REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST
Luke 24:13-35
INTRO: At sunrise on Sunday, December 7, 1941, 350 Japanese war planes rained death and destruction on Pearl Harbor. 8 battleships and 10 smaller ships were sunk or put out of commission. 200 planes were destroyed and 3,581 men killed or wounded. The USS Arizona took a bomb down its stack. It sank in 8 minutes with 1,177 sailors aboard. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the day “a day of infamy.” The national battle cry with which the U. S. entered WWII was “Remember Pearl Harbor!” That was our motto until V. J. Day.
Today, rebuilt Japan is world’s 2nd industrial power. The Arizona memorial is visited by 1 million people each year, many of them Japanese. Hawaii is now a state and it’s governor, 1 Senator, both congressmen, and the President of the University of Hawaii are all of Japanese descent.
There have been other battle cries in our 228 years such as “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember the Maine!.” The Lord’s Supper is not a battle cry, but it, too is a call to remembrance. It could well become our motto. It means more than merely recalling Christ. It is a call to renew, rekindle, relive the total Christ event.
I. REMEMBER WHO JESUS IS.
1. He was the Son of Mary. His favorite name for himself was “son of man.” He was a man. He was human and one with us.
He was disappointed when the multitudes went away, and asked the Apostles if they would leave also (John 6:67).
He was tempted as all men are. Remember his temptation in the wilderness. He was tempted in all areas of temptation. He was tempted with Health, Wealth, and Fame.
He shrank from suffering as we do. Remember the Garden of Gethsemane.
2. He was divine. He came from heaven into this world of suffering. He was co-creator with the Father and Spirit, and came into this world to redeem it.
II. REMEMBER WHAT JESUS DID.
1. He came to earth. Born in Bethlehem, grew up and became a working man in Nazareth, was baptized in the Jordan River, carried out his ministry in Galilee and Judea, and was crucified outside Jerusalem.
2. Jesus came to show us the Father. That God is caring and approachable. No limit to divine love, no cost that divine love will not bear for our salvation.
A boy once said that Jesus is the best picture God ever had taken.
3. Jesus came to die for us. At the Lords table we remember Jesus Christ who died for our sins. Was that death in vain?
III. REMEMBER WHERE JESUS IS.
1. He is at the Father’s right hand in glory. He was exalted after the resurrection. He will return at the end of the age to judge all men.
2. He is on the earth today in the person of the Holy Spirit. In John 14 he promised to send a comforter. He is present in each Christian.
3. He is here at the table. Not in the bread and cup in some magical way, but with us when we observe this remembrance. Just as surely as he was with the disciples in the upper room, He is here with us now.
