Table then we are not remembering Jesus properly.
Our remembrance of Jesus is personal and experiential.
We do not remember Jesus as we might remember some historical figure. We might remember some great person and their deeds and gain much inspiration from those thoughts. But this is not how we remember Jesus. Remembering some historical figure may have an impact on my life in some way, but it may not. There are certain people I can easily forget and not be the worse for it. But this is not true of Jesus. Remembering Jesus is not an optional exercise. He is not someone I can forget and still be a fine person. We need Jesus like we need no one else. We forget Jesus at our peril. What Jesus did is more relevant for us than anything else that has ever been done upon the earth by any man.
So when we remember Jesus we are not just remembering certain facts in some cold, detached manner. We are remembering what He did for each one of us. This is personal. He is our Savior and Lord. So if you can remember Jesus without any personal feelings for Him, as if this is just some mechanical ritual, then you are not remembering Jesus. Could you think about a close friend, loved one, or your spouse in such a manner? When we think of those we love we have them in our hearts and not just in our minds. This is also how we are to remember Jesus.
For those who love Him Jesus is not just someone who lived and died 2,000 years ago. We are remembering our Lord, Savior, Friend, and Bridegroom. He is with us every day and not just at this Table. So He is no stranger to us because we walk with Him and talk with Him every moment of our lives. Our communion with the Lord is perhaps more poignant at this moment when we are around the Lord’s Table. But our communion with the Lord does not end when we leave this Table.
Our remembrance of Jesus is communal and beneficial.
At this Table we should always say “we” and not just “me.” Our fellowship with Christ is personal, but it is not only personal. My relationship with Christ includes His Body. It would not be inappropriate to remember Christ on our own, but that is really not the intention of this Table. This Table is meant to be for us together and not for us separately. We have perhaps placed too much emphasis on a personal, private relationship with Jesus and not enough on our relationship with the Body of Christ. You can’t belong to Jesus and not be a part of His Body. We are connected to one another.
We remember Him together and this remembrance is the secret of all Christian unity. If this Table does not make us one then we are not one and can never be. If there are divisions in the Church it makes this Table a hypocritical mockery. Not only are we connected to one another here in this place where we are meeting now, but we are connected to all believers everywhere, even those who are now in the presence of the Lord in heaven. We must never think that we are the only ones who are in communion with Jesus. There are many who eat at this Table, even those we do not know and will never meet in this world. We are part of something much bigger than ourselves and our little group that meets here in this place.
One of the greatest benefits of remembering Jesus is that we are not focusing on ourselves. Nothing is more beneficial than having more of Jesus in our thoughts and in our hearts and less of ourselves, our feelings, and our needs. This Table is a place to die to self and put Jesus at the center of our lives and our fellowship. Jesus is not just to be a PART of our lives and our Church, He is to BE our life. He IS our food and drink. He is absolutely essential to us, like our daily food is to the physical body. Remembering Him is our greatest benefit and highest good.
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