In Remembrance of Me

Luke 22:14–20 NASB95

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; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 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.” 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.

Intro: Today is a special day in the life of LRBC. We have paid tribute to members who have gone on to be with the Lord, we’ve had some great worship through song, and now we have the opportunity to hear from God through His Word.

Now, before we begin, I want to ensure that everyone has received the elements to partake of the Lord’s Supper. It’s a bit different today, but we felt the need to take extra precautions for safety amidst the Coronavirus. If you have not received one, please lift up your hand so we can be sure to get one to you.

Now, if you’ve been at Little River any length of time, you know that we have spent a decent amount of time talking about and partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Today, we are going to spend time digging into what Jesus meant when He said “Do this in remembrance of Me.”

Discuss: What did Jesus mean when He said, “Do this in remembrance of Me”?

First, I think that we must distinguish Jesus’ remarks against what we might tend to insert here. When we remember someone, we are often thinking of how they looked, what kind of work they did, maybe their personality or their family. We miss them and we want to remember them.

Jesus is giving this statement NOT to say “guys, I really want to know that I’ll be missed.”

No, instead I believe that we can break down Jesus’ statement on remembrance to 3 areas. My goal is to walk through these areas of remembrance and apply these truths to LRBC as we celebrate the past and look ahead to the future.

Remember WHO Jesus is (16, 18)

Certainly Jesus is making the statement that He will enter into God’s Kingdom and we know that He entered to sit at the right hand of the Father. (Mark 16:19)

Jesus is Lord! He is the Son of God- the Almighty. HE, who was in the beginning, the second person in the Trinity, by whom all things were created and by which all things are held together.

Jesus was assuring His disciples that no matter what they faced, He is Lord. Nothing would change that- no matter what they witnessed or experienced. Jesus established the church. He is the head of the church, the church is His bride.

That means that today we can celebrate because our Lord still reigns! We don’t gather each week because we have some good ideas or even some fun events. No, we gather each week because our focus and our attention is Jesus Christ.

Sometimes I think Christians forget that we are here to worship God, not have our personal cravings met. Church, we must remember that we are only here because of Jesus.

Discuss: Who is Jesus?

Remember WHAT Jesus did (19b)

Jesus said, “This is my body which is given for you”

Of course, we think back upon how Jesus took on that fleshly body, humbling himself in order to come to us. We could think of the glory that He laid aside just so we could hear His teaching. We could think of the years Jesus spent pouring into the disciples up until this moment. I am sure the disciples were looking back on their time with Jesus, the Master Teacher who gave them authority to heal and cast out demons. They no doubt recalled the miracles of feeding the multitudes and calming the storm.

But perhaps the implication was more of a focus on the sacrifice that Jesus would make upon the cross. Remember that He said in v. 14- “I longed to do this before I suffer” Jesus knew what was coming. He knew the cost and yet He took the penalty that you and I deserved. He gave His life a ransom so that you and I might be absolved from our debt. As Paul said,

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21)

Jesus gave Himself for us that we could be free from the snares and penalty of sin.

Church, Don’t forget! Don’t get so tied up in being religious that you forget that the sins of the world were placed upon Christ! Don’t get caught up making enemies of those whom you are called to preach the gospel to. Jesus paid the price- we call it substitutionary atonement… one sacrifice for all time.

Discuss: What does it mean that Jesus’ body is “given for you”?

Remember what He did.

Finally,

Remember WHY Jesus came (20)

Jesus said that His blood would form a new covenant. This means that not only did He take the penalty, but He made a promise. Through His blood, we can be redeemed.

Jesus told His followers that He came to seek and to save the lost. His blood ensures that ALL those who have been called by God- who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ WILL be saved!

Listen, Jesus didn’t come because we were fine on our own. He didn’t come just to teach us some rules or help us to be “good people.” Jesus came because we are sinners. Man is completely depraved! Look, if there was any other way that man could be saved, then Jesus would not have come. BUT, Jesus is THE WAY. The ONLY way!

We sing the song, “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

But if we aren’t careful, we forget that too. Jesus said, remember ME. Remember that in ME there is hope! In ME there is forgiveness! In ME there is a promise of new life!

The disciples gathered with Jesus to take of this Lord’s Supper not understanding what all would take place in the coming days or years. But when Jesus said to take this in remembrance of Me, He was pointing them ahead, not backwards.

The apostles would need to remember what Jesus had called them to in light of WHO HE is and WHAT He did, and WHY He came. It was this remembrance that their faith was made strong. They remembered Jesus’ words about suffering, dying, and raising again. They remembered His mission to save the lost. They remembered that Jesus established the church, and they boldly went about the work that God called them to.

Today, we celebrate 182 years of history at LRBC. God has done wondrous things in this church and community and He is not done yet. So, before we walk out of this building, let us remember WHO our Lord is. HE ALONE is worthy of our worship. HE has given us the Gospel- paid in full our sin debt so that we might take the Good News to the ends of the earth.

Discuss: What do you see Jesus’ mission for the church to be? How do you fit in?

As we ready our juice and wafer, let us also ready our hearts as we prepare to observe the Lord’s Supper. Let me express that this is a sacrament of our Lord’s Church- we do not require you to be a member of Little River to partake, but we do ask that you only take part if you have given your life to Jesus in repentance and surrender, have been baptized by immersion, and have confessed your known sins to God.

So, let’s join in prayer and reflection.

PRAY - prepare hearts for

(SONG)

Take elements:

Luke 22:19 NASB95

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.”

Luke 22:20 NASB95

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.

I want to invite you to join us in song as we close our time today.