This is my body … this is my blood.
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you (Luke 22:19-20).
It fills me with wonder how the Lord Jesus conveys to our hearts the depth of His profound love in the simplest of ways. He took two of the most commonplace items of food and drink. He describes the loaf as, “My body given for you” and the cup of wine as, “My blood shed for you”.
The early Church appears to have quickly established the practice of remembering the Lord at the beginning of the week: “… on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7). This was the day when Jesus rose from among the dead, a constant reminder of the love that was stronger than death. It makes complete spiritual sense that we start the week responding to the Lord’s request to remember Him. I have heard it argued that we should not break bread too frequently lest we take it for granted. We would never say, “Let’s not preach the Gospel too often in case people become too familiar with it.” So why would we think thus of the love of Christ which is the basis of the Gospel?
But it is right to be reminded that Christ’s love should never be taken for granted. The Ephesian church was richly blessed. It was to this church Paul wrote, “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:2). Paul reminds them of Christ’s sacrifice to empower them to walk in love. In the same chapter he writes, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25). The power to express the love of Christ comes from never forgetting its depth and its cost. Yet, it was to the Ephesian church the Lord says, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works” (Revelation 2:4-5). In the previous verses the Lord Jesus had commended them for their hard work, patience, practical holiness and faithfulness. But their love for the Lord had diminished and no longer reigned in their hearts as it once did. It is a solemn thing to realise we can be in love with what we do in our particular fellowships, large and small, yet lose our first love for the Lord. In encouraging them to re-ignite this love, it is very striking that the Lord Jesus uses the word “Remember”.
When we remember the Lord, the focus is on Him and the wonder of His redeeming love and His immense sacrifice for us. It is a time when we put everything else to one side and simply do what He asked us to do – remember Him. We are to come ready to express our gratitude both in the quietness of our individual hearts and in fellowship with the people of God to praise, sing, read the Scriptures and break the one loaf and drink from the one cup. In that hour, we ‘make Him a supper’ (see John 12:2). And we discover afresh that He has ‘brought us into His banqueting house, and His banner over us is love’ (see Song of Solomon 2:4). This is the place where we discover afresh how much we are loved. And it is from this place we go to express His love in our hard work, patience, practical holiness and faithfulness.
