Lessons from the Lord's Supper -- Part IV

There are a great many lessons that can be drawn from the upper room the night Jesus celebrated the Passover feast with his disciples. Previously, I've mentioned these -- 1) that Jesus was eager to share this night with his friends, and 2) that Jesus continues the transition from the old covenant of Israel to the new covenant of His church.

Here's a third lesson: Jesus wants the cross to be remembered.

This may seem too simple to be of importance. Duh, of course Jesus wants the cross to be remembered. But let's be honest -- much of what happens in a church does not directly point to the cross. This is not a criticism, as much as it is an observation. Take for example:

• The modern day American church places a great and growing emphasis on music in worship. We have praise teams, and bands, and choirs, and instrumental interludes, and "special" music. We have practices, and rehearsals, and discussion about what style of music should be used in worship. At its best, our energy focused on music does remind us of the cross of Christ. But we must fight to keep the focus on Jesus and not on ourselves and our "performance." No church is immune, whether you have a choir of 50 or a single man leading an a capella service.
• No preacher is willing and able to preach the cross every week of the year, and most churchgoers would not be content for it to happen. Instead, we might spend weeks at a time going through the minor prophets, or the topics of marriage, child rearing, spiritual gifting ... all Biblical and helpful topics to be sure. It is entirely possible that a sermon might never mention the cross, or Christ himself. Is that true in your experience?
• Sunday school classes, particularly those for children, really hit the miraculous stories of the Bible hard. Kids learn about David and Goliath, the apple in the garden of Eden, Peter walking on water, and even Balaam and the talking donkey. And yes, our classes may broach the subject of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. But, perhaps not often.

You get the idea. It is easy to attend church for 90 minutes each week and not dwell on the message of the cross. But to the early disciples, Jesus had this request (as recorded by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians): "Take it [the bread]; this is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."

Jesus knew there would be distractions, both for the disciples, and for us today. He knew that His followers might need a regular reminder of what happened at Calvary. And so, he uses the simple elements of bread and wine, passed among us, to visually and spiritually take us back to the cross. When there, we recall once again that our sin separated us from God; that Jesus is the unblemished sacrifice that bridges the gap; and that our salvation is found in this act of grace.

The disciples took Jesus direction to heart. Luke writes in Acts 2 that the early church was "devoted" to the breaking of bread. While no specific command is given as to how they demonstrated "devotion," the early church likely shared the Lord's Supper weekly, and perhaps several times each week.

When we gather around the Communion table, we do proclaim the Lord's death. In this act, we retell the gospel story over and over again. Let's never grow tired of such a tradition. Let us not take it for granted, even after a thousand cups of juice have been drunk. The cross is everything to the believer, and the Lord's Supper is surely about the cross.