Remember Series

REMEMBER

Mark 14:12-25

Introduction

Powerful Words from the Last Week of the Life of Jesus: Rejection, Love, and today Remember.

Mark 14:12-25, ESV

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

We are swiftly coming to the conclusion of Mark’s Gospel. In typical fashion, Mark is brief, but informative. We are entering into the last events of the earthly life of Jesus.

-It is his last visit to Jerusalem.

-It is his last Passover meal with his disciples.

-It is his last reminder of the painful sacrifice ahead.

-It is his last time to sit at a table and look at each of his disciples

-It is time to reveal that there is a betrayer among them.

-It is the beginning of sorrows.

The institution of the Lord’s Supper is a mystery to the disciples. Jesus has not yet died, and the talk of body and blood make no sense to them. But it will. Passover was celebration of God’s people being set free. On this particular Passover, Jesus assigned some new meaning to a few of the elements: The bread, he said, was his body. The wine, he said, was his blood.

We partake of the Lord’s Supper weekly. In my recollection the lessons I heard about communion were all about the rules - who could, who couldn’t, who could serve and who couldn’t, when it had to happen and what the elements have to be. Beyond all of these rules is the meaning that is assigned to this moment.

“…What Christians do today when they meet to break bread and drink wine together is the central Christian action, which links us in an unbroken line … ultimately… to Jesus and his friends in the Upper Room on the night he was about to be betrayed (and denied, forsaken, arrested, tried, mocked, and executed).” - N. T. Wright

There are four institution narratives in the New Testament (Matthew 26:19-30; Mark 14:16-26; Luke 22:13-20; 1 Corinthians 11:24-26).

To help us expand our meditations and thoughts during the Lord’s Supper, we recognize seven words that identify the meaning and significance of communion.

1. REMEMBER

The present experience of communion with Christ and fellow believers is based on a past event. Paul recalls the words of Jesus, “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:24, 26). Paul further says that performing this memorial of Jesus “proclaims his death” (1 Cor 11:26). We remember…

-What Jesus has done and suffered for us.

-To receive the benefits of Jesus Christ

-We remember not just someone who died, but who was buried and rose again. Barclay: “We are remembering someone who is gloriously alive.”

-We remember that he is coming again.

2. FELLOWSHIP / Communion (koinonia)

1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?