Do This In Remembrance of Me

Hi, this is the Hymn We Proclaim podcast, The Messages of John Fawnville. You're listening to season five called Two Keys to Spiritual Growth. Here's John with message number six, called Do This in Remembrance of Me.

Well great, well take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22. And we're just going to take a look at verse 19 this morning, but let's just read verses 19 and 20 together, Luke chapter 22, and read verses 19 and 20. And so this is what Jesus says to us from the Gospel of Luke. Verse 19, and when he had taken some bread and given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. Verse 20. And in the same way, he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

So, on the eve before Jesus' death on the cross, he institutes a special meal for his church to continually observe. And Luke tells us here that while Jesus is reclining at the table with his apostles, He had taken some bread and he had given thanks, and he broke it, and he gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. And this is what I want us to look at today. Do this in remembrance of me. So, to have a better understanding of this special meal that Jesus has given to us.

We need to understand what Jesus meant. By his command to repeat the celebration of this meal until he comes again. He says, Do this continually in remembrance of me.

Now many Christians, which is how I grew up, Many Christians have taken Jesus' command to mean this: is that during communion we are to do our best to remember, to recollect the story of Christ's death.

Now, to be sure, there is a memorial aspect to this meal because Jesus just said, Do this in remembrance of me.

So, remembering the past work of Christ, obviously the gospel, is a good thing, right? We're to preach the gospel to ourselves. We're to remember the gospel, so it's a good thing. But did Jesus simply intend to say by this command, did he mean to say, Do this meal, celebrate this meal. in order to be reminded of me.

Is the Lord's Supper merely a time when we gather in worship to remember what Christ did for us 2,000 years ago? How are we to understand Jesus' command? Because this is a command in the original, it's a command, do this. How are we to understand this command that Jesus gives to us: do this in remembrance of me? What is the significance of remembering when we observe this?

meal that Jesus has given to us.

So, that's what I want us to look at today.

So, to understand Jesus' command, we have to note the context in which he gives it. And Luke teaches us that this institution that Jesus gives to us at this special mill. It's not to be understood as an entirely new independent act of God. Like all of a sudden, Jesus goes. You know what, here's a good idea.

Let me just come up with this meal that I'm going to give to everybody.

So we need to understand that in the context, this is not an entirely new and independent act by Jesus. The institution of this meal can only be understood in its most profound sense. in the context of the Old Testament. Not only the context of the Old Testament, but especially, specifically, the celebration of the Passover.

So I want you to first of all, we're just going to look at the Old Testament some this morning. And I want you to first of all see that this memorial language, this language of remembering. This was not uncommon in the Old Testament. This memorial language is found in the book of Leviticus. I know you love to read the book of Leviticus, so I want you to turn there.

And since you've been doing so many daily devotions there, it's just going to open up, right? It's those pages where you have to actually peel them apart because you've never been there for or you haven't been there for a while or maybe never. But turn to Leviticus chapter 2, blow off the dust. It's like that path for you. Leviticus chapter 2.

Now here in Leviticus chapter 2. We find memorial language in contexts relating to the people of God who are worshiping at the temple. And so in Leviticus chapter 2, verses 1 through 16, here's just one example. The Lord sets forth the laws for the grain offering in the temple.

Now look at chapter 2 verse 2. He says, He shall then bring it to Aaron's sons the priest, and shall take from it his handful of his fine flour and of his oil with all of his frankincense. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke as its memorial portion on the altar. An offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord. Look at verse 9.

The priest shall then take up from the grain offering its memorial portion. And shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Now look at verse 16. He says, the priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion. Part of its grits and its oil with all its incense as an offering by fire to the Lord.

So here, this grain offering that the worshipper coming to the temple in the Old Testament during the Old Covenant. As they were coming to worship, they were offering up a part of their grain offering which was called the memorial portion. And so the Lord instructs the priest to To burn a handful of this grain offering, he says in verse 2, as a memorial portion to the Lord.

Now this is really important because the language of remembrance, this language of memorial, is used in the Old Testament to refer to the Lord's favor. Listen to Psalm chapter 8, verse 4. The psalmist prays this. He says, What is man that you take thought of him? Literally in the Hebrew is, what is man that you remember him?

What is man that ye remember him? And the Son of Man that you killed. Hair. For him. And so, this memorial portion of the grain offering would have served the worshipper, this Israelite worshiper, when he was going to the temple.

This memorial portion of this grain offering would have served as a way of asking the Lord to remember him, to remember her. With favor. As they were making their requests, as they were coming to worship in the temple, Lord, remember me in favor. And so typically, it was not the Israelite worshiper who was remembering in the temple. It was God who was remembering.

Listen to Numbers chapter 10 verse 10. The Lord says to the Israelites, On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feast, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifice of your peace offerings. And listen, and the burnt offerings and sacrifice of peace offerings shall be a reminder of you. Before your God. I am the Lord your God.

They were reminders to God of us. And so these covenant signs of faithfulness are all over the scriptures.

So, second, when we see in the Old Testament scripture speaking about God remembering, because all over it says God remembered, God remembered. We need to understand this is covenantal language. In the context of the Lord's covenant faithfulness to his people, he would often give them signs. that didn't just serve as reminders for them, but for him. Let me give you a perfect example.

You all know this, and you've all seen it because we live close to the ocean, so you've gone out to the ocean, and you've seen what? You've seen a rainbow, right?

So, in the Moaic covenant, God consecrates the natural sign of a rainbow, and He takes upon Himself the curses. if he violates his promise.

So the rainbow was the sacrament of the Nalaic covenant, and the rainbow is an assurance to us. Because it is first of all God's act of remembering his promise to us in the covenant. What was this promise? Turn over to Genesis chapter 9. And let's look at verses fourteen through seventeen.

Genesis chapter 9, verses 14 through 17. Listen to what the Lord promises. He says, when I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow is seen in the clouds. Look, I will remember my covenant. You see that?

I will remember my covenant that is between me and you, and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it. Look, I will see it and remember. What will he remember? I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.

God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth. And so the rainbow serves as a covenant sign that displays front and center God's promise to never flood the earth again. God says that he sees the sign, he sees the rainbow, and that sign reminds him, he remembers his covenant promise. Listen, I will see it. And remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.

God's remembering is his covenant faithfulness. It is his steadfast love, Psalm 100, that endures forever. He makes a promise and he is faithful to keep it forever. He upholds his covenant promise to us. What does this mean?

God remembers. Listen carefully. God remembers when he sees the sign of the rainbow. I will look upon them with favor, not judgment. And so the Lord looking upon his favor, looking upon his people with favor rather than judgment, is clearly displayed in the Passover.

So let's look at the Passover back in Luke chapter 22. Turn back there. Luke chapter 22, when Jesus institutes the supper. He institutes it within the framework of Passover. Look at verse 7.

Luke 22 verse 7, then came the first day of unleavened bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And Jesus sent Peter and John saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us so that we may eat it. When the hour had come, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him, and he said to them. I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

Now listen carefully. Just like the memorial offerings in the temple. Just like the rainbow in the Noahic covenant. The blood of the Passover Lamb involved God's remembering of his promise to spare the firstborn of the Israelites. from the angel of death.

Who swept through the land of Egypt, killing all the firstborn of the Egyptians?

So when the angel of death swept through Egypt and the angel of death, listen, sees the sign of the blood of the lamb on the two doorposts. God's servant remembers. To pass over the firstborn of every Israelite household when he sees the sign. Listen to Exodus chapter 12, verses 12 through 13. The Lord says this, he says, For I will pass through the land of Egypt at night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments.

He says, I am the Lord. Listen, the blood shall be a sign for you. The blood shall be a sign for you. On the houses where you are. And when I see the blood.

I will pass over you. And no plague will befall you to destroy you. When I strike the land of Egypt. And then listen to what God does after He institutes this Passover. Verse 14, He commands the people of God to repeat this celebration of the Passover throughout their generations continually.

He says, verse 14: Listen, this day shall be for you a memorial day. This isn't Memorial Day in America. This is God's Memorial Day. And you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.

So, as future generations of Israelite worshipers observed Passover, and as they ate each item of food in the Passover, guess what they were doing? Because all future generations of Israelites were not at the Exodus event, right? One generation was there. But future generations would participate in that exodus event forever. How?

Because as they ate each item of food and celebrated this Passover meal, this feast, they could relive sacramentally the events of deliverance and exodus from Egypt. Listen to what they did. During the meal of unleavened bread, during this meal, unleavened bread is eaten. Why? Because the deliverance is accomplished in haste.

Suddenly, before the dough can rise, an immediate obedience is necessary. Bitter herbs. Why? Because the bondage of Egypt and the bondage of the world and the bondage of sin is bitter and hard. They would eat a mixture of fruits and vinegar, which recalls the mud of Egypt, where Pharaoh told them to make bricks without any supplies.

And then they would eat the lamb that gives its blood to indicate and protect the chosen people of God. And so, this continual keeping, generation after generation, of the Passover feast enabled Israelite worshipers. Two. Relive the deliverance of the people of God. This regular observance of Passover then was more than just a mere remembrance for them.

This continual observance of Passover was a sacramental participation in the saving event of the Exodus for generation after generation. Future generations of Israelite worshipers became contemporaries with their forefathers and were saved with them. There was a mystery in this meal of a telescoping of two periods of history. the present that they were in and the Exodus which was in the past. And so the past event of the Exodus became present.

Each person participating in this And this meal Became a contemporary of the past event of the Exodus. Do you hear this? God said, keep this over and over and over. And so, this Old Testament context, particularly the Passover, is a context in which we have to understand Jesus' command: do this in remembrance of me, because this is exactly where he took this from. Uh Luke is teaching us here in Luke 22 to locate this meal, this supper.

in the Jewish Passover liturgy. In the context of God's remembering His covenant faithfulness to show us favor. And so the parallels of Passover and the Last Supper are obvious that Luke is giving to us here in Luke 22. Let me just show you three ways. that the Passover and the Last Supper are paralleling together.

The first thing that Luke teaches us here about this passage is that Jesus is the fulfillment of Passover. It cannot be denied that Jesus is fulfilling this old covenant feast. Look at Luke 22 verse 14. Luke tells us here, before we look at it, he tells us that there was a definite divine strategy for Jesus instituting the supper on the night of Passover. It wasn't a mistake.

Jesus knew what he was doing. Look at Luke 22 verse 14. It says when the hour had come. What hour? What is Luke talking about?

Well, the hour means verse 15, the hour to celebrate Passover. But if you look at the whole context of the Gospel of Luke and the whole context of the Gospel of John, the Gospels themselves, this broader sense of the hour was Jesus's. suffering his crucifixion. And so the hour, Luke tells us, had come for the firstborn spotless Lamb of God to be delivered over to judgment in the place of sinners. The hour had come.

And what Luke is telling us is that when the Israelites ate the unblemished firstborn male lamb with wine and bread. They were not only celebrating God's act that night of delivering their firstborn children, what they were doing repeatedly, generation after generation, was having held out to them in types and shadows the greater and better substitution to come. Christ. And so the disciples at this point in this context are miles away from having a clue what Jesus was doing. That's comforting.

Instead of sacrificing a lamb and putting its blood on the doorposts and then eating the flesh inside the house, Jesus offers himself up. as the Passover lamb. In fact, the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 7 through 8, he says this. Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are, in fact, unleavened, for Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast.

Those are the words of the liturgy when we come to the Lord's table. Christ. Our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate. The Feast Luke tells us that Jesus is the Passover Lamb who is bringing the ultimate exodus, the ultimate salvation to God's people.

Second, Luke is not only telling us that Jesus is a fulfillment of Passover, but he's telling us that, like Passover, and look what the Lord does. He commands his disciples to repeat the celebration of this special meal forever until he comes again, just like Passover was to be celebrated over and over and over. How could Passover be celebrated forever? Because Jesus fulfills it and continues it in the new covenant. He instructs them, do this continual remembrance of me, to repeat it until the kingdom of God comes in consummation at his second coming.

That's verses 15 through 18. Do this until I come again. But what is interesting to note about this Do this continually in remembrance of me. What is interesting to note is this is that in Bible scholars teach us this is that in Western Greek intellectual thinking When you hear remembering, they say remembering means to recollect. It means to recall to mind something that is no longer a present reality.

Nothing could be further from a Jewish mindset. Nothing could be further about remembering in a Jewish context. In the Jewish Passover liturgy, remembering, listen to what it meant to a Jew, remembering means to participate here and now in certain defining events in the past and also in the future to come. It's exactly what Jesus just said. Just as future generations of Israelite worshipers who by regularly eating and drinking the food of the Passover could participate in the here and now of the saving event of the Exodus from Egypt.

Jesus is saying that we by eating and drinking can participate in the here and now in the saving event of the gospel. We can here and now partake of the unique, perfect, once-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins now. And so, in this continual observance of Holy Communion, the past event of Christ dying for our sins is a present reality now. Corporately, we become contemporaries of the saving event of the gospel as if we were there. And so, like Passover, regular observance of Holy Communion is more than just a mere meal of remembrance.

When we observe communion, it is not primarily a time for our individual subjective ability to remember Jesus' death. It's not simply a commemoration of events that took place 2,000 years ago, and I go, oh, I remember it. Observance of Holy Communion is a sacramental participation in the saving events of Christ here and now. It is, it is, listen, in this special meal, Christ is not only remembered, he is shown, and he is here. Amen.

And saving power. And then third and finally, what Jesus teaches us is that like Passover, Jesus institutes this special meal as a covenant sign. As a covenant sign, look at verse 20 again, Luke 22, verse 20. Look what he calls the cup of the Lord's Supper. He says the cup is the new covenant.

In my blood, it is a covenant sign. The cup is a new covenant in my blood. When Jesus exhorts his disciples to observe this meal for his memorial, it wasn't merely so that they would be reminded of the gospel. It was so that they would represent or convey it through the tangible sign before God. Listen carefully, like that angel of death who saw the sign of the blood of the Lamb on the two doorposts, and when he saw the sign, he passed over every Israelite household.

So God sees the signs of bread and wine. And he passes over us in our sin and takes away judgment and gives us his favor. Jesus remembers us. God the Father in the Son remembers Jesus' saving work on our behalf. Just like the rainbow, which serves as God's covenant sign, God sees the rainbow and he remembers his covenant promise not to bring judgment on the whole earth again, but to spare the whole earth from judgment.

In the same way, Jesus says, God sees the sure signs of bread. This is my body. He sees a sure sign of wine. This is my blood. And he remembers his covenant promise to us.

What is his covenant promise? This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. Thank you, Jesus. Holy communion holds forth to us through the sure signs of bread and wine the faithful memory of God to us who are sinners. God remembers in our favor Christ crucified for our sins, and He passes over us, doesn't give us judgment, but gives us His favor.

And so again, I refer to the letter that I read to you last week because it was so helpful. And I want to remind you of what this individual wrote to me, a member of our church. This is what they wrote. This is not simply a meal of remembrance. That is a truncated and anemic view.

It makes the mistake of thinking that the only active thing that is happening at the Lord's table is us remembering. That we are the sole active participant. On the contrary, the Lord's table is a real, living, active communication of Christ to us by the Holy Spirit. The sacraments were once about me doing something for God, about me seeing how well I could remember him each Sunday. But I have come to realize that this celebration feast is really about God showing me how perfectly he remembers me.

That's wonderful. Would that every single person Person who comes to this church leaves here knowing that even though I can't remember God well enough, oh, He remembers me perfectly in Christ every time. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 26, Paul says that the celebration of the Lord's Supper is a visible proclamation of the gospel. Listen. He says, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim.

When we eat this bread and when we drink this cup, it is a proclamation. What is it proclaiming? You proclaim the Lord's death. Until he comes again. Listen carefully.

wherever the gospel is proclaimed. Christ By the Holy Spirit is present in saving power. for the forgiveness of all your sins. This table is that proclamation to you invisible signs. And God sees it, and God remembers it, and He's faithful to forgive you.

In the preaching of the gospel and in the administration of the sacraments, Christ by the Holy Spirit feeds us with himself. He does not feed us with memories. Listen to that again in the preaching of the gospel and in the administration of the sacraments. Christ by the Holy Spirit feeds us with Himself, not with mere memories. When we gather to do this in remembrance of me, we are proclaiming Christ's death as a memorial before God.

God sees the signs of bread and wine, and He remembers us. He looks upon us with favor. He blesses us. He nourishes us with Christ's body and blood by the Holy Spirit. And so, just as the memorial portion of the grain offering served as the Israelites' worshippers' way of asking the Lord to remember him or her in favor.

So too, the bread and wine in Holy Communion serve as a memorial before God. This special meal, this sacrifice of Jesus 2,000 years ago is being set forth before us now as a memorial before God. This is why we pray in the celebration of Holy Communion, and you'll hear this prayer in just a little bit. Remember, Father. Our Lord's humble birth.

His holy life, His innocent sacrificial sufferings, His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension for us. Faithfully keep your covenant with us for Jesus' sake. That's why we pray this prayer. Remember, in other words, remember the whole Christ and his whole saving work on our behalf and faithfully keep the covenant promise you have promised to make for us in this. Look upon us with favor.

For Christ's sake. And so in Holy Communion, God, listen, God, in Holy Communion, God remembers and we receive. God Remembers his gospel promises to us for the sake of Christ alone. And he sets these promises before us on the table in the signs of bread and wine. And this table is like a neon sign flashing to you.

Good news, good news. God remembers you in favor. Christ's body was given for you. His blood is poured out for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Do this in remembrance of me.

And that's why we do this continually. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you.

That your gospel power and sufficiency doesn't rest on our ability to even remember it perfectly. Because you are saving us by remembering us faithfully, perfectly. Always. What a wonderful and comforting truth that is. And so, as we come to your table this morning, Father, we pray that you would with favor look upon us.

and remember Christ's body and blood shed. for the forgiveness of our sins. We pray all of this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thanks for listening to the Hymn We Proclaim podcast with John Fawnville.

Him we proclaim as a ministry of John Fondill of Paramount Church in Jacksonville, Florida. You can check out his church at Paramountchurch.com. We look forward to next time.