A Time of Remembrance of Our Lord

Introduction

Jesus knew that the time of his ministry on earth was rapidly drawing to a close. Being aware of the major part he was soon to play in God’s plan for mankind, he undoubtedly had many things on his mind. As might be expected from his character, one of those things was the well-being of those he considered his friends and his brethren after his death. He knew that his disciples would need to carry on his work in his absence. He further knew that the work would span beyond his disciples’ lifetimes and into the generations to come. Remembering and understanding the sacrifice he was soon to make on behalf of both those who, like him, had dedicated their lives to God’s service, as well as, on a different level, on behalf of all mankind would be of critical importance to those who would come after him. Among perhaps other reasons, in order to facilitate this understanding and remembrance, Jesus instituted a memorial observance of his sacrifice, and commanded his followers to keep this observance.

The institution of this memorial is found in several of the Gospel books of the New Testament, including Matthew 26, Mark 14 and Luke 22. Each of these accounts describe how, in his final few days, Jesus gathered together with those he considered closest to him to keep the Jewish observance of the Passover. During their Passover observance, Jesus took the opportunity to institute a new observance; one appropriate for all believers in him, both Jew and Gentile. Although each account of Jesus’ institution of this memorial brings its own details, this study focuses on the Luke account in order to examine the time surrounding Jesus’ institution of his memorial remembrance, the remembrance ceremony itself, and some thoughts regarding the memorial.

Sharing the Passover

Luke chapter twenty-two opens with a rather sobering statement. During his ministry to the Jewish people, Jesus had been openly critical about the hypocrisy he saw among the religious leaders of the time. An increasing number of the  Jewish people, and Gentile people as well, were listening to Jesus’ word and teachings. Moreover, some were proclaiming Jesus to be the long-awaited Messiah that God had been promising for centuries. Instead of considering the merit of his criticisms or opening their hearts and minds to the possibility that he actually was the Messiah, many of the religious leadership instead considered Jesus a threat to the positions they held. These positions enabled them a significant power over the people, and they were unwilling to see that power and respect questioned. This feeling of resentment and fear was only strengthened by Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem some short time earlier in the manner which the prophecies stated the future Messiah would arrive (Zechariah 9:9, Luke 19:29-38, Matthew 21:1-11).

The first two verses of Luke chapter twenty-two reveals two important pieces of context. First, verse one describes the time of year in which the chapter opens, which is the time of the Jewish observation of the Passover. Second, verse two makes the intentions of many of the religious leadership toward Jesus clear:

Luke 22:1 Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.
Luke 22:2 And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.

Jesus was no doubt aware of the resentment he incurred from the religious leadership described in verse two as the “chief priests and scribes”. This awareness may have contributed to Jesus’ understanding that the time of his ministry was drawing short. However, as Luke 22 continues, we find Jesus’ thoughts turning to the Passover observance that was soon coming. Jesus, being a Jew himself, understood the importance and responsibility of keeping all aspects of the laws that governed the Jewish people. Additionally, Jesus’ disciples were also Jewish. One of the major observances expected of the Jewish people was the observance of the Passover.

The History of the Passover

The descendants of Israel are cited by the Bible as being God’s chosen people. This favor originates from God’s promises to Abraham resulting from his faithful service to God (Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 13:14-17, Genesis 15:1-6, Genesis 22:15-18). God repeated these promises to Abraham’s son, Isaac (Genesis 26:1-6), and again to Isaac’s son, Jacob (Genesis 28:10-16). God ultimately changed Jacob’s name to Israel (Genesis 35:10) and eventually, the nation which developed from Israel’s descendants became labeled with Israel’s name.

Although God had promised a specific land to Israel, their journey to occupying that land was not straightforward. During a time of great famine, Israel’s household moved into the land of Egypt. While there, they greatly multiplied in number over the generations. However, they also became more and more oppressed by the Egyptian people to the point that God decided it was time for Israel’s descendants to leave Egypt and journey toward the land he had promised them (Exodus 3:7-10).

A problem arose with this plan, however. As stated previously, over the decades that they had been living in Egypt, the descendants of Israel had become oppressed by the Egyptian nation, but they also became integral to the Egyptian culture and economy. The leadership of the Egyptian nation, whose leader, Pharaoh, served as the head, was not prepared to see a such a significant segment of the nation’s population simply depart Egypt. As a result, God permitted a series of nine plagues to fall upon Egypt. During each plague, Pharaoh agreed to allow the descendants of Israel to leave Egypt. After each agreement, God allowed the current plague to cease. Once the plague had ceased, Pharaoh consistently recanted his decision to allow the descendants of Israel to leave Egypt. Due to this stubbornness, God declared that one final plague would fall upon Egypt.

The details of the plague, described in Exodus chapter eleven, are heartbreaking to consider. At midnight on a certain date, all the firstborn in Egypt would die. Exodus 11:7-8 record that the descendants of Israel, however, would be spared from this plague. In Exodus chapter twelve, God delivered a detailed list of instructions to the descendants of Israel. Each household was to find a lamb “without blemish” (verse 5), kill the lamb in the evening (verse 6), sprinkle the lamb’s blood on the door posts of the household (verse 7), then eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (verse 8).

Keeping these instructions spared the descendants of Israel from the effects of this final terrible plague. In a very real sense, the keeping of the instructions, involving the death of the lamb and the application of its blood, caused death to “pass over” the households of the descendants of Israel. Verses 14-20 record God’s further instructions to the descendants of Israel that they were to institute a memorial of this “pass over” throughout their subsequent generations. This memorial became known to the Jewish people as the Passover.

Thus it was that centuries later, Jesus and his disciples, being descendants of Israel, found themselves, at the specified time of year, preparing to keep the Passover remembrance as God had instructed many generations previously.

Our Lord’s Memorial Instituted

Returning to the events in Luke chapter twenty-two, the day of the Passover observance was approaching. Jesus instructed his disciples to find a venue in which they might keep the Passover observance:

Luke 22:7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.
Luke 22:8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.

A room was quickly secured, and when the proper time for the observance had arrived, Jesus and his disciples went to the room, and began the Passover observance:

Luke 22:13 And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.
Luke 22:14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.
Luke 22:15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
Luke 22:16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

Although probably not fully understood by the apostles at the time, Jesus’ words indicate that he was aware that his time on earth was growing short. Jesus knew the exact date that he expected to be put to death, and even shared this knowledge earlier with his disciples (Matthew 26:1-2). Jesus also knew that one of his very apostles was going to betray him, and he informed his disciples of that, too (Matthew 26:21). Earlier verses in Luke record the dealings of one of Jesus’ apostles, Judas, with the very contingent of people who sought his master’s death. Through his ability to read people’s hearts, if nothing else, Jesus was well aware of Judas’ intentions. However, Jesus’ understanding of his critical place in God’s plan caused him to allow the events to unfold unchallenged. He knew that this was the last Passover observance he would participate in before his death. He further knew that although any death is difficult, his would most likely be exceptionally difficult, as hinted at in his words in verse 15.

Jesus’ words in verse 16 also make clear that Jesus knew that even though his death in human form would soon arrive, there would be a future in the fullness of God’s plan. In harmony with this thought, verse 15 expresses Jesus’ desire to share this last Passover with his apostles. There are many facets to this thought. Consider a time in your life when you knew of an upcoming important event, the success or failure of which, to a large or even sole extent relied on you. As the day of that event approached, consider your anticipation of that event grows; the desire to execute what was expected of you, and hopefully prove yourself worthy of the work entrusted to you, and to successfully discharge your responsibilities. Jesus understood his Father’s plan well enough to understand that in the coming hours, his actions would have a profound and everlasting impact upon all mankind; past, present or future. These thoughts may have contributed to Jesus’ desire to share this particular Passover ceremony with those he considered closest to him.

Toward the end of the Passover observance, Jesus also instituted a simple memorial service which he commanded his followers to perform, in remembrance of him and the coming sacrifice he would soon make:

Luke 22:17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luke 22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luke 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Jesus – The Lamb of God

Some people, things, or events recorded in the Bible serve as pictures of later, and often larger concepts. These pictures are often referred to as “types”. The larger concept depicted by a “type” is often referred to as an “anti-type”. There are many scriptures that link Jesus to being the type of the Passover lamb. From this perspective, Jesus is often referred to as “the anti-typical lamb”.

To understand this concept a little better, consider the declaration of John the Baptist, when he witnessed Jesus stepping forward to be baptized:

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Here, John refers to Jesus as “the Lamb of God”. He also refers to Jesus’ ability to “take away the sin of the world.” Just as the death of the Passover lamb provided the households of Israel with a means to escape the condemnation of death, Jesus’ willing sacrifice and death provided an escape from a wider condemnation of death, shared across the entirety of mankind. This concept will be examined in greater detail when the particulars of both the bread and the cup, used by Jesus as he instituted his memorial, are considered.

The Apostle Paul makes this link between Jesus and the Passover lamb explicitly clear in his letter to the church at Corinth:

I Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Why The Time of the Passover is Appropriate for the Lord’s Memorial

The command to keep the Passover observance was given by God to the descendants of Israel alone, as examined earlier. It would not be appropriate for any non-Jewish person, any Gentile, to attempt to also keep the Passover observance. Why, then, is the Passover time an appropriate time for all who wish to remember Jesus and his sacrifice to keep the memorial remembrance as he instructed?

As has been suggested, Jesus was the “anti-typical Passover lamb”. As will soon be examined in much greater detail, his death provided mankind with a deliverance from death. From this perspective, keeping our Lord’s memorial remembrance during the time of the Passover calls this thought to mind and brings with it an appreciation of the magnitude of our Lord’s great sacrifice. To a lesser degree, keeping our Lord’s memorial during the Passover season also reflects the exact point in time, when so many hundreds of years ago, Jesus gathered with his disciples to keep the Passover observance, after which Jesus instituted his memorial. Although every day is appropriate to reflect on Jesus and his sacrifice on our behalf, the keeping of the sober and solemn memorial service once a year, reflecting the time when he instituted it, seems appropriate.

The Significance of the Bread and the Cup

Jesus made a particular point to call out two specific actions which he commanded his disciples to follow during the new memorial he was instituting. The first action involved bread, and the thoughts that were to accompany that bread:

Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

The broken bread represents the human body that Jesus would soon sacrifice on behalf of mankind.  Similarly, Jesus also took a cup of wine, and instructed his apostles to perform a similar act of remembrance:

Luke 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

The apostles who were in attendance no doubt only vaguely understood the significance of Jesus’ words and the symbols he was instituting. Through God’s grace and the subsequent clarifications provided by the scriptures, the followers of God living today are privileged to understand the significance of these symbols much more clearly. As examined earlier, the scriptures refer to Jesus as the “lamb of God” in many places. The concept of the blood of a lamb delivering a household from death was laid out in the original Passover, as a picture of the far greater aspect of God’s plan for mankind concerning Jesus and his sacrifice, and the ability to save mankind from a wider sentence of death. The scriptures break this greater aspect of Jesus’ sacrifice into two separate yet important categories.

To understand the first category of this greater picture of the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice requires one’s thoughts to refocus back to the very beginning of mankind. Genesis chapters two and three record how the first man and first woman, Adam and Eve, were created in perfection, but also with free will. This state of perfection and continued life was contingent upon their obedience to God’s commandment not to eat from a specific tree. Through disobedience, Adam and Eve lost their state of perfection, and the promised penalty of death was applied not only to them, but upon all their descendants down through the ages. This concept is lost on the majority of mankind, but the lack of understanding does not diminish the impact of the sentence. Through disobedience, which also may be referred to as sin, Adam set the scales of God’s justice regarding mankind out of balance. To set the scales back into balance would require the life of another perfect man.

The book of Leviticus chronicles God’s deliverance of a series of laws and sacrifices to the descendants of Israel that, if kept perfectly in deed and spirit, would earn the keeper a right to life in view of God’s justice (Leviticus 18:4-5). Jesus was known to be “obedient unto death” (Philippians 2:8), and by doing so, did earn the right to life. In allowing himself to be captured and put to death by those who considered themselves his enemies, Jesus provided that balance to God’s justice. This simple yet profound equation is referred by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians:

I Corinthians 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
I Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Here, Paul refers to this concept in a very straightforward fashion. Both verses 21 and 22 point to the consequence of death being caused by Adam’s original disobedience and sin. The verses also refer to the recovery from this sentence of death; the recovery originating with Jesus’ voluntary sacrifice of his life, which was his right to keep through his perfect obedience to God’s law. This sacrifice, as pictured in the cup and in the bread, makes it possible for the long imposed death sentence against mankind to be lifted. Just as the death sentence was applied to all mankind from Adam and Eve forward, so does the reprieve from that sentence apply to all mankind; hence Paul’s words in verse 22, that “all [shall] be made alive”.

However, Jesus died hundreds of years ago, and yet, painfully, people continue to die. Even more, there seems to be no evidence of people recovering from the condition of death. If this wonderful thought of restitution is true, why hasn’t it happened?

The answer to that question is the second category of the aspect to God’s plan that was made possible by Jesus’ sacrifice. A number of scriptures, particularly in the New Testament, refer to the calling out of a small number of mankind who would seek to serve God with the same dedication and commitment that Jesus showed. During his ministry, prior to his death, Jesus sought individuals from the Jewish people, the descendants of Israel, who met this criteria. He referred to this small number as “the little flock” (Luke 12:32-40). This commitment required that the individual would dedicate, or consecrate their lives to God and follow Jesus’ example of service to God as a pattern by which to live their lives. Jesus made the qualifications for inclusion in this small group plainly clear:

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Matthew 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Matthew 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Later, this calling of dedication to God would be extended to include not just the Jewish people, but the Gentile people, who were not descended from Israel, as well (Acts 10). This calling to God is a more difficult path, a “narrower” way (Matthew 7:13), however, the reward for faithfully maintaining a life of consecration is also higher than the general restitution that will, in the fullness of God’s plan, be available to all mankind. The reward is described, among other places, in II Peter chapter one:

II Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
II Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

This, then is the answer to the question posed earlier. Before the general restitution of mankind can begin, this secondary class of consecrated individuals, the “little flock”, also referred to as “the church class” (Colossians 1:18) must be completed. This concept is outlined by Paul in Romans chapter 8:

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

When Jesus instituted the memorial observation, he asked for his followers to break bread, which symbolizes his own perfect human body, broken and willingly sacrificed for both those who would seek to be members of the “little flock”, as well as on behalf of all mankind in general. Likewise, the cup symbolizes Jesus’ blood which he allowed to be spilt in order to facilitate the next great chapter in God’s plan for mankind. Recall the blood of the Passover lamb that was sprinkled over the households of the descendants of Israel, and how that blood delivered their precious ones from a certain death. In a similar fashion, the blood that Jesus shed on mankind’s behalf also saves mankind from a similar fate of certain death. Without Jesus’ sacrifice, mankind would still be under the sentence of death and neither the higher calling to the salvation of prospective membership in the “church class” through a life of consecration to God nor the future general calling to the restitution of all mankind from death would be possible.

Some Thoughts on What the Memorial Means to Us Today

Throughout the ages, the simple truth of Jesus’ sacrifice and its significance and relevance to mankind has, by many, been confused, misinterpreted, forgotten or simply unknown. For those who are blessed with the understanding of that sacrifice, the memorial observance serves as a time to reflect upon the sacrifice of our Lord and all that he endured and suffered on our behalf. It is also a time to reflect on our own vows of consecration to God’s service, if we have been called forth to make such a consecration and accepted that call. Jesus sacrificed much not only in his death, but over the course of his life. He had one purpose that overrode all else – to serve his Father and to do His will by faithfully executing his portion in God’s plan. The vows made by the potential members of the “little flock” are also vows made to be kept until death. The memorial observance is thus an appropriate time for a sober and sincere examination of the progress that has been made toward keeping one’s vows of consecration, and a time to redouble one’s commitments toward following the example left to us by our Master.

Further Readings and References

• For further thoughts on our Lord’s memorial, the following resources may be of interest:
  • The Dawn Bible Students Association has compiled a booklet covering many of the topics covered in this study in more detail. This booklet may be downloaded, free of charge, from the Dawn’s website
  • The Dawn Bible Students Association has collected several recorded discourses regarding thoughts on the memorial. These discourses are available for download, free of charge, from the Dawn’s website
• This study on our Lord’s memorial referred to God’s plan for mankind. The booklet, God’s Grand Plan of the Ages provides a wonderful, illustrated overview of God’s plan for mankind. This booklet is available for download, free of charge, from the Chicago Bible Students’ online bookstore
• For a more scholarly and thorough study on God’s plan for mankind, the resource The Divine Plan of the Ages, also available for download free of charge, reviews God’s plan as revealed through the Bible.