Remembering Jesus

The Gospel of Mark records this about the “Lord’s Supper”….

And as they were eating, he took bread, and when he had blessed, he broke it, and gave to them, and said, Take ye: this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Verily I say unto you, I shall no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Here we find the basis for the Lord’s Supper that we take when we assemble on Sundays. It is marvelous in its simplicity… the bread represents the body of Jesus the cup his blood that establishes his covenant. From other texts we find out about when and where we take it… On Sundays and when the people of Christ are assembled together. The supper is taken weekly to remind us of Jesus Christ. In addition, from 1 Corinthians we learn it can be done properly or improperly.

I was baptized into Christ when I was about 14 years old. Since that time I’ll bet that I haven’t missed but a handful of Sunday morning services and therefore haven’t missed the Lord’s Supper more than about a handful of times. It is deeply ingrained in me to not only take the Lord’s Supper but to remember Jesus while doing so. I have “remembered Jesus” most of my life.

Something else has happened to me over the years. Whenever (not only on Sundays) I eat unleavened bread or drink grape juice I remember Jesus. I don’t know if that is an intended consequence of Jesus’ instruction or an unintended consequence and I guess it doesn’t matter… I find myself remembering Jesus all the time.

Jesus understood this about his people… they could forget about him, and so he set several things in place so that would not happen. One of those things was associating a type of food (bread) for his body and a type of drink (fruit of the vine) for his blood… the Lord’s Supper. Do not neglect this valuable and powerful tool by neglecting to assemble with your fellow Christians.