Friday - Do this in remembrance of me

Prayer:  May we follow You,  O Lord our God,  this day and our whole lives.   You have blessed us with eternal life and for this and all Your gifts to us,  we give You thanks.  May the Son and the Holy Spirit rule and direct our hearts to always seeking You,  O Lord our God.  Amen.

 

Read St. Luke 22: 14 – 19

 

When the hour had come,  Jesus sat down with all the disciples and said how much he was looking forward to celebrating the Passover meal before he entered his time of suffering – this is the last time to celebrate the Passover meal together until the kingdom of God.

 

Wow.  What a statement.    What must the disciples have thought?  Confusion?  Shock?  Bewilderment?    The disciples knew that Jesus was saying a gentle good-bye to them but like all of us,  we never want to say good-bye.

 

Then Jesus took the cup and blessed it.  Jesus said, “Take this and pass it among you…..”    Jesus then took the break,  gave thanks broke it and gave it to the disciples saying, “This is my body given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me” 

 

Do this in remembrance of me.    Many of our Church Communion tables have these words engraved on the table…. Do this in remembrance of me.   We read this message on most Communion tables and don’t let the words really sink in.    

 

Do this in remembrance of me.       By celebrating communion,  we remember Christ’s sacrifice and gift for us – eternal life.  Yet the word used for “remembrance” is not defined  as a memorial but  as present life here and now.   Remember Jesus here and now.

For the disciples,  this phrase made sense.  The Passover meal was not only a way to remember that God saved the Hebrew sons in Egypt but also a concrete way for each of them to celebrate the action of God within their lives now and at this very moment.

 

How do we look at the phrase “do this in remembrance of me”?   Do we understand the phrase to be just the story of Jesus and the disciples in the Upper Room?  Or do we understand the phrase to be Christ within our very lives here and now?

 

Do this in remembrance of me.  

 

Prayer:  Jesus our Redeemer and bearer of our  Salvation,  we thank You that You have given to us the example of remembering Your gift to us not only in the past but also in our present lives and in the future.   You are with us in all that we do.  May we go forth today knowing that You give us life eternal.  Amen.