Why Remember
Luke 23:13-54
This morning we are about to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. On the table these words are engraved “In Remembrance of me”. The question this morning that begs to be asked is two fold who are we to remember and why are we to remember? For many people the Lord’s Supper has become a ritual something you do in church. The deacon’s pass out the bread you chew and swallow and then they pass out the juice and drink then you get to go home hopefully early. They see it as something you do as a church member. But this morning I want to remind you who we are to remember, Jesus Christ, and why we are to remember Him, His sacrifice on the cross.
Today there may be some in here who don’t understand why we do this. They don’t realize the importance of attending and participating in the Lord’s Supper. Today I want us to examine why we do this so that in the future you will be able to tell others why. The Lord’s Supper is the only ritual we are commanded by Jesus to perform found in the New Testament. So it must be important if our Lord has commanded us to carry it out. He has commanded us to perform the Lord’s Supper so we can remember Him and what He did for us.
What are we to remember? Well first we are to remember the strips that we placed on His back as the Roman Soldier delivered the blows from the cat of nine tales. We must remember the flesh that was ripped from His back and sides as the cat of nine tales was pulled back from His body.
Lu 23:15 No, nor yet Herod: for he sent him back unto us; and behold, nothing worthy of death hath been done by him.
Lu 23:16 I will therefore chastise him, and release him.
John 19:1-3 says this
Joh 19:1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
Joh 19:2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple garment;
Joh 19:3 and they came unto him, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they struck him with their hands.
We are to remember that Jesus knew no sin yet He bore our sin on the cross for so that we might have salvation. Every strip, every drop of blood He spilt, ever blow he received, and every thorn driven into His scalp was our responsibility. You and I did every bit of the humiliation that was given to Him. We are to remember that here was the King of Kings and Lord of lords, God’s only begotten son, and we are to remember the humiliation as the Roman Soldier mocked Him as king of the Jews. That we were responsible for this also. Because if we had not sinned Jesus would not have had to die on the cross and bear our sins. We are to remember the Blood and the pain our Lord and Savior bore for us.
We are to remember when His people turned on Him and said Crucify Him we have not king except Caesar.
Lu 23:2 And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king.
Lu 23:18 But they cried out all together, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas: --
Lu 23:19 one who for a certain insurrection made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.
Lu 23:20 And Pilate spake unto them again, desiring to release Jesus;
Lu 23:21 but they shouted, saying, Crucify, crucify him.
Lu 23:22 And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath this man done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him and release him.
Lu 23:23 But they were urgent with loud voices, asking that he might be crucified. And their voices prevailed.
That was us. Don’t we also say the same thing when we don’t place Him first in our lives? Don’t we place Caesar, the World, first often in our lives? The Lord’s Supper is a time of reflection and remembrance. It is a time of self-examination where we are to examine our life and see if Jesus truly comes first in it. It is easy for us to say yes we place Jesus first but when it comes to put the rubber to the road it is difficult. Jesus wants doers not sayers.
I can’t help but remember the stripes my sins put on Jesus, I can’t help but see the flesh torn from His body because of my wilfullness my refusal to follow God. I caused the flesh to be torn from His body. But not just me alone but everyone of us is guilty. I think about the thorns that I drove into His crown, the Blood I caused to be split because of my sinful nature. I think about all my sinful ways because I did not want to allow Jesus leadership over me. We are just as responsible as the Jews, Pilate, the Roman soldiers or any other sinner. That is the reason we are to remember. We are no better than any unbeliever. The only difference between us and unbeliever is that we have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We do this to remember that with out Him we would all be unbelievers condemned to the judgment and Hell for eternity. Because we are unable to pay the debt that we owe. For the wages of sin is death and Jesus paid the debt so we would not have to.
Another reason we are to remember is what Jesus accomplished on the cross. I think about Him weak from His wounds that I caused. The blood dripping into the street. That heavy cross over His shoulders like our sins sit on ours. I see Him dragging that cross to Golgotha hill. I see Him falling down. I see Him placing Himself on the cross and spreading His arms out so those nails could be drive in through His wrists. I marvel at His love. After all that He had already gone through to yet still be willing to suffer even more that We might have a chance to be saved.
I see Jesus on the cross held there by the nail that I drove into his hands and feet because of my sin. The two crooks who there with Him represent mankind. One is the unrepentant he taunts and slanders Christ name the other is the repentant who come to love Jesus and worships Him for what He is. The unrepentant refusing Christ offer of the free gift of salvation the other accepting the gift of salvation. And I hear Christ loving response to the repentant saying “Today (not tomorrow, or next week, or next week but today) you will be in paradise with me.” What great assurance that is. We will be in paradise with Jesus when we die. We are to remember that Jesus assured the thief and feel that same assurance of our salvation.
We are to remember that day the curtain in the Temple was split down the middle when Christ gave up the ghost on the cross signifying that no longer was man separated from God. Jesus had succeeded and bridged the gap between man and God. No longer are we isolated from God. We are to remember that Jesus is the high priest and He is interceding for us.
We are to remember that even on the cross Jesus was praying for our forgiveness. To remind us to pray not only for our own forgiveness but for the forgiveness of all unbelievers. That they might meet Jesus on the road to Damascus as Saul did. That the scales be removed from their eyes also so that they might see. We are to remember that Jesus was buried and He alone now has the keys to hell. We are to remember finally that He rose again Luke 24:1-5
Lu 24:1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came unto the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared.
Lu 24:2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
Lu 24:3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
Lu 24:4 And it came to pass, while they were perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel:
Lu 24:5 and as they were affrighted and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
Lu 24:6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
He is the first born of the resurrection our assurance, our hope of eternal life. That is why we are to remember. We are to remember that Christ paid it all, that there is nothing else that needs to be done. We only need to accept the free gift of salvation that Jesus wants to give us. That the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ His only begotten Son. That is why we it is on important that we examine ourselves before we partake of the Lord’s Supper. If there is any unresolved sin in our life we need to confess it now. Get rid of it ask God for forgiveness. Don’t come to the Lord’s Supper with sin on you. We are to remember what Jesus has done for us, is now doing for us, and will do for us in the future. He has done it all .
