For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come. I Corinthians 11:26
If nothing bad happens, you will take part 52 times this year in the most important ceremony in the world! Other events will occur around us, and people will regard them with different degrees of importance. But they will rank those events in terms of their importance to themselves and other people. How important are those events as far as God is concerned? Meetings and ceremonies and everything else that comes along represent little milestones in earthly programs. But when it comes to the Lord’s Supper, it is a little milestone in Heaven’s program. And Heaven takes note every time the Lord’s people assemble to show the Lord’s death. Heaven also marks the event as one less time until the Lord’s return.
Why is Heaven so interested in a simple gathering of a handful of humble saints each Lord’s Day morning? As our text declares, it’s because of the subject matter. Our gathering around a table spread with bread and a cup is a remembrance of the greatest event in all of human history. It is also the greatest event in all of Heaven’s record, an event planned long before our earth was formed, an event that held the attention of all of Heaven’s citizens as it unfolded, and an event that will be the prime topic of conversation throughout Heaven’s eternity. Because of Calvary’s great importance, Heaven takes careful note when this great event is remembered according to our Lord’s instructions.
Paul was not among the disciples who gathered in the upper room to receive the ordinance of the Last Supper from the Lord Jesus. But he certainly had occasion to gather with some of those disciples, and with those who had received instruction from the disciples. And Paul also was given direction from the Holy Spirit concerning this feast. His instructions are simple and straightforward, received from the Lord. We follow those instructions each week, and if we do so, partaking of the bread and the cup, we show the Lord’s death. We show His death to ourselves as we review the events of the cross. We show His death to the angels, as they behold our obedience to the Lord’s command. We show His death to Heaven itself, as we sorrow over Christ’s suffering and rejoice over His exaltation. And we show His death with an eager anticipation of the day when the bread and cup are no longer needed.
Until He come, we remember. Until He come, we anticipate. Until He come, we give Him thanks. -Jim MacIntosh