In Remembrance of Me -- Part Two

Recently I wrote a blog entry about the Lord’s Supper, and how I believe the point of this practice goes way beyond making sure we don’t forget Jesus. My wife Jamie read the entry and asked an excellent question: “When He asked the disciples to remember Him, what did they think of? Jesus hadn’t even been arrested yet, so they couldn’t know about the beatings, the cross or the resurrection.”

What a great question! I’ve heard many Christians say that the point of the Lord’s Supper is to remember the “death, burial and resurrection” of Jesus, yet those things hadn’t even taken place at the first communion! I love to wonder about what these 11 men might have remembered about Jesus when they sat in the upper room. Perhaps they thought about:

• The songs they made up and sang together while walking from town to town
• The time Jesus played a practical joke on Judas by hiding the money purse
• The joy in the eyes of Jesus as he held babies in his arms
• The laugh of Jesus when he healed a paralytic and they danced together in the street
• The regular habit of waking up at sunrise, only to find Jesus already gone to a nearby hillside to pray
• The disappointed look on Jesus’ face when Peter and John argued over who caught the biggest fish
• The anger and aggressiveness Jesus showed when confronting religious leaders who used their power inappropriately
• The total, awestruck silence of the crowds as Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount

Obviously most of these things aren’t actual, recorded events in the bible, but I enjoy visualizing them. When I think about the important people in my life, often it’s the little memories that are most precious to me. A spouse’s warm embrace, a child’s mischievous grin, a parent’s patient instruction… these are the things that often stick with us. What do you think stuck with the disciples?