“In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

Symbolism is an important part of remembering. Nations have their flags, insignias, and rituals. We set aside special days to remember the birth of our nation, our veterans, and presidents or kings. Israel was no different, with their commemorations of the Passover, rock-pile monuments, temple rituals, and many feast day celebrations, each with their historical or cultural symbolism. Christianity in its original historical form had only a few symbols, but their paucity raises their level of importance and centrality significantly.

Only baptism and the Lord’s Supper carry the weight of enduring symbolism for biblical Christianity. All else exhibited today by the formal churches are add-ons that do not carry Scriptural weight. In the Lord’s Supper, we remember the Lord’s body that was given for us, symbolized in the breaking of the bread. And we remember His blood that was shed for us, symbolized in the communion wine.

To repeat these words in this way can, over time, become rote, but we simply must not forget! Jesus called it the cup of the “new covenant in My blood.” Blood represents death, and at death everything changes. He uses the covenant terminology familiar to all Jews and not completely foreign to Gentiles. It represents the passing of the old covenant of law into the new covenant of grace.

A few small observations are in order. This is symbolism. There is nothing literal about the wine turning into the blood of Christ in some mystical sort of way. There is no mandate about how often to do this, but only “as often as” you do this. The inference is that it would be done frequently. In the early church in the book of Acts, the Lord’s Supper (i.e. breaking of bread) enjoyed the same level of commitment from the believers as did other important practices: “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). If the church meets every week for teaching, fellowship, and prayer, then ought we not to do the same today with the Lord’s Supper?

Finally, the form in which the Lord’s Supper takes place is not defined, although the Corinthians certainly got it wrong with their food-fest approach.

Lord, it was important to You that we don’t forget You in Your death. So Lord, I commit to remembering You in the bread and wine each week.