Remember The Cross

A couple of bank robbers hit a small country bank one lazy afternoon when the staff was

small. They herded everyone into the vault at gunpoint. Then they gagged the teller and

bound him hand and foot. They began to stuff the money into bags when they noticed the

teller squirming and trying to talk to them. After finishing their task one of the robbers

leaned over and pulled the gag off to the side. “Give me a break,” he pleaded, “And take

these books along with you. I am about three thousand dollars short.” Here was a guy who

saw a chance to solve a major problem and get some good out of evil. The good in this case

would be so that crime would pay for him.

The leaders of Israel were not in that same boat, but one that was quite similar in their

dealings with Jesus. They did not like the idea of killing anyone, but Jesus was a thorny

problem, and the best solution they could come up with was the cross. Eliminate the

problem by getting rid of Jesus. The teller wanted to get rid of the books, and the leaders

wanted to get rid of Jesus. In both cases these radical removals would solve their problems

and set them free.

The marvel of it all is that there evil schemes actually worked better than they could ever

have imagined, for the crucifixion of Jesus not only solved a problem for them, it solved the

major problem of all men for all time. It was the problem of sin, and of how a fallen sinful

creature can be reconciled to a holy and righteous God. The cross is the greatest example in

history of how God in His wisdom can use even the evil plots of men to accomplish His

glorious plan for men.

Jesus said, “Remember me,” and we are to remember the cross for the same reason.

The battle cries of our national history have been, “Remember the Alamo,” and “Remember

Pearl Harbor.” Why in the world should we remember great defeats? It is because, like the

cross, they become great defeats out of which came greater victories. Paul says here in verse

26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till

He comes.” Partaking of communion is a form of preaching. It is our action sermon. It is

visible rather then verbal. It is directed to the eye rather than the ear. Augustine and

Calvin, and many others have called the communion service the Word made visible.

We portray the Gospel in action rather than by words. Paul says it is by eating and

drinking that we proclaim the Lord’s death. The very acts of taking the bread and the cup

and consuming these elements is a presentation of the good news of salvation. By so doing

we illustrate how the death of Jesus makes a difference in our lives. What He did two

thousand years ago has an impact on our lives now because we take the living Christ into our

lives. Eating and drinking illustrate this, for by eating and drinking we take into our bodies

that which becomes a part of us. So when we open our hearts and receive Jesus into our

lives, He comes in and becomes a part of us.

What we do in communion corresponds to what happens in the realm of the Spirit, and

it is a parallel with baptism. In baptism we also portray in a visible drama what is invisible to

the eye. By going under the water we show the death and burial of Christ, and by coming

back up we show forth the resurrection. Both of the ordinances that Jesus left to the church

are visible presentations of the Gospel, which every Christian is to act out, and by their

action bear witness to Christ and His power.

These symbolic acts only have power because they point to the living Christ who is

present in power, and who can and does forgive sin, cleanse us an guide us to victory over

evil. A symbol is only as powerful as what it symbolizes. Once when William MacKinley was

running for President of the United States he was traveling by train through the Midwest. A

small town in Illinois wanted him to stop there. Word was sent that the schedule was too

tight, and the train could not stop. The people of the town were not to be denied, however.

They knew the power of symbols, and so they stretched a large American flag across the

track and dared the train to run over it. It would have been easy to do so, but the flag

represented the nation, and so out of respect for that symbol the train was stopped and