Communion: A 3-Day Devotional With Zach WilliamsНамуна

We Remember

(Flesh and Bone)

On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

—1 Corinthians 11:23b-26

We live in a culture that wants to capture moments in pictures. Social media sites serve as tools to record and remember important events. When Jesus lived on earth, He also stressed the importance of remembering. In fact, in our spiritual lives, remembering is so vital that Jesus gave us specific instructions about how to carry that out. One of those ways is in the practice of communion.

In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Paul recalled some of Jesus’s recorded words. Jesus and His disciples had been celebrating the Passover, which was the most important annual event in the life of Israel. It was a festival held in remembrance of God’s covenant with Israel in bringing them out of longtime oppression in Egypt. The angel of death would “pass over” God’s children while Egyptian homes would experience profound death. The Passover celebration, then, reminded the Israelites who God was, what He had done, and who they were as His children.

As they finished that particular Passover meal, Jesus did something out of the ordinary. Jesus broke bread and instead of referring to the exodus event, He used the bread to point to His own broken body. He passed the cup and referred to His own blood that would be poured out. Jesus was doing a new thing. He instituted a new covenant. No longer would His disciples look back to the exodus as their defining event. Instead, they would look to the cross.

The Corinthian church wasn’t looking to the cross. They were missing the point of communion. It had become a time when people gathered for a meal and some people ate and drank excessively while others went hungry. Paul wanted to remind them what they were meant to remember—Jesus’s death and promise of future return for those who trust in Him.

There’s nothing magical about the bread or the cup. It’s simply a way for believers to remember and proclaim what Jesus has done. In taking communion, we give testimony to what we believe and who we believe in—that Jesus’s body was broken, and blood poured out on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. It gives testimony that we’ve gladly received Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf. And it is a testimony to others that Jesus died and rose for them too.

• Listen to Zach Williams’s “Flesh and Bone.” What do the lyrics “And if you know His love, then raise your cup” mean to you?
• What are some ways you can live in the spirit of communion and remembering Jesus’s sacrifice every day?
• Thank Jesus for His love poured out for you and the great privilege of remembering through the ordinance of communion. Ask Him to help you not lose sight of that great privilege and to help you remember His sacrifice in practical ways each day.