In Joshua 4, the people of Israel are crossing the Jordan River and entering the promised land. Joshua is told to command the twelve men selected earlier (chapter 3) to go to the middle of the Jordan where the priest’s feet were standing and select twelve stones to bring them out and set up a memorial of this significant occasion in Israel’s story. They are told that when they get to the land to set up these stones as a memorial so that when the children ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ they can tell them about all the things God did for them. 

It’s evident that God is using a memorial to ensure that His story is told repeatedly. Therefore, generation after generation should hear about what God has done for His people. Now, fast forward to today. Jesus has established a weekly memorial feast for us to eat so that we remember, and our children ask, ‘What do these things mean.’ Then we can tell the story. 

But I’m afraid we have forgotten. I’m afraid we go through the motions of the memorial feast, and we may not even know why we do these things. I’m worried we might be going through the motions of the Lord’s Supper and forgetting to teach our Children what these emblems in the Lord’s Supper mean to us, and we have misunderstood the purpose. So we have missed the mark in a few ways. 

  1. We sometimes have the attitude that the eating of the Supper is what gives us forgiveness of sins. We talk and act as if we expect to be forgiven of all the sins of the past week if we will just eat the cracker and drink the Welches. But the Lord’s Supper is not at all intended to give us forgiveness. The body that hung and the blood that was spilled were given for forgiveness. When we reenact that death in baptism, that is the only time we can receive salvation and access to the grace of God. (Romans 6). When we eat and drink the Lord’s Supper, we do this as a MEMORIAL of the sacrifice given for the forgiveness of sins, not for salvation itself. Remember what Jesus said, “do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:14-20).
  2. Because of this misunderstanding above, we sometimes feel that if we cannot eat the Lord’s Supper one random Sunday (because we are ill), we will not be forgiven. Therefore we are in sin until the next opportunity. This is so wrong. Obviously, if we cannot be together with other disciples, and we do miss worship, then we miss the opportunity to “show the Lord’s death till he come” The Lord knows when we can and cannot worship and eat the Lord’s Supper, and He knows why, but He does not expect the impossible. 
  3. The New Testament gives commands and patterns or examples for us to follow. This is something we work hard to follow. If there is no command, or no example, nor can we make implication from the scriptures, it is not something we can or should do. That’s the ole “book chapter and verse” principle or the “speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent” principle. So let’s apply this hermeneutic to the new testament pattern for the Lord’s Supper. The pattern in the New Testament shows the disciples coming together to eat the emblems of the Lord’s Supper as we remember TOGETHER Christ’s sacrificial death. There is no command, pattern, or implication where any apostle, or disciples ate of the Lord’s Supper privately even when they traveled. They only ate it when they were able to be together as the church. I know this is challenging, and it might step on your toes. But if you can show me in scripture someone eating the memorial Supper on their own, I will change my mind. The whole idea is that it is designed to be a fellowship meal together as we COMMUNE with each other and the Lord. We will continue to do this until He comes again. 

There are many great benefits of us being TOGETHER to worship and observe the Lord’s Supper every week. We remember, and therefore hopefully, we won’t forget. If we deliberately are absent from eating the Lord’s Supper with other disciples, we lose that benefit, and we are disobeying the command to come TOGETHER and remember the preciousness of the memorial feast surrounding Christ’s death. We lose the benefit of fellowship TOGETHER with those who are like-minded. Obviously, the Lord intended us to gather around and be TOGETHER to remember so that we can tell His story over and over again, generation after generation. 

I love you, 

Alex