Do This in Remembrance of Me
"For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." — 1 Corinthians 11:23–26
---
Introduction
Some gestures last forever. A mother who holds her child close before a long journey. A father who places something of great value into his heir's hands. A friend who, knowing death is near, leaves behind one final word full of meaning. These moments are engraved in memory because they are born out of the deepest love.
On the darkest night in human history — the night he was betrayed — Jesus gathered his disciples at the table and instituted a memorial unlike anything the world had ever known. Not a monument of stone, not a written memoir, but a simple, repeatable act — full of bread and wine, of body and blood, of death and hope.
This is the first of five sermons on the Lord's Supper. Today, we want to understand what Jesus did that night and why. What is the origin, the meaning, and the purpose of this sacred memorial? The answer changes the way we approach this table.
---
1. The Origin: A Tradition Handed Down from Above
Paul opens with a remarkable statement: "For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you." He does not say he learned it from the apostles or read it in the Gospels. Paul emphasizes that this tradition has a divine origin. The Lord's Supper is not a human invention, nor a ritual created by the early Church to strengthen community bonds.
It is an act of revelation. Jesus — already risen and ascended — personally communicated to Paul the meaning of what took place that night. There is a sacred chain at work here: from the Lord to Paul, from Paul to the church at Corinth, and from Corinth to us.
This matters deeply. When we come to this table, we are not fulfilling a human religious tradition. We are obeying a direct command of the risen Lord. The question each of us must ask is not "Do I like this ritual?" but rather "Am I obeying the One who loves me?"
---
2. The Content: A Body Broken and Blood Poured Out
Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said: "This is my body, which is for you." Then he took the cup and said: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." Simple words. Devastating words.
The broken bread speaks of a body that would be given voluntarily — not seized by force, but offered in love. "For you" — not for himself, not out of obligation, but for you. For every person in this room today. The cup speaks of blood that would seal a new, final, and eternal covenant. The Old Testament was mediated by the blood of animals. This covenant is mediated by the blood of God's own Son.
When we break the bread and drink the cup, we are proclaiming that we were in need of redemption — and that God provided it at the highest conceivable cost. There is no room for pride at the Lord's Table. There is only gratitude, wonder, and deep worship.
---
3. The Purpose: Memory, Proclamation, and Hope
"Do this in remembrance of me" — these words are repeated twice. Jesus knew that we forget. He knew that the demands of daily life would pull at us, that the years would pass, that the suffering of the cross could become merely an abstract doctrine rather than a living reality in our hearts.
So he instituted this memorial. Not to make us remember a distant historical fact, the way one visits a museum, but to make us re-enter a present reality. The same Jesus who broke the bread is alive today. And the death this bread proclaims remains our only hope.
Paul adds yet another dimension — one that looks forward: "until he comes." The Lord's Supper does not only look back to the cross. It also looks ahead to the return of Christ. Every time we participate in this memorial, we make a threefold declaration: he died for me; he lives in me; he is coming back for me.
---
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, the Lord's Supper is an extraordinary gift. It is memory, proclamation, and hope gathered into a single act of obedience. The next time you come to this table, come with renewed awareness: this is not religious routine. It is an encounter with the living Christ who loved you all the way to death.
Here is the practical challenge: prepare yourselves to participate in this Supper with both seriousness and joy. In the coming weeks, we will go deeper into what it means to do this worthily, communally, and transformatively. But today, the foundational question is simple — Do you know the One in whose remembrance you break the bread?
---
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for instituting this precious memorial on the hardest night of your earthly life. Open our eyes so that every time we break the bread and drink the cup, we would see you — crucified, risen, and coming again. May this sermon series draw us ever closer to your table and to your heart. Amen.
---