Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“The Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat, this is my body that is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. After the same manner, also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New testament in my blood. This do ye, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, you show forth the Lord’s death until he come.”
Paul, in 1Corinthians 11:23-26
When Jesus told us to drink of the Spirit and have communion with one another in remembrance of him, he was not trying to win sympathy. He was not telling us to remember him writhing in agony on the cross as much as he was exhorting us to remember that he is now sitting at the Father’s right hand and that he is coming again to reign on earth a thousand years. When we “remember” Jesus, we are not confined to remembering where he was and what he did. When the holy Ghost brings him to mind now, we remember where he is now, and what he is doing in our lives, as well as the promise of his return.
When the blessings of God fall upon the congregation of the Lord, we are encouraged to trust and to obey the Jesus who lives and reigns with his Father in heaven, not merely to remember the Jesus who suffered and died. We are also exhorted by the fellowship of saints to stay prepared for the return of the Lord.
Remembering the Lord, as Jesus intended for us to understand it, is not a mental exercise. Even the vilest sinners can remember the story of Jesus in the Bible, once they have heard it, whether they drink of the Spirit or not. But only by partaking of the Spirit can the real, living Jesus be brought to our remembrance.