Do This in Remembrance of me
By Rev. Robert P. Elkins
All Scripture verse taken from the NIV Bible unless otherwise noted
Luke 22:14-20
“When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
This sermon brings out the preacher/teacher in me, the calling our Lord has placed on my heart. It is my prayer that after you have read this you have a fuller understanding of not only what the history of this tradition of Communion is, but how it came to be what we celebrate in the church today and why. It is my prayer that this will add a little light to your understanding the questions of “What is communion, what does it mean to us as the body of believers and what does “Do this in remembrance of me” mean? Another question we’ll try to answer today is “what are some of the beliefs that have been passed on to us through the ages over this “Last Supper” observance”.
The Lords supper indeed, that of course is dependent upon what church you are at or what denomination you are attending on any given day for communion, because the name of the celebration can change from church to church. It may be called “The Lord’s Supper”, “The Lord’s Table” or just simply “Communion”. Regardless of what it’s called, it’s a time when the body of Christian believers gather together to not only celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but to commemorate the awesome sacrifice our Lord made by the shedding of his blood and the offering of his body as the last and final sacrifice for all sin. It was through this last and final sacrifice that the requirements for sin were met allowing salvation of the spirit to come to all men and women. Something that prior to this time had been tried over and over again through the keeping of the law and without much success. So Father God in his infinite love for us sent his Son to be the ultimate sacrifice that would be acceptable and worthy in the sight of God. So regardless of the name we use for this celebration meal, the meaning is the same.
Likewise, the elements used in this commemorative act may be called the bread and wine, the communion wafer, or the Eucharist, and again this is dependent upon the church in which you are in attendance at. What I’d like to do today is look at some of the religious rites that surround this Holy celebration. Maybe answer some questions you may have asked in regards to this solemn act of faith and hopefully deepen your faith in what we do and why we do it when we partake in this celebration we call “Communion”.
The word communion with-in our church setting has more that just one meaning. It can mean the consecration of bread and wine, as in our communion service. When we consecrate the elements it means we have set them apart as holy or declare them holy for religious use. This less so in the Protestant church than in the Roman Catholic Church. Although both the Roman Catholic and the Protestant believers look upon the bread and wine as something holy and set apart for our use in worship I feel that the Catholics place a more proper or formal veneration to these items or elements if you will.
Another use of the term “communion” is to have fellowship with one another. Think back to the Apostles Creed, and a little phrase that is found within. When repeating this declaration of faith we say that, “we believe in the communion of saints”. This isn’t talking about the sharing of the bread and wine. This communion is the fellowship of the believers. When we have communion with the other believers we acknowledge that this gathering, this fellowship is special, that this communion is of a deeper understanding or a more intimate relationship with another person or persons. Whether you realize it or not, many of us have communion with each other every Sunday when they attend Sunday school. We are having communion when we are sharing ideas, thoughts and emotions with each other.
To begin with, the elements of bread and wine are of most interest. Have you ever wondered why Jesus used these two items to portray his body and blood to the people? Scripture doesn’t say this but it’s my thought that Jesus used these two elements, the bread and the wine because they are so universal in nature. There are very few societies in the world that don’t have bread and wine in their culture as a part of the mainstay of their food source. With the exception of maybe the peoples that live in the arctic regions I believe almost all of the world’s populations have some type of ground kernel be it wheat or corn or some type of grain like item used in making a bread type product. And I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to find out that the peoples in the arctic regions didn’t have something in their diet that replicates bread. And almost every civilization or society has some type of wine product made from the fruit of the vine or a similar plant. It is indeed rare if they do not. In using bread and wine as the symbols of his body and blood, Jesus used a metaphor that the vast majority of the world could relate to.
Bread has always been a staple of life, in many regions of the world people live mainly on bread with little else to sustain them. Even in the place where I work, the prisons of New York State, we use a bread type substance to feed the truly unruly. And an inmate is known to exist for a long period of time on this special diet, at least until we gain compliance to the desired condition of the inmate that the state is looking for. In New York State, if we have an inmate that has a history of throwing body waste at the officers as we pass his cell we place the person in the special housing unit, the SHU, better known as the “shoe” or the “box”. Next we cover the cell door with Plexiglas and then he or she as the case may be, the troublemaker, is placed on a diet of water and a bread type substance made from flour and cabbage. I’m not so sure of what it taste like but it’s high in nutrients, meets all the requirements for state and federal guidelines of nutrition and the inmate will not have a solid waste product to pick up and throw. I think you get the picture.
So by using bread to symbolize his body, Jesus was saying, “I can give you life and sustain you with spiritual nourishment that leads to eternal life.” If we think back to the book of Exodus, God gave the people Israel manna, a form of bread to sustain them in the wilderness. Each day they could gather what they needed of this manna, this bread type item and it was sufficient to sustain them in the wilderness. God knew what the people needed and he provided for them. God told them that each day they were to go and gather what was needed for that day and no more. If they gathered too much it rotted. But for the Sabbath, they could gather twice as much as then needed the day before ensuring that they had enough for the day they gathered the Manna and enough to keep them from working on God’s day of rest. When they did as directed by God the extra they gathered didn’t rot as it did on the other days, isn’t God great? He knows what we need and he knows what we don’t need.
Jesus also knew and informed Satan that man does not live on bread alone. We find this in [Matthew 4:1-4], “1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Notice how Jesus clarifies that although man does need bread to have nourishment for the body he also needed the Word of God as well to feed the spirit. And so we can see that bread for the body is important but more so bread for the soul is of more importance. The body is here for a short duration, physical bread will help keep the body fit and active along with other nutrients, but the spirit is here for eternity and it too needs a healthy diet to keep it well. The spirit needs to be feed on the bread that is the word of God, it needs to be filled on a regular basis on the living word of God as found in the Bible, and there my friend is real nourishment.
But now it’s time to move on. In the context of this sermon I’m going to add something else to the bread, now we look at the wine, the fruit of the vine. Another universally recognized symbol. Without liquids we would perish quite quickly. By selecting wine Jesus was saying, “I am the vine that brings life, through me, the vine and my connection to Father God comes to you, my believers, all you need to grow and flourish.”
Visualize if you will a vine not rooted in the ground, but rooted in the Father in heaven. And Jesus is the vine that comes out of heaven and travels down to earth to carry nourishment in the form of God’s word. Jesus is the channel through which this life giving flow of nourishment travels to feed into the grapes, the grapes that are the fruit of the vine. And the Holy Spirit is the grape, the fruit from which the wine comes. Jesus is the source of this life sustaining flow, the Holy Spirit is the fruit and the wine of the Spirit is something from which we can drink deeply quenching the thirst for the life flow from God. [Ephesians 5:18] says, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit”. This wine of the Spirit offers joy and peace and contentment and we can drink of it often. Drink deeply of the Spirit! Partake in the body and the blood of Jesus, the bread and the wine used as the symbols of our Lord and the sacrifice he made on our behalf.
With-in the Roman Catholic faith, when they celebrate communion, when they celebrate the Lord’s Supper, with-in their religious belief they feel that they partake in what is known as “Transubstantiation”. It’s the Roman Catholic belief that through a miracle of God, at the moment the priest blesses or consecrates the elements of bread, the host or the Eucharist if you will and the wine, at that moment the elements literally become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It is their belief that once the priest has consecrated the host and wine it is now literally the body and blood and it no longer is just bread and wine. It is their belief that at that point of consecration a metaphysical change occurs and the elements are transformed in a literal sense. They teach and believe that although the elements maintain their original appearance and taste, the inner essence or the metaphysical substance of the elements has been changed.
Also in the Roman Catholic tradition is the belief that any part of the bread not consumed remains the body of Christ and is thus sacred. The unused portion is then secured in a small chamber located on the church altar known as the Tabernacle. Thus the tradition of genuflection or dropping to one knee as a sign of reverence or respect came to be when crossing before the tabernacle’s presence. It is further believed that all of the wine must be consumed at that time, none to be left in the chalice. So after communion has been distributed to the people the chalice is then rinsed with water and the water drank as well by the priest.
Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic priest who later became the father of the Protestant reformation was unable to accept this belief in the doctrine of transubstantiation as practiced and taught by the Roman Catholics. When he first went to perform the communion ceremony as a young priest newly ordained he froze when he got to the wording used in the consecration that was supposed to transform the elements and bring about this metaphysical transformation. In his own words, and I quote, “utterly stupefied and terror stricken! Who am I, that I should lift up mine eyes or raise my hands to the Divine Majesty? Shall I a miserable pygmy, say; “I want this, I ask for that? For I am dust and ashes and full of sin and I am speaking to the Living Eternal and the True God.”
Luther felt that no human had the priestly power to bring about or even ask for the change in the elements of bread and wine to be transformed into the body and blood of Christ. It’s interesting to note that although he didn’t object to the notion of the transubstantiation, he always maintained that the elements did in deed change but that the change wasn’t brought about by or through the request or will of man. This doctrine became known as the “Consubstaniation doctrine”.
During this same time frame of Martin Luther there was another theologian by the name of “Huldriech Zwingli”. Mr. Zwingli developed a slightly different doctrine for the ordinance of communion that became known as the “Memorial View” of communion.
The Zwinglian doctrine expressed the position that during the celebration of communion the distribution of the elements was a rite that commemorated the Lords death and that it was a sign for believers pointing back to Calvary. For a man of his day he presented an option that rocked the boat of the religious world. He felt that during the communion ceremony Christ was indeed present spiritually but only to the body of believers and he totally rejected the belief of a transforming of the elements into the body and blood of Jesus. Although not as well known as some of the other views on communion, Mr. Zwingli’s thoughts did help the church to develop what we know as communion today.
And the final view in the history segment of this sermon is from the viewpoint of someone you have most likely heard of before today. John Calvin. His doctrine is known as the “Reformed or Calvinist Doctrine”. John Calvin like Mr. Zwingli, also rejected the metaphysical transformation of the Eucharist and like Mr. Zwingli, felt that Jesus Christ is present spiritually during the distribution of the communion elements. But Mr. Calvin added a new dimension to the communion equation; he felt that Christ’s spiritual presence was in the power and person of the Holy Spirit. Prior to this time the person of the Spirit had yet to be given consideration as being present during communion, and this being several generations after the time of Pentecost and the arrival of the Spirit upon men as promised by our Lord Jesus.
I’m not going to try to sway anyone to follow any of these beliefs we’ve just looked at, each of us has to follow our own heart and do as the Lord directs. But I will say that with-in the Pentecostal Church of today there is a blending or a strong following of a portion of each of the last two thoughts on the subject of communion. Those being of course the thought of the communion celebration as being a memorial remembrance pointing us back to Calvary and the presence of the Person of the Holy Spirit. And with that dear friends you have had an abbreviated history lesson in regards to the beliefs that have circulated over time about what communion is or should be. Do with it as you see fit. Don’t you feel better now, you wouldn’t believe how many hours of research and reading went into the preparation of this segment of the sermon just so that I might be able to edit it down to those last few sentences for the sake of time saved. As I stated in the beginning of this teaching, it was my prayer that you would learn something that you may not have known before, I hope so far you haven’t been disappointed. And I further hope that maybe you have been stimulated enough to do a little research on this subject on your own, you don’t have to take my word on this, look it up for yourself. You will find it rewarding.
And now part two. “Do This in Remembrance of Me”. When Jesus said these words, what did he mean? Was Jesus admonishing us to reflect back to the events of the Last Supper each time we gather at the Lords table for communion? And are we to remember with deep reverence the words he said at that Last Supper? Did he say this with direction pointing to the body of believers admonishing us to remember that he offered as a final and perfect sacrifice his body and blood as an atonement for our sins and the sins of the entire world? And that this atonement would be sufficient for all of history until he returns to rapture his church? I think my friends the answer to all of these questions is a resounding “YES” and much more. I think when Jesus said “Do This in Remembrance of Me” he was talking with a threefold purpose. The term “Do This in Remembrance of Me” has a connotation of “Past”, “Present”, and “Future”.
The Past. Each time we gather at the Lords Table for communion we should be ever mindful of what Jesus did for each of us when he offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Remember his words, “This is my body, given for you” … he gave us his human body solely for each and every one of us, knowing full well what was to lie ahead for him. Jesus knew of the pending torture, he knew of the pain and humiliation he would suffer. Jesus knew of the crown of thorns that awaited him, the nails that would rip through his flesh, piercing his flesh but not breaking a bone. He knew of his pending death on the cross and yet he gladly went the way of a sinner while yet sin free himself. And he did it for you and I and never once did he look back with any regret. And all he asks of us is that we remember what he did for us each time we break bread at his table. All he asks is that we remember what he gave for our sins because he loves us this much still today. He’s asking us to remember what he did in the past on that cursed cross so long ago. “Do This in Remembrance of Me.”
The Present. Each time we come together for communion, each time we assemble around the Lords Table we are proclaiming to the world and to each other just by our being here that we are celebrating not a dead hero but a risen and living Savior. Each time we gather together for communion we are acknowledging not only that following the Last Supper Jesus shed his blood for us and that he offered his body for us as well. But it doesn’t end there my friend, we are also acknowledging that this Jesus whom we worship and praise is no longer in the grave either. We are acknowledging that he’s risen from the grave, that he’s defeated the power of death and Satan. That God is supreme and Satan is a defeated foe. We’re acknowledging that the power of God the Father has brought Jesus up from the place of the dead and seated him above all things to rule and reign for all eternity. We’re acknowledging that the Lord God Almighty has raised his Son Jesus Christ, that he, this Glorious Jesus, has ascended into heaven with-in the full view of witnesses. And these same witnesses along with many others have recorded and testified that this Glorious Jesus has kept his word and sent his Spirit just as he promised before his death and resurrection. We are acknowledging that this beautiful person of the Holy Spirit is as promised, our comforter, our counselor, leading us in wisdom and knowledge. Showing us the will of him who sent his Spirit and has given us the authority to speak in his name and use his name as a sign to the entire world that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that it will never change for all eternity, all praise be to God the Father Eternal. Amen! This my friend is what we are acknowledging each and every time we come to the communion table and accept the bread and wine, this we do in the present.
The future. “Do this in remembrance of me”, when Jesus said those words he was saying; “When you do this now remember not only what I did for you in the past, what I am doing right now for you in the present, but remember what is promised to you through my name in the future as well”. [Revelation 3:20] “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me”.
Visualize that if you will my friend, the promise of a meal with our Lord … and O what a fine fare it will be. At this not so far in the future supper my friend you will not find anything but the finest to be served at the meal of our Lord. You won’t find paper plates and plastic forks at this supper; the glory of the table of King Solomon will look poor in comparison to this table because we will be dining with the King of all kings. At this table you will find only the finest of linen napkins, gold plates, diamond glasses and all of it will be pale in comparison to he who will be sitting at the head of the table, our Lord himself, Jesus Christ!
“Do this in remembrance of me.” Past, present and future. Remember what has been, look at what is now and meditate on what will be to come. All of this is tied up in this simple little phrase. It’s like a little golden package that is opened in layers. Coming to the Lords Table not only brings us into a fellowship/relationship with our Lord but it carries us into a fellowship/relationship with each other. In the Bible the sharing of bread was a sign of an agreement or a covenant between two or more people. It’s called a “Salt Covenant”. By the sharing of salt, we’ve entered into covenant with each other; we’ve entered into agreement with each other. And this friend is something we do every time we share communion. Every time we gather together at the Lords Table we renew this covenant. Our Lord instituted this covenant in his church as a means of adding life to his church. The church Jesus established is to be a body of believers, united in purpose until Jesus returns. And in the words “Do this in remembrance of me” in the present is a constant reminder of this.
Each time we gather together the power of the cross is brought into remembrance as well. We have fellowship with God … the vertical connection … and we have fellowship with each other … the horizontal connection. What a powerful symbol this makes! Did you know that the symbol of the cross is the most recognized sign in the entire world? There’s a jeopardy answer for you. Question, the cross? Answer, “the most recognized sign in the world”. Anywhere you go, including the Muslim and Hindu nations, they will know the symbolism of the cross of Jesus Christ.
What does the sacrament of communion mean for the Pentecostal believer today? I guess another way to phrase this would be to ask, what does a body of believer’s gain from taking communion? And what does the church gain as a whole? Communion doesn’t have to be taken in church.
There have been many times when a brother or sister can’t attend church due to illness or the like. And I’ve taken the communion to them in the home or the hospital. Although they can’t share in the covenant with the other believers they can still share in the covenant with their God. Although we in most Assemblies of God churches only celebrate communion but once a month we could do so more often should we desire. That changes from church to church and from denomination to denomination. We read in the book of Acts that the early church celebrated communion every week in their church meetings. There are some believers who like the Quakers or the followers in the Salvation Army practice what is known as “Suspension”. Their belief is that the partaking of the communion was not to be a perpetual ordinance and/or that it was not to be a religious ceremony. Thus they do not celebrate communion at all.
Now I admit that I think it’s a bit strange that a body of believers would chose to reject what our Lord said to do. And whether we celebrate or not celebrate communion won’t alter our salvation. But why have hamburger when prime rib is on the table. I want all the blessings the Lord is offering. Amen?
So what are the advantages or blessings to the Pentecostal believer other than the intimate relationship with God. Like we really need something else! We have “Koinonia”. Okay we got it but what is it? Koinonia is the Greek word used in scripture, in the original manuscripts to denote communion. When we participate in communion we have unity through Christ. [Galatians3:28] “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus”. Paul is telling us that in Jesus there is no difference, and when doing so he used the word “Koinonia”. Paul’s saying that it doesn’t matter who your parents are, what your social or economic background is or where you come from. The bottom line is that we are all brothers and sisters in the eyes of God, every one of us is his individual child. God’s looking at the heart not the color of the skin. He’s looking at the heart not the denomination we belong to. And this friend is koinonia; this is unity through Jesus Christ. Are we ever going to get it perfect? No, not until we experience the Parousia, not until we see the second coming of our Lord, but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying. We aren’t going to see this perfection we would all love to see until Christ returns and the world is free of sin, but we can keep striving toward that goal until Jesus returns in all his glory.
By and through koinonia we will be sharing in and through a source of life. [Ephesians 4:16] “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” This source of life can be personal, through koinonia we each grow in faith and love and Christian maturity to a higher level than we’ve ever experienced before.
But this koinonia can also be a source of life for the church as well. Look at the pericope we just read … “from him” … who’s the him? Jesus. The whole body, the entire body of believers, his church, are held together by the ligaments … that’s each of us with no one any better or worse than the other person. No one is in a higher or lower position, we are all on an equal plain, and we build off of each other in love when we are doing our part.
By and through koinonia we will be sharing an inheritance. [Galatians 3:29] “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise”. And if we were to do a study of scripture we’d find many verses that reinforce the concept of our adoption making us rightful and legal heirs to a full portion of God’s inheritance. But for times sake let this one verse be all we look at for now. If we belong to Christ, we, and that’s all of us functioning in communion with one another, will share in the greatest inheritance of all time. And this sharing in the inheritance is another blessing found in the fellowship of koinonia or communion.
By and through this koinonia, this communion, we share in spirit and blessing. [Ephesians 1:3] “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ”. Beloved notice the wording here … it’s who has blessed us and not who will. It’s not something that is going to happen it’s something that has already come to be. It’s not a promise of things to come it’s a promise of what has been already fulfilled, now, today. Can any of us think of a more spiritual blessing than sharing Jesus with each other, sharing in his communion, sharing at his table. “Do this in remembrance of me” the words of Jesus echo loud and clear.
By and through koinonia , by communion, we share in a hope that is common to the Christian believer. [Romans 5:1-2] “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” As his church we all share in the future hope of glory promised us. When we take communion together we get but a small taste of the future glory, but even a small taste of a fare so fine is sufficient for now. Try if you will to imagine the sensation each of us will experience when we will be standing in the very presence of Jesus through all eternity. A small foretaste of that experience is found now in the Lords communion, in this koinonia. And finally, by and through this koinonia or communion, we share in worship.
Beloved this is what worship is all about. It’s coming together in unison, praising God in our one voice made up of many voices. Singing praises in unison, giving offerings in unison, corporate prayer in unison, and celebration as one body of this church before Him, our Lord and Savior, before Him our King of kings. Remember, the sole purpose for this site is to present a godly message to you the reader until you feel comfortable returning to the church of your choice. It is not my intent to try to sway you to any one denomination, to any one church, that decision is to be between you and your Lord. But I hope that in some small way this has assisted you in filling the gap between then and now. I pray that you have been blessed by this message and that you return to this site again should the need arise.
Grace & peace