A CONTINUAL COMMEMORATION

A CERTAIN CONFIDENCE: LIVING WITH UNQUESTIONING FAITH IN CHRIST IN AN EVER-CHANGING WORLD (24 DAYS IN LUKE) / DAY 22

Years ago, a dear friend let me know that a commemorative mural was situated not far from my parents’ new apartment in Miami Beach. I scribbled down the address and drove to a sacred space that served as a continual remembrance of the suffering of six million innocents people who had perished during the Holocaust. I stood in awed silence before a sculpted outstretched arm that reached up to the sky as a perpetual memorial.

When Jesus said,“Do this in remembrance of me,” the call was to remain unceasing in our worshipful recognition of how He offered up His own flesh in order to save us from sin. The Bread of Life gave His body and poured out His blood on the altar of sacrifice. (John 6:51; Galatians 1:4) Just as the Prophet Isaiah had foretold, Jesus was “despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. . .He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:1-5)

Jesus spoke these words at a Passover meal with His disciples. He transformed the meaning of the celebration. No longer would they simply look back at the their Deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Now, the would look within and recognize their own need for Deliverance. In unceasing gratitude for their salvation, they would also look ahead to the glorious Day when Jesus would return to complete their redemption.

Every moment of our lives should be lived in continual commemoration of our Savior. We can lay our all on the altar of sacrifice and surrender to worship Jesus. Holding nothing back, we celebrate that we have been redeemed from an empty way of life by the precious blood of Christ, our Passover Lamb. (I Peter 1:18-19) With hearts open and hands lifted high, let us remember our Redeemer.