In Washington D.C., two major monuments remind us of two of our country's great presidents—George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Being here, you get the feeling that the human mind needs a lot of prodding. Our tendency to forget drives us to jog our memories with monuments, anniversaries and celebrations.
Jesus knew we would need powerful reminders of what happened in Gethsemane and on Golgotha. Though He never seemed to enjoy ritual or ceremony, He is the One who said, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19).
In the upper room He urged His followers to love each other. He said that by their love they would be recognized as His disciples. Then He showed them what He meant with an ongoing memorial.
Those disciples could hardly believe what He did. Picture Jesus picking up a towel, filling a basin with water, then kneeling in front of each disciple and washing his dirty feet. As He completed His menial task He commanded them—and us—to do what He did in humility and love. Each time someone kneels in front of me to wash my feet in preparation for Communion, I see Jesus in my mind. I remember His command to love one another.
But it wasn't over. At the Passover Supper, this pivotal moment in history, Jesus and His disciples ate in order to remember. They remembered God's delivery of the Israelite slaves from Egyptian bondage. They also looked forward to their future delivery from sin, to the Messiah's death. Then Jesus, the actual Messiah, just hours before His death, set up a memorial for us using two common items. He was saying, It's so easy to forget! Please remember! And I do.
As I take that unleavened bread I remember Jesus, His sinless body, bruised, beaten and bloody. I see Him trying to drag that cross, my cross. I see the King of the universe hanging on that cross in my place. As I eat the bread, my heart says, Jesus, I cannot fathom the pain you must have felt for me. Thank You!
The grape juice makes me think of Jesus too; His flowing blood brought from His body by the lashes, the thorns, the nails. He died, on Friday, so I could live eternally with Him. And as I sip the juice, my heart cries out, Thank You for taking my death. I want to live for you today!
Yes, it's easy to forget. I want to remember and believe. I want to receive Him into my life again.
A Special Service Live Across North America
A special communion event will link Adventists across North America in a service of joyful dedication on Friday, Dec. 28. This event, carried live on the HOPE Channel, will unite hundreds of thousands of Seventh-day Adventists in North America in the experience of rededicating their lives to Jesus at the same time.
The service will be broadcast live at 5 p.m. Pacific, 6 p.m. Mountain, and repeated two hours later in each time zone. For more information, visit www.nad.adventist.org or see the ad on page 49.
