Look for Me – Remember Me
A Devotional Communion Service
Study Guide, April 7, 2019
Pastor Clay Olsen
The Bread
One of the key phrases in the Lord’s Supper is what Jesus said to His disciples, and said to us disciples today: “Do this in remembrance of Me”. Jesus was calling for us to make this communion act of worship become a regular part of our worship experience. And yet we also know that in all of life, in each day of life, there is this need of ‘remembrance’, not just of what our Lord Jesus has done, but of who our Lord Jesus is to us. And because of who He is, that changes everything about who we are. And every day we are to remember that!
But it’s also remarkable that for thousands of years before Jesus gave us the Lord’s Supper and said to His people – “Remember Me”, He had already been calling out to His people – “Look for Me”. In fact, from the earliest days of Earth’s history and to our first parents God put all mankind on alert: “Look for Me”. It was in God’s rebuke to Satan that this first announcement came: Gen 3:15- “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” NIV The striking of the heel was a reference to Jesus’ death on the Cross, and crushing of the head was a reference to the fact that Jesus would conquer both Satan and death, as we know He did in His victory through the Cross and His Resurrection.
This passage is also what is referred to as the ‘protoevangelium, meaning, ‘the first Gospel, because this is the first announcement of the coming Redeemer found in the Bible. To God’s people, this verse was their great hope; to Satan, it was God’s declaration of war, which will conclude with his eternal imprisonment of course, and to Eve, it was assurance that she was forgiven and that her Redeemer would come through the birth of a child. And since only God can be this Deliver who has the power to defeat Satan, it pointed to one person who would be both human and divine, or a human Messiah who would also be God. But to our point today, right away we have this announcement from God to the world: “Look for Me!”
And so for thousands of years God gave His people vivid pictures of the Messiah’s coming. Many of us in our Life Groups had the great experience of looking into some of these ‘pictures’ as we went through a study on the Feasts of Israel. These ‘Feasts’ or festivals were ways that God illuminated and illustrated that first announcement of a coming Deliverer in Genesis 3:15. These sacrificial traditions all pointed to the Person and the works of the coming Messiah and were, in essence, in every festival, a calling out to the people: “Look for Me!”
That’s actually described to us in the account of Simeon at the time of Christ’s birth, remember that? Luke 2:25- “And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel…” NASU Simeon was looking for the Messiah. Now, God had told him that he would not die before he saw the Messiah, but what has Jesus said to us?
Matt 24:42- “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”
Mark 13:37- “What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’” NASU
Rev 22:20- “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” NKJV
We are all to be looking for Jesus. He promised to return and God always keeps His promises. We should live our lives in such a way that people would say to us: “Are you looking for something?” And we would say, “Well yes, I am. I’m looking for Jesus to return to Earth at any time, just like He said He would.” And then, if they are ready to hear more, you can tell them about some more of Jesus’ prophecies, that He’s returning first for His Church, and then He’s returning to reclaim His Earth. But still, “Oh yeah, we’re looking for something all right!”
But again, the feasts of Israel were all about ‘looking’, looking unto the Lord and looking to the Lord through the symbols of the feasts. Remember, the Lord’s Supper was begun during the Feast of Passover. Matt 26:18-19- “As you go into the city,” He told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with My disciples at your house.'” So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.” NLT One of the specific features of the Passover was the inspection of the lambs for sacrifice. How amazing that on the same day, the tenth day of the month that the lambs were selected for the Passover sacrifice, Jesus, the Lamb of God, rode into Jerusalem, as God’s selected Lamb. And just like the lambs then went through inspection to demonstrated that they were unblemished, Jesus went through inspection; by Pilate, and then Herod, and then back to Pilate again. He was inspected, questioned, and interrogated. And then from the mouth of a Roman governor came the words, “I find no fault in Him.” (Luke 23:4) Just think of that. How amazing how all of that prophetic puzzle fit together in such a way that while the sacrificial lambs were being inspected that Jesus, too, was being inspected and then declared to be ‘the unblemished Lamb of God’. The Apostle Peter put it this way:1 Peter 1:18-19 – “…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” NKJV
The Cup
Even the Prophet Isaiah had made it very clear what the people were first to be looking for…they were to be looking for this Lamb; this Lamb of God. Isa 53:6-7 – “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.” NASU
But instead of this Lamb, many of the people had started looking for the Lion of the tribe of Judah to come as their conquering King. They were looking for the Son of King David to take up the crown and reign over all their adversaries. But that’s the thing about looking…they were supposed to be looking not for what they wanted to see, but looking for what God had told them they would see. First, they were to look for this Lamb of prophecy. They were to be looking for exactly what was coming…the Lamb who would go the Cross before becoming the King who would wear the Crown. They were to be looking for the Lamb of God who could finally and ultimately take away the sin of the world! And that’s exactly what John the Baptist told them when essentially he said, ‘People, the Lamb that we’ve been looking for is now here! The Lamb that the Prophets have been telling us about is now here! The Lamb that all those lambs you have been sacrificing all these years that were pictures of the Lamb to come is now here!’ And actually, he did say one very specific thing that should have amazed them about this Lamb of God, because it was something that could have never been said about any other sacrificial lamb. John said this: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29 NASU This Lamb could take away the sin of the world. That’s the first time in history that this had ever been said about any sacrificial animal, because all the other animals could only temporarily cover the sins of the people. In fact, the writer of Hebrews put it this way: Heb 10:4-7- “…it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said:”Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings You were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am — it is written about Me in the scroll — I have come to do Your will, O God.’” NIV
The Lamb of God could do what was impossible to do with any other sacrifice that had ever been offered for over a thousand plus years of offerings…take away the sin of the world. They were to be looking for the only Savior who could take away their sin, take away that penalty of sin that had been pronounced by God to our first parents when they sinned: “You shall surely die”…not just physically, but spiritually.
But that’s the same problem people have the world over. They are not looking for the Lamb of God who alone can take away the sin of the world…the sin in their world. Oh sure, many are looking for some kind of forgiveness…it’s just that they aren’t looking to follow the only One Who can can forgive them. Many are looking to have their sins covered, like those temporary coverings of those temporary sacrifices, but they are not looking to be converted in their heart and soul. They are not looking to God to let God tell them how they can be restored to a new life and a new relationship with the Lord of life. They’re looking to be excused of their sin, but that’s really not forgiveness at all; because to be forgiven requires repentance; repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ as their only hope of being forgiven and saved. But history has shown us over and over something about the unconverted heart of man, and that is, that even though repentance is the first thing that people need, repentance is last thing that most people want.
As has been aptly said: “Many people want to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity.” But all people everywhere are to be looking for the God who made man in His own image. And yet, many people are looking for a god who they are making up in their own image. And the difference between the two is the difference between Heaven and Hell. No, the God that people are to be looking for is also the difference between a saved person and an unsaved person. The difference is the ‘blood of the Lamb’. Like with that first Passover; only those who responded in faith and applied the blood of the Passover lamb to the doorposts of their house were spared the judgment of their sins. It’s the same today: Only those who respond in faith and accept the shed blood of the Lamb of God as payment for the debt of their sins will be spared the judgment of their sins. When anyone turns to God in repentance and receives Jesus in faith as their Savior, as their Lamb of God, God covers the doorposts of their house, their heart, with the precious blood of the Lamb, and they then belong to Him forever.
The Apostle Paul gives us this assurance: Rom 10:8-11- “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” NIV
Knowing how amazing all of this is, how amazing our Savior is, how amazing this gift of our salvation is, how amazing Jesus’ grace to us really is, isn’t it striking, that when the Lord Jesus introduced the practice of the Lord’s Supper that He didn’t just say: “And now, do this often.” Or, “Now, commemorate this observance often.” Or, “Remember what I did for you by observing this memorial.” No, instead He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” And certainly all of these other works of our salvation are implied in this ‘remembrance’, but still, in Jesus call, we hear more than just a command to remember what He did…we hear His desire for us to also remember ‘why’ He did what He did… “Remember Me”. Remember, it wasn’t the nails that held Jesus to that Cross…It was His love; His love for you and for me. And that changes everything!